Work Experience

After working for the South African Railways as a clerk, I managed to save enough to enrol at Michaelis Art School (UCT) for a Diploma in Graphic Design. I graduated with a first-class pass and the Irma Stern prize – a first for a graphic design student. My final year silkscreens were archived by the university in the Michaelis Collection.

My first job was as a junior art director at BBDO in Johannesburg, but I was homesick and as soon as Brian Searle-Tripp called from Rightford, Searle-Tripp and Makin I jumped on a plane home. Within a short time I was made an Art Director on Audi.

I spent a large part of my career at Rightfords, which later became Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town. I learned a huge amount there, especially about one-on-one consumer and business-to-business communication before we had computers or electronic media, but itchy feet got me moving twice, first as a Creative Director to Cato Johnson, part of the Young & Rubicam group, then to Bates Wells, before going back to Ogilvy for several years as a Creative Director, after which I left to start my own design studio, and sometime later an art school. I joined Machete in 2017.

I’ve won local and international awards and worked on several national and international brands including Audi, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Citizen Surveys, Metropolitan, Old Mutual, One&Only, Pam Golding Properties, PG Glass, Sun International, Research Surveys, The Red Cross, Volkswagen, Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre and Woolworths.

I was creative director of the winning bid for, and the launch of, the GrandWest Casino, as well as being creative director of the winning bid for the launch of the CTICC. I subsequently designed all the external signage. I also designed the brand identity, signage and launch advertising campaign for the Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre, and designed a museum in Uitenhage for Volkswagen/Audi.

Over the years, I’ve worked in all the marketing disciplines and in all print and electronic media, though I particularly like brand identity design, strategy and brand-building for new brands or brand relaunches, and enjoy working with the professional team on property developments and being involved in environmental design.