The work
Branding • Design for print • Online
The brief
The brief was to develop a brand that should make a statement and breakaway from the traditional African craft/curio stigma. African Crossing positions themselves as a hybrid travelling exhibition and a retail operation. Therefore the branding needed to be contemporary and African but avoid the cliché African treatments. Requirements outlined in the client’s brief included ‘non-conventional’ / ‘unexpected’, ‘modern’, ‘but MUST suggest African heritage’, ‘cannot look like a European brand although it must appeal to the average European.’
The solution
We enjoyed this small branding project as it provided us with a challenge. The challenge was to convey Africa without being overtly and stereo-typically African! We identified the emergence of Afro-futurism and this has been communicated in the design. The branding also offers 3 key ingredients typical of African design, namely, colour, texture & raw materials. We adopted a very modern take on a well know African craft (wire sculpting) by rendering the wire in 3D. We conceptualised a shape that pays both homage to the shape of Africa and to the circular nature of the globe. The colour palette, based on the rich hues of the metals bronze, copper and platinum, achieves a finish which is slick yet still ties in with its African roots.
The results
A successful harmony between ethnic and contemporary design stylings.
