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Some of the award-winning projects were created in languages other than the mother tongue of the students who worked on them. These projects have won prizes in major South African design and advertising competitions.
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NEWS
Lecturers emphasise that projects are never undertaken with just winning competitions in mind.
Winning seems to be the standard, however, taking into account that the NWU’s graphic design students are top achievers year after year in major design and advertising competitions, such as the Loerie Awards and the Pendorings.
These winning entries have a common denominator: the effective use of language that celebrates what it means to be South African.
Exploring unfamiliar territory
“Students get the opportunity to work not only in languages they are comfortable with, but also in languages that they might not know as well,” says Marina Herbst, subject chair for BA Graphic Design. She says this is mainly because they work on realistic projects within real contexts and campaigns and not only class assignments.
This inspires students to discover language, culture and folklore that might initially be unfamiliar to them.“Language, including visual language, is complex, and allows their creativity to blossom as they create in visual mediums such as print, video, film, books and also fully integrated campaigns.
“Some of these projects are part of a larger, long-term research project that aims to preserve African tales, myths and legends.”
She says students have worked with many diverse client volunteers, such as the Bokone Bophirima Craft and Design Institute. In this case the main audience is Setswana speaking and therefore the students researched people in North West and incorporated the language in their designs.
Other languages that are often used in projects include IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, and Afrikaans.
Excellent designs embrace languages and cultures
South Africa is a myriad of rich cultures and ideas that are expressed in a bouquet of diverse languages.
One of the places where multilingualism flourishes at the NWU is the Graphic Design subject group where language and design meet in award-winning projects.
Above and below are some of the clever, informative and entertaining animations that the NWU’s graphic design students created.
Animation brings folktales to life
One of the exciting projects focuses on story telling through animations made by third-year students.
Lecturer Ricardo Liut explains that students have to produce a short animation of a Setswana or Afrikaans folktale.
“By reinterpreting a folktale students can contribute to indigenous languages education, as well as the history of South African culture for a modern target audience.”
Click here to learn more about the NWU’s Graphic Design student achievements.
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Celebrating a diverse society
Lecturer Jo-Ann Chan says the final project in the fourth-year illustration module allows students to augment their portfolios in a way that reflects their interests, strengths and ambitions.
“Many students choose to develop projects that explore the languages and literature of cultures other than their own. This demonstrates our students’ ability to embrace and also celebrate a culturally diverse and rich society,” says Jo-Ann.
Lecturer Marina Herbst says some of the feedback from students indicates that exposure to other languages and cultures broadens their horizons.
“They say they feel they can better communicate in the South African context after completing the projects. They have a need to feel part of South Africa, but also to connect with the African continent’s rich heritage.”
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