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The beautiful effect

When I fly back to South Africa I alwayswait for that smile – and I get it.’ This, says Nathan Reddy, founder ofJohannesburg consultancy Grid, is

what sets his homeland apart from other nationsand what 2010 Fifa World Cup visitors canexpect. ‘It is in us to be welcoming,’ he says.

This trait underpins the national brandingprojects for which Grid is renowned. It boastsBrand South Africa and Airports Company South Africa among a portfolio of morecommercial clients, and it is branding for those two that will help to shape visitors’perception of the cities hosting the gamesduring the World Cup.

Superb imagery commissioned from variousphotographers reinforce Grid’s nation branding.Meanwhile, clear information design, featuringcolour-coded elements and Bliss typeface, andinstallations at each Acsa airport – a TableMountain-shaped exhibition pod at Cape Town,for example – will explain indigenous culturalcharacteristics to air travellers.

But while these projects put Grid in the framefor official World Cup work – it was shortlisted inthe Fifa branding pitch won by Switch – neitherwas sparked by South Africa’s successful bid forthe tournament. Both were born of a broaderneed for national coherence. The World Cup has‘accelerated’ the work though, as it has otherlocal schemes. ‘There is an urgency,’ says Reddy,citing the landscaping of Durban’s seafront as anexample of World Cup fervour.

It is a different story across town at Switch,where Gaby De Abreu created the branding for2010. Switch has been flat out on the brandingand collateral for the World Cup, as has JoePublic on the website. ‘It’s not the edgiest workI’ve done,’ says De Abreu of a logo featuringtraditional rock art, the colours of Africa and theAfrican continent. ‘But it had a story because ofmy first-hand knowledge and passion [forfootball and South Africa].

But while official World Cup work has beenelusive for most local creatives, sponsorship hasyielded lucrative spin-offs. For Veejay Archary,

founder of Johannesburg consultancy Black, the Fifa pitch led to work for banking sponsorAbsa on South Africa’s training kit. Switch’ssuccess, meanwhile, led to contact with Africantelecoms giant MTN, a core sponsor, and a hostof related projects. At Johannesburg’s OR TamboInternational Airport, you can’t miss Switch’sbright yellow MTN promotions bearing thecheery ‘Y’ello’ welcome.

Then there is city branding. Fifa insisted oncity authorities rethinking their branding toaccommodate its requirements, resulting increative work. What happens after the World Cup remains to be seen, but some projects will live on.

Working with the City of Johannesburg, forexample, information design specialist Moja hascreated maps for Johannesburg to help fans findtheir way to and around the city’s two stadiumsand identify transport systems and ‘visitor-friendly’ areas within the city – a vital legacy fora city as impenetrable to outsiders asJohannesburg is reputed to be.

The upcoming football World Cup has accelerated urban development in South Africa and helped kick-start a range of local initiatives, despite Fifa’stight grip on the official branding. Lynda Relph-Knight looks at how some ofthe cities that are hosting games are presenting themselves to visitors

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For more on the Fifa branding

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6 Grid created ‘African’patterns for Fifasouvenir shirts

7 Grid’s work welcomesvisitors to 2010 Indabawith fact sheets onSouth Africa

Branding DW

years – transport and stadiums, for example –Fifa’s rules and policing have constrained itseffect on branding. But, argues Zahira Asmal ofDesigning South Africa, a project to define andshare the World Cup’s creative legacy, ‘It hasmobilised people in South Africa to kick-startinitiatives in the way [achieving] democracyshould have done.’

Fifa itself has added to this mobilisation withthe Grassroots Soccer programme to increaseAids-awareness among young people and theDreamfields Project to promote education forless advantaged communities through football.

And while Archary maintains the impact of thetournament on South Africa’s creatives has beenslow, he says its potential to create socialcohesion is inestimable. ‘Football has a wideappeal,’ he says. ‘We are looking for it to do what the 1997 Rugby World Cup did for SouthAfrica – to create hope.’ If you have seen ClintEastwood’s movie Invictus on Nelson Mandela’sinfluence over that event you can only applaudthat sentiment.

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These local campaigns blatantly flout thenotion of Brand South Africa. TakeJohannesburg’s edgy ‘You make Joburg great’ by Penquin International, which launched‘underground’ last November and for which thecity admitted ownership in February. Gavin Reedof the City of Johannesburg says the World Cup‘was a factor’ in this bid to unite the city and thelook and feel of the campaign was approved byFifa. The overall aim, he adds, is to keepJohannesburg ‘as distinctive as possible’, and itis unlikely, given inter-city rivalry in South Africa,that Johannesburg is alone in this approach.

Meanwhile, Wayne Harper of the BritishCouncil in Johannesburg says his team hasn’tallocated extra resources to World Cup activitiesand plans no design-led events. He saysfootball-related cultural activities for citieshosting World Cup matches have been curtailedby Fifa as it doesn’t want to be upstaged.

The consensus is that though the World Cuphas created momentum for urban developmentin South Africa that has been going on for ten

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1 and 4 The official FifaWorld Cup South Africa2010 poster and logo,designed by Switch

2 Posters for Grid’sBrand South Africacampaign feature work by variousphotographers

3 and 5 Grid’s BrandSouth Africa workextends to matchboxesand wine carriers

What happens after theWorld Cup remains to beseen, but some projects will live on

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Maps

World Cup prompts mappinginitiatives in Johannesburg

By Lynda Relph-KnightIdentity is a big thing in South Africa. Making realthe notion of the rainbow nation is on the mindsof designers, activists and politicians alike asthe diverse and cosmopolitan African nationprepares to host the Fifa World Cup, which kicksoff on Friday.

But for Johannesburg, South Africa’s largestcity, identity is taking an interesting turn. It isabout creating a sense of place and the cityauthorities are turning in part to map design tohelp achieve it.

Johannesburg has no real centre – just aseries of leafy districts. It has no river, canal orsea to orientate round, just a railway crossed bythe landmark Nelson Mandela Bridge,completed in 2003 by Danish architect Dissingand Weitling, and the earlier Queen ElizabethBridge. And public transport is haphazard.

Given this scenario – and some 500 000football fans expected in Johannesburg thismonth – local tourism branding group MojaMarketing has worked with the City ofJohannesburg to create a series of maps andguides to help visitors and the ‘ambassadors’shepherding them.

Apart from helping fans to and around thecity’s two stadiums – Ellis Park and therevamped and rebranded Soccer City on theedge of the Soweto township – the aim is toencourage people into ‘walking areas’, saysJames Delaney of Moja, and to steer themtowards public transport and safer private cabs.‘Johannesburg has been a business destination,’he says, ‘but now it is trying to attract tourism.’

To help with this, the Moja team led bydesigner Sival Portal has created three mainpieces: lanyards with information ‘flick packs’containing basic details of transport, amenitiesand attractions for City of Johannesburg staff,police and others whose job it is to advisevisitors; a transport map of the city; and a visitor

Notable Joburg games

Johannesburg will host the first match in the 2010World Cup – South Africa v Mexico – which kicks off on Friday

The city will also host the World Cup final, which willtake place on 11 July

map with zoom-ins around and in the stadiums,which also contains details of the new Gautreintrain service and ‘park and ride’ and ‘park andwalk’ facilities developed for the World Cup. All had to meet approval from football’s stringentgoverning body Fifa.

Portal says Moja took on research for the fast-track project, starting with police maps andGoogle maps and distilling the data. A series oficons has been created to denote culturalattractions and amenities, and colourwaysdeveloped to highlight ‘safe’ and ‘scenic’ areas:orange for pedestrian areas and green for scenic routes.

Some of the maps feature a coloured grid,inspired by the distinctive ‘mosaic’ architectureof Soccer City, designed by local practiceBoogertman & Partners and sports specialistPopulous. This in turn, says Portal , takes its cuefrom the African cooking pot – the kalabash.

Moja has already created maps forJohannesburg – as part of campaigns such as‘You make Joburg great’, created by local adagency Pinquin International and overseen byGavin Reed of the City of Johannesburg. ButReed maintains the World Cup has escalated theprocess with the maps, as with other local initiatives. In saying ‘We aregoing to be accountable to South Africa andinternationally,’ he echoes the words of othersworking in cities across South Africa.

‘2010 has turned everything upside down,’concludes Delaney.

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Integrated Transport Map for match days, detail from the Joburg Ultimate Guide, by Moja Marketing

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