REGISTRATION
INFORMATION
World University Rankings - Top 600

Hlophe Designs a Poster for Poetry Africa Festival

Hlophe Designs a Poster for Poetry Africa Festival

Third-year Durban University of Technology Graphic Design student Samela Hlophe has designed a winning poster for the 2017 Poetry Africa Festival, taking place from the 16th to the 20th October 2017 at the Bat Centre and UKZN’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.

DUT’s Visual Communication Department held a competition for students from which the best poster entries would be used. The Department of Graphic Design made this particular project be an essential part of the syllabus for their third year programme. The concept behind the project is to alter people’s views about poetry, prompting them to focus on the essence of the Poetry Africa Festival.

Hlophe’s poster illustrated the festival in a manner which judges found to be impressive. Explaining his concept, Hlophe said his poster was inspired by the feminine beauty in all African women and was in honour of the women’s movement that was currently existing in South Africa. “The whole idea is to celebrate women and instead of using the face to show their beauty, I decided to use their heads to appreciate them as being smart and beautiful in their chosen inventive hairstyles,” said Hlophe, adding that the project was challenging because he had to establish his concept while at the same time having to consider how his chosen idea would be executed visually before he could draw, scan, fix and resolv his design for legibility. Hlophe is, however, very happy that his dedication and hard work has paid off in the end.

“It is an indescribable feeling because I have never achieved something like this before in my life. I am over the moon that the whole of Durban will be exposed to my work and this is happening at a time when I am just beginning my career,” the excited student said.

Hlophe aspires to be an independent creative not only in advertising but other creative fields. This is not the first time that the young graphic design student has produced work of a remarkable standard. In 2013, he and his classmates painted murals in an old age home and since that experience, he has been inspired to use his illustrations to decorate old age homes and orphanages.
Hlophe’s poster will be displayed in Durban and its surroundings. Poetry Africa will take place at 7pm daily from the 16th to the 20th of October 2017.

Pictured:Samela Hlophe shows off his winning poster for Poetry Africa 2017.

Carly Van Der Westhuizen

No comments