Humble beginnings
With more than 30 years of rich experience, I am a free-spirited maverick having never worked for a boss. I was born in 1957 in Rustenburg, the capital of South Africa’s North-West province, as the youngest of nine children. After spending most of my youth on a nearby farm, my family and I moved to Gauteng. At the age of 15, I was admitted to the prestigious Johannesburg School of Art, Ballet and Music where I studied art, design and sculpture and matriculated in 1974. I then completed two years of national service, with my last year as a junior officer in the Infantry of the South African Defence Force.
I was admitted to the Johannesburg College of Art (later Technikon Witwatersrand and now the University of Johannesburg), where I studied graphic design for three years. In my final year, I lectured on art at the Technikon Witwatersrand and the Joubert Park Technical College while, at the same time, attending evening classes in marketing at the Technikon Witwatersrand.
To pay for my college tuition, I freelanced by designing brandmarks (logos) and corporate brand identities. By dealing with upstarts, mom-and-pop businesses, illiterate markets in the apartheid era and, later, sophisticated national and international brands, I gained invaluable experience and insight covering a broad range of branding, design and advertising challenges.
Extensive experience spanning more than three decades
My sector experience include:
>automotive, petroleum, oil and lubricants
>beer, wine and spirits
>cosmetics
>financial advertising, annual reports and stock-exchange listings
>financial services and insurance
>food and beverages
>legal and professional
>parastatal organisations
>politics
>property, building and mining
>publishing (magazine, conventional book, eBook and Kindle)
>resorts and tourism
>retail and information technology.
Significant highlights of my notable career include: the design and production of the Iscor (now ArcelorMittal) annual report with the biggest print run in South Africa at the time and the rebranding of Fedics Foods, which resulted in this company winning the South African Institute for Marketing Management’s (now IMM GSM) marketer of the year award in 1998.
My personal interests
I am a keen scuba diver and have travelled extensively around Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and most of the Indian Ocean Islands. I have a passion for cars and was a founding member and past chairman of the Lamborghini Club of South Africa. I also started one of the most prestigious auto-body repair shops in South Africa.
I am passionate about nature and wildlife conservation and love the outdoors. My pro bono clients include the Animal Anti-Cruelty League South Africa and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of Whale Wars fame. I am a past clerk of events for the Land Rover Owners’ Club of Southern Africa and have travelled around South Africa, Botswana and Namibia extensively, mostly off-road to remote and inhospitable destinations.
In 1992, I married Dr Sharon Isernhinke (palaeontologist, astrologer and genetic engineer) and acquired two stepchildren. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa and, instead of having my own children, opted for a psychotic Rottweiler, two dysfunctional budgies and around 20 rather fat goldfish.
Face your brand!
In September 2009, after six years of research I published my book Face your brand! The visual language of branding explained in electronic format as an eBook.
My Bio
