Student campaign wins CT Festival

Shereen Pearson (student); Quasiem Gamiet (student); Kurt Schoonraad (comedian)

Shereen Pearson (student); Kurt Schoonraad (comedian) ; Quanita Adams (actress/playwright)

The creative design campaign competition was initiated in 2005 by Cape Town Festival CEO Yusuf Ganief, who saw an opportunity to introduce a new development platform within the festival structure.

Students Quasiem Gamiet from Salt River, Shereen Pearson from Bergvliet and Fatima Johnson, a resident of Zonnebloem, are recent graduates of the CPUT Graphic Design department.

Driven by the theme 'My Cape Town, Our Festival', the creative concept is essentially the brainchild of Pearson: "We were given a brief to come up with a campaign that inspires Capetonians to take ownership of the festival, promotes intercultural learning, and instills a sense of pride in being a citizen of this dynamic city. Elements of each team member's proposed campaign synergized with the ethos of the Cape Town Festival."

Says Ganief: "The competition was originated both as a developmental tool and to promote graphic design as a viable career path to youngsters from previously disadvantaged communities. Students from the CPUT Graphic Design Department were given a brief to develop the creative campaign for this year's Cape Town Festival and the winning concept was chosen from amongst 8 proposals."

Gamiet says the prime objective is to unify the campaign across all elements to ensure that the message hits home: "The visual campaign is a delicious potpourri of tastes and flavours that depict the Cape Town street culture.

"The idea is to convey the spirit of Cape Town through its people. What separates this campaign from previous campaigns is that the visual elements aren't repetitive. Each flyer, poster or brochure is unique and has a different visual 'feel' and, most importantly, portrays a different facet of the festival, while ensuring that the Festival Brand is recognisable throughout the campaign. It's like cooking up a delicious pot of breyani."

This year the festival is proud to host the official Human Rights Day celebrations for the Western Cape. On Friday 10 March, the festival's flagship event, Night Vision, is set to transform the city centre into a playground of cutting-edge art, presented in a myriad of innovative forms.

New is the two-day Festival Imbizo, a national conference to debate, discuss and seek solutions to issues of cultural diversity management. The full festival programme will be available on the website www.capetownfestival.co.za