Redefining branding with Ruramai Musekiwa.
Creatives, stand up and fight for your artistry to be recognised far beyond the forte’s of your stoep. Represent sat down with Ruramai “Rudo” Musekiwa, the creative director and brains behind BSN – the soon to be launched digital magazine. Here’s what she had to say. Who is Ruramai? Give us a short background of who you are and what you do for/at BSN? I’m a creative with a passion for the extraordinary. My background is graphic and web design, DTP , copywriting and fine art. I was born in Zim and spent a portion of my childhood in Australia before coming back to a vibrant and diverse SA, so my world view has been shaped by a colourful myriad of experiences. I am the Creative Director of BSN & Studio Rrr Design. I conceptualize and create everything related to BSN at the moment. How did BSN Magazine come about? Take us through the last 6 months of preparation? Brand Spankin’ N(YOU) has been a labour of love for the past 7 years. The idea to create a unique and inspiring publication was born in my internship days and it was quite a blurry concept back then. I would create random magazine cover designs and layouts conceptualizing a publication that changed shape and form over the years. I went through dozens of concepts, even had a Mxit interview with Zuko(our cover feature) in 2009 (laughs!), but I needed to fine-tune it further. I quit formal employment in July 2011 and my passion for brand architecture and the branding process grew. I think it was important to refine this concept from a cool artsy zine to what it is today; a fully matured magazine that is ready for take-off. The last six months have been interesting. A lot of late nights building the marketing strategy, designing teasers and promotional material, research, writing, reworking layout ideas, meetings, Sit-down and Skype interviews… It’s been a busy time and I think we all get to points where our passion and belief in what we’re doing is tested. I’m thankful for resilience and everything that reinforced my convictions and belief in this idea. Describe what is BSN? Brand Spankin’ N(YOU) is a movement driven by a passion for creative branding and telling inspirational stories about passion brands. Essentially BSN has two compartments; the publication (BSN magazine) and BSN Brand Architecture which encompasses brand coaching, branding workshops, creative solutions (graphic design, web design, illustration etc.) Who/ what inspired you for this project and what message do you wish to convey? It’s hard to pin-point one reference point of inspiration… I was and continue to be...
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