Different

“What makes me African and what does it look like?” To answer this question, Garth Walker began designing a magazine with his collection of South African vernacular design and photography. The magazine, ijusi, began shortly after the birth of the New South Africa in 1995 as something to occupy his time while he waited for non-existent clients after setting up his agency Orange Juice Design in Durban. Garth explains, “The idea started in ’94 but the first issue came out in ’95. Simply, I had no clients (at OJ) and lots of time. So I decided (as one does) to design a ‘design’ magazine. As I had a collection of local tribal craft, I started with that as the basis. The idea was to celebrate South African indigenous design and craft, as I believed it to be as good as anything elsewhere.” The timing of ijusi’s creation was perfect. South Africa had moved from an autocratic state to a democratic one, and there was an intense global focus on the scene. Garth’s magazine became an entry to and an expression of this world by introducing South African designers, photographers, and artists to an international audience at a time when there wasn’t much else going on. Having explored the visual culture of modern South Africa for 20 years, today—and after 30 issues— ijusi is internationally celebrated and a touchstone for the creative possibilities of South African design. 

For the first issue, Afrocentric Design Adventure, Garth and Siobhan Gunning were the only contributors. The first issue started the trend for designers from other countries to show an interest in South African graphics. On the other hand, “OJ clients went into a panic thinking their design would look like that. A lot of designers thought I was mad – some liked the idea and collaborated. The international design network went nuts and that was the start of my ijusi traveling. I’ve lost count of the countries and even more cities, but ijusi has taken me to most of the planet now,” Garth adds. Now the list of contributors seems to be as many as the pages in any given issue. Collaborators find out about upcoming themes through word of mouth and send work to Garth. With each issue, collaborators are invited to respond to a particular topic as diverse as typography and photography, vernacular language and death. Themes are always last minute and usually unrelated to events (there are exceptions like the death of Mandela). Many of the contributors are students.There’s usually a workshop at a design school—DUT1 for example—which forms part of their final year portfolio submission. Garth selects the best, assembles the issue, and off it goes to print all at his cost as well.

Garth Walker trained as a graphic designer and photographer at Technikon Natal in Durban in the mid 1970s. His first studio, Orange Juice, is one of South Africa’s best-known graphic design studios and one of the very few with an international reputation. In 2008 Walker again went solo with his new studio, Mister Walker. Design education is another passion, hosting student and professional workshops on all five continents. More recently he has been an invited curator on major museum exhibitions, in addition to personally exhibiting his work and at a number of international design biennales and festivals in 14 countries. He has been widely recognized with over 100 design awards, published in something like 80 magazines and books. He is represented in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Biblioteque Nationale de France, Victoria & Albert Museum, The Smithsonian, and numerous university and academic collections worldwide. Walker is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI), British Design & Art Direction (D&AD), the Type Directors Club (TDC NY) and the St Moritz Design Summit. He is a founding trustee of the South African Graphic Design Council (THINK). He shares his insight to all designers out there: “In the end, graphic design is what I do. It’s a way of life – not a job. It’s a calling (and we are very lucky to get that call).”

_{References:
Eye Magazine Website, Review, A New Visual Language for South Africa 
Between 10and5 Website, An Interview with Garth Walker on His Experimental Design Magazine, ijusi
www.academia.edu, Garth Walker: ijusi: Michaelis Galleries [Review]
Mister Walker Website
DESIGN INDABA websit}

ijusi.com