SA creative agency invited to Switzerland

Daddy buy me a pony, the creative unit of the 9November Union of companies, has been invited by the Swiss government to inform them about their approach towards design at the Zentrum für Kulturproduktion in Bern, Switzerland. 9November is the Advertising agency for Pro Helvetia - the Arts Council of Switzerland in Southern Africa.

Katrien Reist van Gelderhe from the Zentrum für Kulturproduktion in Switzerland indicated that they are constantly looking for new ways of communication around the world.

"We decided to do an exhibition parallel to the Daddy buy me a pony exhibition where we will showcase work of Bernese designers in various fields of applied art in juxtaposition with the work done by the South African creative agency. The brief to Daddy buy me a pony was to let us in on the solutions to the following questions:

How do we communicate and visualise "Africa"?

How do we get around the trap of using worn out clichés, like the smiling woman in the colourful dress carrying a water barrel on her head?

Is there a visual language that covers contemporary African lifestyle otherwise? Better?

Is a title "Afrique Noire" for a festival on contemporary African culture politically incorrect? Ironic? Or just perfect?

How do Western graphics and communicators deal with the subject and how does African society handle their own image?

Daddy buy me a pony's creative director Peet Pienaar, and Director Design Heidi Chisholm, will be representing the company at different stages during the four week exhibition in Switzerland. Pienaar and Chisholm have also won a Gold One Show Award and Gold Loerie for their Pro Helvetia direct mail campaign in Southern Africa and Switzerland.

Charl Nel, Director: Business of 9November, said: "It is an honour to be spotted by well-known international communication experts and be singled out as people that can help the West understand Africa and its visual language. This invitation helps us to position our business as an international competitive boutique agency with its roots proudly in Africa."