ALEXANDRA PEARL PILLEMER

Africa is the fastest urbanising continent in the world. To illustrate this, I was briefed to create fabric designs for Siemens of different cities in Africa and their thriving economies and landscapes. The truly interesting stories live beneath these cities. I translated satellite imagery and loads of resourced data into detailed illustrated fabrics that are dense with information about each city. These designs were then printed onto different fabrics. A handful of fashion designers from 3 Africa countries transformed these fabrics into once-off pieces to help tell each city's respective story. Stories about interconnected ecosystems, infrastructure, energy flow and how afro meets digital. These design pieces were showcased on a catwalk at a fashion show that celebrated the technological innovations in Africa.

A campaign to support the initiative of getting checked for chronic illness and then promote being able to collect medication to deal with that chronic illness.

BRIEF
Make an acne brand like Galderma Benzac appealing and current.

INSIGHT
Over 85% of people get acne at some point in their lives. Which guess what, makes you normal. People feel victimised when they have something as taboo as acne.

IDEA
Shift the brand to show that it understands its consumers and the anxiety of feeling abnormal especially because of their acne by making acne what makes them normal not what makes them stand out.

WEBSITE
We created a two-part website: part one of the site is educational where the user can manage and learn how to treat their acne. Part two is where the user can anonymously ask or answer questions around “what else (besides acne) is normal” starting many different conversation online.

The “Manage Your Acne” page is where users can find and read real-life stories of people who have acne but have also exceeded in their lives which is what makes them special while their acne is what makes them normal. Users can also watch how these influential people treat acne and look after their skin.

For the second part of the website, the “Am I Normal” side of the site, we created a platform that is built to ask and answer such questions using the input we get from users. The questions and information you provide and find on the website is anonymous. The topics aren’t only around the conversation of acne but revolve around the question of “is this or that normal”. This serves to show how much, in fact, is normal in today’s society.

Look & Feel + Website + Stationery

Nougat PR are a PR company that prioritise the unique needs and visions of every client to create enduring relationships.

Their look and feel had to reflect their creative and unique approach to how they do business.

Fun deskblotter illustrations and designs done for Hollard. One was full of April Fools themed illustrations and the other themed around the youth and Youth Day.
I was briefed to only use two Hollard CI colours per month.

BRIEF

Conceptualise a promotional campaign
that will get ambitious millennials to make
Halls an everyday habit by inspiring them
with the invigorating power of Halls Air
and in doing so, create brand love
across multiple platforms.

INSIGHT

Our market is ambitious:
always looking to seize the moment
and make the most of every opportunity
so that they can move forward to success.

IDEA

To show how Halls Air invigorates by giving
you a momentary kick of clarity that helps
you clear your path, find the gap and move
forward in life. Whether you’re in a “stuck”
situation, or in the doldrums,
Halls Air will help snap
you out of it so that
you can OWN THE MOMENT.

Pattern Design for the quirky and fun Hollard brand.

This design has been crafted to tell a story. Each part of the pattern resembles a part of Hollard, its values and their HQ.

Hollard has been able to go from strength to strength not only because of their energetic personality but because they've never let go of their roots which are to develop long term, genuine and mutually beneficial relationships that form the core of everything they do.

They are unique and down-to-earth allowing them to do things differently. They believe in diversity, individualism and common humanity. They support and appreciate the arts. They believe in curiosity, exploration, heritage, hard work, being playful, strategy, ambitions and the power of knowledge. 

Exclusive Books “Fridge Poetry” gift vouchers contain fridge poetry style stickers for you to customise the card you will spoil a special someone with. 

The card is perforated down the centre so you can keep the personalised message part and display it proudly on your (real) fridge while the actual voucher card can be pulled off the inside Terms and Conditions page and kept safely in a wallet or purse until you choose to use it. 

I did these while working as an Art Director on the JET account at Joe Public. I've always wanted to do a lingerie shoot and Valentines Day seemed so appropriate!

I decided that a quirky and fun Valentines Day shoot is something that doesn't get done nearly enough (they're usually so serious and focus on the come-to-bed facial expressions). For this the models had to have fun on set and be a bit goofy and just let go. Because the concept was lighthearted, making the vivid candy colours of the lingerie and sleepwear pop was a must to keep with the theme. I had a great team to work alongside, everyone from the stylists to the photographer to the models were all just so energetic and brilliant.

I love Art Directing shoots but fashion shoots have a particular je ne sais quoi! 

Musa Captital wanted to give their brand a facelift starting with their Corporate Identity.

In their original logo Musa also had a tree as their icon. They wanted to keep a tree in the logo but we felt that the tree needed more meaning than just a metaphor for growth. Our research proved trees and their symbolism are truly magnificent.

Trees symbolise knowledge, wisdom and strength. These juggernauts are an icon of positive growth rooted in the rich soil of the earth. In many cultures, trees have traditionally been planted in honour of an accomplishment or an important rite of passage such as a graduation, wedding, retirement or the birth of a child.
These milestones in one’s life are also the desired objectives of investing, i.e.: to save for major life events so they can be made possible.

We took it one step further and also looked at the rings of trees, their symbolism and how they come about. Dendrochronology is the dating and study of annual rings in trees. Defined more literally, this means “the study of time using the growth rings of trees”. Many trees make one growth ring each year, with the newest adjacent to the bark. For the entire period of a tree’s life, a year-by-year record or ring pattern is formed that reflects the way in which the tree grew. This means that the rings inside a tree symbolise how much the tree is expanding and growing over time. These rings symbolise the maturity, progress, shape and unique identity of the tree as it grows. These progressive rings are much like an investment that takes shape over time, maturing into a pertinent asset.

Our findings became key elements in our conceptualization and designs.

We localised an international Oreo campaign by asking our fellow South Africans to get creative with their Oreo dunking and film it! We created content video to look like entry videos so that our fans would get the picture and join in. We also created illustrations of different ways to dunk as part of social content for this campaign.

African Fashion Central logo and website design.

Font design

Restaurant branding for a new Asian fusion restaurant in Dubai.

Havas Worldwide approached me asking me to illustrate a house for them: their Havas House. This illustration was to go into their credentials document when pitching to clients. Their house consisted of different sections that needed to be illustrated accordingly.

BRIEF

Create a campaign that is bold, memorable and fun while disolving the misconception that magnesium supplementation is only for sports persons. Give the brand a quirky voice and persona while continuing the brand message of “Beat Your Slump”.

INSIGHT

Even though Slow Mag is the best selling magnesium brand in SA, most people are still associating Slow Mag and the need for magnesium supplementation with being a sportsman or sportswoman. This is partly due to Slow Mag’s previous long-lived advertising route of using imagery of the professional runner, the soccer player, the pole vaulter etc. as well as an unawareness of what magnesium’s function in the body is and the benefits of supplementing it. This has contribued to a gap of consumers in the market.

IDEA

Remove the misconception that Slow Mag/magnesium is only for sports persons as well as detatch the perception that supplements are charisma-less and not part of everyday wellbeing for everyone. To do this we created a campaign that is technalogically current, fun and educational. We introduced a personal “coach” with witty yet motivational one-liners We also encorporated a huge part of what gets us all up, going and motivated - music. The face of this campaign was one everyone recognises.

Typography and illustration for Hollard Life headers.