Logo/mascot South African crafts

Logo/mascot for a website and retail network selling South African crafts

About / Biographic Information:

Roy Clucas trained at Natal Technical College in the 1960s and practiced signwriting before moving into advertising. Based in Johannesburg, he favors an eclectic approach to design that draws from indigenous visual imagery and naive expression rather than nationalist or societal territorialism. He considers traditional African arts and crafts to be a major influence, particularly the links between Art Deco and African creative architecture and furniture.

The "https://www.google.com/search?q=buy-africa.com" mascot was created in 1997 for a website and retail network dedicated to selling South African crafts.
 

Description:

This graphic features a vibrant, anthropomorphic character that incorporates the word "BUY" into its physical structure (with the 'B' and 'Y' forming arms). The character is dressed in a patterned suit with the word "AFRIKA" on its headgear, and the face features the colors of the South African flag. The design exemplifies Clucas’ interest in "distinctive about our indigenous visual imagery" and his goal of creating work that avoids becoming a "cliché".