PHOTOS: Dook | PRODUCTION: Annemarie Meinjes | WORDS: Andrea Vinassa
Graphic-design guru Roy Clucas has always infused his work with artistic integrity – despite his dog-eat-dog working environment. Now he’s won the highest international recognition.
Roy Clucas, whose mane of whitening hair and unruly eyebrows somehow reinforce his guru status, has won the Icograda Achievement Award in recognition of his lifelong contribution to graphic design.
Icograda is the International Council of Graphic Design Associations, the world body for professional graphic design and visual communication, and this award is the highest it bestows. The award was made when Icograda’s board recently attended the first annual South African Graphic Design Council Conference in Johannesburg.
‘I’m gobsmacked that I was even on the list,’ Roy says in his typical self-deprecating manner, adding that he is delighted. ‘Recognition of an innings in pursuit of design integrity and appropriateness doesn’t get better than this. The submission [of my name] to Icograda for this award is an acknowledgement from my peers – of which I’m extremely proud,’ he says.
Roy, whose career began in 1968, helped put SA creativity on the map as a founding member of the avant-garde studio Grapplegroup. Early on, he also did the international advertising circuit, creating designs that would be considered radical even today.
In New York he expressed his interest in fashion and music in memorable projects, and in Paris he handled projects for the likes of Christian Dior. But SA eventually lured him back to start Roy Clucas Design Process (RCDP).
The most reliable creative driver
With 35 years in the business and a list of clients that includes SA Breweries, Nedbank, PPC Cement, Tiger Brands and ‘Everybody Loves’ Illovo, Roy believes lateral thinking has proved to be the most reliable creative driver. ‘Logic has produced answers,’ he says, ‘but not significant solutions.’
Proof that his pen is growing sharper with age is his recent work for a Gauteng waste-management organisation. He came up with the catchy name, Pikitup, and the tag line, ‘It’s a collective effort’. Not a glamorous campaign, it had to address issues of environmental awareness and children’s education in an emerging nation.
In his research, he says, he found that for many people who dropped rubbish on the ground it was not an act of disregard but one of providing someone with a job. Despite that his campaign inspired a massive cleanup and got communities to take personal pride in their environments.
Roy has always infused his work with artistic integrity – despite his dog-eat-dog working environment – and believes graphic design can help change perceptions, contributing to renewed impressions of brands.
Ever the artist, Roy’s creative juices are now flowing towards computer-generated caricatures. But why caricatures? ‘Some people go fishing…’ quips his wife, Celia.
• Roy Clucas: 011 880 4715, roy@designprocess.co.za.
