Making use of our digital magazine features, we have been able to breathe new life to previous print content – and everything has truly come together, just how we always envisioned! Please take your time to go through this magazine (all at once or a little bit each day) as a lot of work went into producing every edition and every page, since we first launched in 2005. This issue is a superlative balance of content, comprising of traditional and contemporary art, photography, fashion editorials, exclusive interviews, videos, feature articles, music, and the best of one small seed TV.
 
So, without further ado…
 

 
Follow us on:

Facebook
Twitter: @onesmallseedSA
onesmallseed.net

Every action is creative and every passionate action is art

– Matthew Stone (I.D. Magazine)

So, for every passionate action there should be a passionate reaction, right? From planting a seed to forming a movement, here’s a look back at first thoughts on one small seed, first encounters with the magazine and some first ‘creative seeds’ by singer/songwriter Lindiwe Suttle, zef rapper Jack Parow and photographer Sam Norval as part of the Vodafone Firsts campaign, which encourages people to do things for the first time.

one small seed logo Ⓒ Giuseppe Russo

When one small seed was first ‘sowed’ by founder/editor-in-chief Giuseppe Russo, the idea was to encourage a South African creative movement that could compete with the world. Nine years on, it’s grown into a creative network (onesmallseed.net), various online platforms – including two new initiatives called ‘Cult of Self’ and ‘We Love Sexy’ – and we’re excited to re-launch as a digital magazine.

Blood, sweat and tears went into nourishing the growth of this ‘diversely branched tree’, yet its seed would never have sprouted without the ground-breaking content contributed by artists, photographers, models, musicians, architects, designers, writers or – as the umbrella term neatly summarises – ‘creatives’. The Vodafone Firsts campaign thus seemed an ideal opportunity for us to touch base with some of ‘the creative influencers’ who have featured in past issues. Lindiwe Suttle, Jack Parow and Sam Norval shared their ‘one small seed firsts’, ‘creative firsts’ and current projects that might inspire further firsts for aspiring creatives.

LINDIWE SUTTLE – Singer/Songwriter

Lindiwe Suttle – Image Ⓒ Diane Ducruet

Lindiwe Suttle’s ‘first’ with one small seed goes all the way back to the first issue – that’s when she saw the magazine for the first time and found it ‘immediately intriguing’. In issue 02, she was featured in it and, according to her, it was the first shoot she did before launching her music career. ‘It inspired me to make change through my art. It was such a refreshing magazine to have in SA because, from the start, it focused on artists that were true artists – non-conformist artists who didn’t follow any rules,’ she says.

Produced in Berlin by Ivan Gregoriev and mastered by Dave Clutch (Alicia Keys, John Legend, Foo Fighters) in New York, her solo debut Kamikaze Art just won her ‘Songwriter of the Year’ and ‘Best Female Artist and Composer/co-composer’ at The Wawela Music Awards 2014. In the same vein, but different creative field, as her talk show star mother Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, she’s an ambitioned young lady ready to take up any challenge thrown her way. Currently, she’s working on Enough (Set Us Free), a girls’ and women’s rights campaign that makes use of a song she wrote the lyrics for, and her partner – German rock legend Marius Mueller-Westernhagen – composed. ‘I hope it inspires other artists to use their music to speak out for others that have no voice’.

It was an honour to be in the magazine. I loved that they never chose the most popular artists like other magazines. They made you aware of art that might not have had the chance to shine were it not for one small seed – art that the underground scene knew and not the masses. I’m so proud that the publication is still producing great work. Viva one small seed, viva art!!! – Lindiwe Suttle

JACK PAROW – Zef Rapper

Jack Parow – Image Ⓒ Wouter du Toit

Jack Parow is known for his pep-store broek style and general anti-coolness. So uncool that – according to his recent single ‘Bloubek’ – ‘he eats fucking hipsters and shits out fixie bikes’. Cool enough, however, for sexy swimsuit model girlfriend Jenna Pietersen, he somehow made it from Boerewors curtain-protected Bellville to dangerously trendy Cape Town – he says it’s ‘overpopulated by the hip graphic design crowd’.

His first with one small seed was ‘somewhere like Mr. Pickwicks’ and – according to him – it caused him ‘great social anxiety and overall discomfort because people originally from Joburg or some other country like Italy were acting like they’re Capetonian’. Once his nervousness was overcome, he was inspired to write ‘Cooler as Ekke’, which further ‘established his feelings on what he thought about one small seed and all the ‘cool’ people’. So much that he references the mag in the song. ‘Jy dink jy’s cooler as ek, omdat jy die nuwe issue van one small seed het.’ Shortly after its release he was featured in issue 18 of one small seed magazine.

Nag van die Lang Pette (2014), available at South African music stores now, is his most recent project. He worked very hard on this album so he hopes that it’ll inspire more people to work hard for the first time. Cool or uncool – his rhymes will continue to piss off conservative mense due to the raw wit, side-splitting humour and (true!?) portrayal of culture. Jack Parow is SA’s ‘zef darling’ and will be in the Rainbow Nation’s hearts forever.

It (one small seed) triggered the first time I really felt, fuck, people are idiots and shit, trying to follow the trend doesn’t pay off… Btw, is one small seed still being printed or do they give it away at the robots (traffic lights for the international people who will obviously never read this) like those little joke things that you get if you tip the beggar? – Jack Parow

SAM NORVAL – Photographer

Images Ⓒ Sam Norval

Photographer Sam Norval lives in New York and has photographed celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Flea, Norah Jones, Billy Joel and B.B. King. Yet he says that the first time he was allowed to explore his own style was when he did his first shoot, after he got back home to South Africa, for one small seed. Deep into that Darkness Peering… for issue 13 was an homage to Tim Burton that perfectly accentuated Sam’s ‘dark and moody style’. According to him it was the first time ‘I was really allowed to explore that genre. I was allowed to be as creative as I wanted to be’. Further ‘photography firsts’ were to follow as he shot:

Just for Kicks for Issue 14

It was a first for me to shoot six girls in one editorial, it was a first for me to shoot on a construction site and it was a first for me to shoot in 40 degrees heat. It was a first for me because I was able to explore different styles.

Sam Norval house party just for kicks from one small seed on Vimeo.

South Beach Featuring Bryce Thompson for Issue 17

It was a first because we played on people’s perceptions of metrosexuality, homosexuality and heterosexuality. Taking somebody out of that comfort zone and really exploring that space with them – that was something unique and something first.

South Beach Fashion Shoot from one small seed on Vimeo.

The Self-Made Shoot for Issue 23

It was also a first in a sense because I was exploring very new lighting, a very new concept – it was very self-reflecting I think. The subject matter, how we were achieving it – it was all kinda a first for me. The lighting was very bright, it was very washed out, it was very clean as opposed to my typical work, which tends to be a bit more dark and moody.

Self-Made Shoot from one small seed on Vimeo.

Right now, Sam is working on yet another first. It’s a big project for VH1 for which he’s shooting a big cross-section of hip-hop artists, such as Lil John, Waka Flocka, Future, Russell Simmons and many more. ‘It’s also a first for me because we’re looking to make a book out of it. It’s really really exciting,’ he explains.

one small seed was the first publication to allow budding talent to be a part of the new voice of creativity in South Africa. I think that’s the most important legacy that one small seed has had. If you’re an aspiring artist or creative, you have an outlet, you have a vehicle to really explore your creativity and are encouraged to do so. It was the first publication to allow its readers to submit. – Sam Norval

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

The Butterfly Effect has been inspiration for endless pop culture storytelling – such as the 2004 movie with Ashton Kutcher of the same name or 1985’s Brazil by Terry Gilliam – but more often it’s used to explain what appears inexplicable. As most of us know, the theory states that a subtle action can cause a catastrophe. Creativity, it seems, works under similar principles. A simple thought, a fleeting comment, a blatant discovery – even a mistake – can trigger the most ground-breaking ideas. Therefore, as creatives, we need a platform to constantly inspire and be inspired.

In South Africa, one small seed set out to do exactly this. As Giuseppe Russo said in issue 16, ‘The seed, which means the vision to believe in yourself and in who you are, had to be planted in South Africa first.’ Today ‘the South African creative movement’ – with Cape Town being Design Capital 2014, major international music festivals such as Sónar gracing our shores and more and more SA artists present across the globe – is truly ready to compete with the world. It’s no longer ‘creativity in a wheelchair’ that needs help up the success stairs, SA is up on its legs and ready to conquer. If all goes well Cape Town and Joburg will soon be mentioned in the same breath as New York, London and Berlin, so there’s no longer a need to focus on one country specifically. Our re-launch as a digital magazine is about to kick-off and we’re now no longer presenting South Africa to the world, but the world (South Africa being a part of it) to the world.

When was the first time you came across one small seed?

Leave a comment below or tweet @onesmallseedSA and @VodafoneFirsts to share your #first!

Special thanks to Lindiwe Suttle, Jack Parow and Sam Norval for their great work and getting back to us so quickly! Further influencers who featured in one small seed are, for example, Dominic Peters of Goldfish, Bryce Thompson, Sean Metelerkamp, Andreas Waldschuetz, Lungelo, Dylan Culhane, Anton Kannemeyer, Spoek Mathambo, Pieter Hugo, Hendrik Vermeulen and JD, Teargas or The Blackheart Gang. Watch out for a Part II!

Words: Christine Hogg

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

Image Ⓒ Sam Norval

For more ‘first times’ on one small seed click here

Image: underconsideration.com

Why? Well, initial rumour was that a tender of an estimated value of R8-million was awarded to King James Advertising Cape Town and Yellowwood Future Architects as a joint venture in December. However, the city denied the astronomical costs, with de Lille explaining that only a cool R313 720 was spent on the design.

So what is this R300 000 design all about then? The new logo is made up of six different colours and concentric circles that are subtly shaped in the outline of Table Mountain. So far, feedback about the look of the logo includes that it’s like ‘a virus under a microscope’, ‘a foreign country’s flag’, ‘one of those visual illusion things that hurt your eyes because you can’t focus on it as a whole’ and ‘a trance party security badge’.

But why exactly are people hating on it so much? one small seed’s editor-in-chief Giuseppe Russo provides us with his personal opinion on where the new logo’s weaknesses lie. Giuseppe has been a designer for over 22 years and has personally created over 100 logos, including the one small seed logo. Here is his short list that critically analyses the new City of Cape Town logo:

Image: news24.com

1) Simplicity is Key
If you’re creating a logo that is going to be used on various different platforms, for example TV, web or print, it has to be simple. The current logo is a freestanding shape, which looks fine on a white background. But what happens if the logo is to be positioned on a coloured background? Will the logo be left freestanding or will it be placed into a white square? Either way, this takes away from the logo’s consistency and functionality.

2) A Busy Logo is Bad
A good logo should always be strong, even if represented in grey tones or black and white. There are just too many colours in this new logo. From the yellow to the magenta circle, there are white spaces that immediately create a negative tension. If the logo is used in a smaller size (as it is currently being used on the City of Cape Town website – which, just by the way, has a 780 px width and looks like it was designed 12 years ago), the first white space after the yellow and orange colours disappears. The many busy shapes all squished into a small space create a sort of ‘vibrating’ effect which irritates the eye, thus exposing a weak point of the logo.

3) Confusing Imagery
The logo is supposed to represent Table Mountain along the outer lying circles, and to look like a protea flower as a whole. Okay, sure, most of us can make out the outline of Table Mountain, but you can’t have such an aggressive and repetitive shape for a city logo. It’s too messy.

4) Excessive Use of Circles
There are way too many circles. For the shape, the circles should not have exceeded three or four.

All in all, the idea of the new logo is not bad. While it is easy to criticize, one must realize that we do not know the finer details, such as client feedback and time allocation for the project. It couldn’t have been easy having the government as a client. Having said this, it’s always a challenge to create a strong, working logo. Giuseppe points out that what the logo needs most is strength, balanced shapes, simple lines, and if possible, a little more of a modern approach to the visual. Perhaps it would have been best to allow a test run for this logo, making room for possible damage control. Instead, the Civic Centre’s City of Cape Town logo is already being disassembled to make way for the new one, leaving many Capetonians baffled.

Come on Cape Town, you’re bubbling with amazing designers and this is not what we should have as a representation of our city. 

To get a better idea of what a strong logo can look like, check out our selection of some of the most iconic and successful logos of all time below.

What is your opinion on the new City of Cape Town logo? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @onesmallseedSA or leave a comment below.

To read the interview we did with them two days before they played, click here!

 

 
Relevant links:

64 Cannes International Film Festival reviews

What’s Your Story? – Porselynnkas

UNKLE feat. Nick Cave – ‘Money and Run’

Dripped – a tribute to Jackson Pollock

“Balkanology – Greek Mythology”

Win with Religion Clothing South Africa

Southern Comfort South Africa – “Creative Exchange”

This week we feature an interview with Member of the Week Shaun Liddle, check out Groove Armada’s ‘single’ performance at super-club Trinity on Saturday 14 May and then head to The Labia on Tuesday 17 May for RVCA’s ANP Launch, with the screening of the doccie Beautiful Losers. On onesmallseed.TV we feature our controversial What’s Your Story with filmmaker Aryan Kaganof, and also release the behind-the-scenes of Ryan Kruger’s still-unreleased music video of The Parlotones’ – Should We Fight Back.

Competition-wise, make sure you have entered the Feiyue competition to win a pair of funky trainers. Then, for some evening entertainment, we have Seamus Murphey’s 12 short films that he created for each song on PJ Harvey’s new album Let England Shake and an animation short called Chick, which is an ironic take on the everyday male-female interaction.

Relevant links:

Member of the Week – Shaun Liddle

What’s Your Story? – Aryan Kaganof

The Parlotones’ – Should We Fight Back

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake ( 12 songs/12 films )

Chick

Feiyue Competition

Project Aiko from one small seed on Vimeo.

With one small seed editor-in-chief Giuseppe Russo as art director, and photographer Stephen Greeff working his magic behind the lens, models were transformed into robotic femmes fatales in a plot of high drama and thrill. The one small seed TV crew filmed the process to show you how our fashion editorials come into being, so just click play to uncover the splendour.

Screenshot

Screenshot

Photographer: Stephen greef

Designers/stylists: hendrik vermeulen
Jean-daniel meyer

Music:‘jupiter room’
‘digitalism in cairo’
Digitalism

Produced: one small seed productions

Shot & edited: shaun blomkamp