The late Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” – words that have gone on to inspire countless South Africans to achieve their goals. Never has this been truer than for students of the Vega School of Brand Leadership (Vega), a brand of the Independent Institute of Education (The IIE), who were instrumental in designing the new corporate identity for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, which is to be built by March 2016.
As part of Vega’s annual Brand Challenges, students are presented with the opportunity to undertake real-life industry briefs from external organisations, giving them invaluable practical experience in the corporate business sphere. This year, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital afforded Vega’s third year visual communication, copywriting and multimedia design students, the opportunity to create the hospital’s visual identity. Deeshana Chetty, Nkgabiseng Matou, Nichola McKay Davis, Vanja Lavadinovic, and Kagiso Magoba worked on the project alongside Vega brand navigators to create a memorable visual identity that will bear great significance for years to come.
Following the soil-turning event for the hospital, Dr Carla Enslin co-founder of Vega, elaborated on the new visual identity, “The logo is built on the concept of ubuntu, which includes the essential human virtues such as compassion, humanity and care. These are also typically qualities that are found in family units. As can be seen from the logo, the child is at the centre surrounded by family, doctors, nurses, porters and friends, all working together to ensure that the child receives the care, compassion, kindness and respect that they need.”
The students wanted to create an identity that would truly reflect what Madiba wanted to accomplish by building a hospital specifically for children. They were able to capture the essence of Mandela’s vision by using their expertise to create an exceptional and memorable visual identity, reflecting just that.
An elated Sibongile Mkhabela, the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust, acknowledged the astounding work of Vega’s students and humbly expressed her gratitude for the wonderful work that they had done. “We’re so grateful for what the students of Vega have contributed to the project. We absolutely adore the visual identity they have created and we have no doubt that the rest of South Africa will love the visual identity that was created by a group of young students for children.”
Dr. Enslin concluded that Vega was honoured to have been afforded the opportunity to work on a brand challenge of this magnitude. “This was indeed a groundbreaking addition to other Brand Challenges we’ve worked on in the past. Vega would love to get involved further as we have a deep vested interest in the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and want to continue to be a part of its success and legacy.”
If you would like to know more about Vega’s annual Brand Challenges, please visit www.vegaschool.com.
Article issued by Vega School. To view their profile on SAstudy, click here.