The Rhino Parade is an innovative Rhino conservation fundraising campaign run by The Wildlands Conservation Trust . It is aimed at profiling the plight of South Africa’s rhino and creating public awareness around the crisis that we as a nation are facing, whilst raising funding to support the rhino conservation efforts.
We, as the Graphic Designers at Durban University of Technology, were asked to work with a celebrity to design and then ultimately decorate a ¾ life size rhino sculpture to represent the celebrity's personal message around rhino poaching... to help save the rhino's. The celebrity I designed for is Ray Phiri, the musician.
We, as the Graphic Designers at Durban University of Technology, were asked to work with a celebrity to design and then ultimately decorate a ¾ life size rhino sculpture to represent the celebrity's personal message around rhino poaching... to help save the rhino's. The celebrity I designed for is Ray Phiri, the musician.
Mr Ray Phiri is a world-renowned musician who uses his musicas a way of story telling. He believes deeply in the essence of Ubuntu, and thenotion that one should never eat before his brother eats. He encourages peopleto invest in the riches that lie in their hearts, in their culture, and intheir wisdom. He is a selfless human being; his dream is to make the world hurtless. He respects humans as much as he respects animals, seeking to co-existwith every living thing. He has never lost his roots.
His attitude towards life inspired my illustrations anddesigns for the rhino. Since Ray is so humble and grounded, yet feisty andpassionate, I decided to use an earthy and fairly neutral colour palette. TheAfrican tree with deep growing roots was a major aspect of my design solution,after having understood more about himself and his personality. He, as with a tree, is full of wisdom. Heonce said, “this is your story, my story, our story... the unfinished story,”which is a relevant quote to add on the rhino because Ray is a story-teller,and because the rhino’s story concerns all Africans, and we are the only oneswho can be the rhino’s voice. I also designed a pair of hands which hold a little tree sprout, todemonstrate Ray’s nurturing and philanthropic nature. The heart on the rhino’srear is huge in size, to encapsulate Ray’s passion for both the endangeredrhino and other forms of life.
His attitude towards life inspired my illustrations anddesigns for the rhino. Since Ray is so humble and grounded, yet feisty andpassionate, I decided to use an earthy and fairly neutral colour palette. TheAfrican tree with deep growing roots was a major aspect of my design solution,after having understood more about himself and his personality. He, as with a tree, is full of wisdom. Heonce said, “this is your story, my story, our story... the unfinished story,”which is a relevant quote to add on the rhino because Ray is a story-teller,and because the rhino’s story concerns all Africans, and we are the only oneswho can be the rhino’s voice. I also designed a pair of hands which hold a little tree sprout, todemonstrate Ray’s nurturing and philanthropic nature. The heart on the rhino’srear is huge in size, to encapsulate Ray’s passion for both the endangeredrhino and other forms of life.
