Design and concept partnership Eleutheria has made a name for itself on the off-beat beat, writes Ferial Haffajee
It takes courage to step out of the comfort zone that a salaried job offers. The pension. The regular pay-check. Medical aid. “It’s a jump into the unknown,” says Mark Smith of design company Eleutheria, which he set up with Nolene Palmer. The two had had enough of the boring pens, cuff-links, mugs and T-shirts companies dished up as
promotional items.
And looking at them on the morning we spoke – Smith was in a bright orange shirt and Palmer in a midnight-blue dress, where top and bottom were separated by strategically placed daisy buttons – it is easy to say why ho-hum just wasn’t going to do it.
“The corporate way was very oppressive,” says Palmer, whose immediate thought after resigning was “How am I going to survive?” They survived on potatoes for a while when the months were long and lean.
Two years later, their diet has expanded. So has their client list, which now includes big guns like Sony, CIC Video, Sappi and the SABC. Eleutheria, which means “freedom” in Greek, sources promotional items with a difference. They work with a range of
designers and say that they are “the concept people”.
The SABC’s advertising representatives now walk around with stark silver and red briefcases that Eleutheria designed to replace the usual boring brown leather ones. An innovation selling like hot-cakes was the CD wrap designed for Musica. Instead of buying huge sheets of wrapping paper for a CD, Musica customers can now slip their presents into custom-made bags.
Eleutheria’s most public products are the postcards they design for Grapevine. Those are the free postcards now kept at most upmarket cafs and some restaurants. The company’s spread of cards, which spans everything from the funny to the socially conscious, are favourites on the stands. Another niche it is carving for itself is in CD- cover design.
That’s where the pair initially planned to corner the market. But they found most music companies were using design students’ work and not paying professional fees for CD covers. (Now you know why so many are so bad.) Despite that, Eleutheria has designed several covers for CDs and they are also making a mark with CD stands used to promote bestsellers. Their model of a sinking Titanic was seen recently at most music shops; while a wire saxophone stand to promote Hugh Masekela was designed specifically for the export market.
“Promotional items are not a nice-to-have,” says Smith. “It is essential for branding and improves the bottom line because it gets your name out there.” Eleutheria has also advertised Sony Play-Stations by painting a human model in luminous colours and sending him to a rave; its range of tattoos advertising different products is also making a mark.
Palmer says the company’s strength is that it doesn’t wait for work, but seizes the initiative by approaching companies that are fairly off-beat and willing to take chance. “We really Bolshied’ our way in,” she says.