Indie People: Charles Senyasamore
The English Graphic Designer, Neville Brody, stated that Design is more than just a few tricks to the eye. It’s a few tricks to the brain. For me these words sum up the impression I get from a young graphic Designer named Charles Senyasamore. Having seen his work I can attest, he has more the eye for Design but the brains to vouch for too. With a seemingly reserved personality, he defines himself more along the lines of being a passionate & sceptical visual communicator, who uses homour & the element of surprise as aid to his work which aims to initiate discourse about issues he finds dear.
Charles in the joint campaign by the University of Johannesburg’s Strategic Communication & Graphic Design for Organ Donor Foundation. Photography by Simiso Masuku.
Born in Sebokeng, a township south of Gauteng, More than a quarter of a century, Charles first fell in love with Design through watching the popular South African soapie, Generations, in the early years after the millennium & was intrigued by the creativity & deadline themed lifestyle of one of the characters who worked as a Designer for the New Horizons advertising agency. True to his fantasy, he is a Graphic Design graduate of the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture ( commonly known as FADA) from the University of Johannesburg but he soon found out that it is not at all glamourous as he once dreamed. Nonetheless Design is his calling.
A night view from his apartment near the Johannesburg city center. Bustling with light & inspiration.
As Johannesburg dweller, the city has become his muse & works wonders in front of his camera. Feeding into his love of photography that tells a story of the decay of the city dubbed as “Johustleburg”. He puts better by calling it conceptual photography & within his portfolio, numerous photographs with rusting metal objects like windmills, old cars, farm boom gates can be found, perhaps, from my humble opinion, rust has a certain earthy characteristic to it, which brings a feeling to warmth & tranquility, like how the effect the orange setting sun may have on one.
The stainless steel plate & cup from the constitution Hill Heritage site in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
Abstract & Conceptual are words synonymous with the rest of Charles’ work. He creates design that speaks for itself, design that has character, one that doesn’t necessarily rely on caption to be understood. However his work is an extension of his thoughts and feelings & design is the vessel in which to connect to the world. He hopes that perhaps his work will be appreciated and revered like the likes of Milton Glaser. Paul Rand or Chip Kidd.
Piano keys
Charles Senyasamore bleeds design and every day is another day living with Hemophilia.
Find more of his work on https://www.behance.net/Charles_Senyasamore
*All the above artwork is by Charles Senyasamore, unless stated otherwise.