TaVaTake Designs
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Offering Graphic Design services locally and internationally.
19/03/2024
Thank you for featuring me :) and thank you all for your kinds words
NEWS || Zimbabwean visual communicator and type designer, Taurai Valerie Mtake recently collaborated with Google Fonts to bring the Madimi One typeface to life!
Just two weeks ago, Google Fonts proudly introduced two new typefaces made by a Nigerian designer and a Zimbabwean designer.
Madimi One, a beautifully crafted rounded sans font with a unique blend of geometric and organic elements was designed by Taurai Valerie Mtake, hailing from Zimbabwe.
In a recent interview with Tunmise Afape from The Creatives Note, Taurai shared her inspiration, citing a transformative moment while watching a TED talk by Prof. Saki Mafundikwa, the renowned author of ‘Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Afrika’.
Taurai's journey began at the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), where she earned her Diploma in Graphic Design and New Media, mentored by none other than Prof. Mafundikwa himself. She later pursued her Bachelor's in Visual Communication at the Greenside Design Center College of Design.
Let's celebrate Taurai's incredible achievement and the vibrant diversity she brings to the world of typography!
Full story - https://thecreativesnote.substack.com/p/zimbabwean-type-designer-taurai-mtake-on-madimi?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
15/11/2022
W E L C O M E T O O P E N S C H O O L
This Wednesday, 16 November, 4.30pm
Svarta havet. Free and open to all
The Look of (Black) Music. Nathan Hamelberg.
The Visual aesthetics of African-American music has greatly influenced how popular music of the 20th has been perceived and received. From a time where ’race Music’ went hand in hand with the ’separate but equal’ ideology of the Jim Crow days to the iconography of the civil rights and black power eras, imagery has framed how Black American music has been understood.
Is art the prime mover in society as for instance Art Ensemble of Chicago claimed? Or does it merely reflect changes in society? Welcome to an open lecture about album cover art in soul music, blues, jazz, gospel, funk, disco and hip hop from the 20th century and its ramifications. Nathan Hamelberg, culture critic, record collector and communications officer at Selam Sounds gives a talk on the part played by music promotion and imagery was intertwined with the advancement of Black struggles in the US and view of said struggles globally.
Poster design: Taurai V Mtake with VKM2
At times we take long to publish our work because we want everything to come out perfect. Well, today I am proud that a friend of mine The Idea has decided to start publishing his content for The Creatives of Zimbabwe. It was not easy but lots was learnt. I’m proud of you and thank you for producing my very first ever documentary film.
Link to full video below. Be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel, it’s just the beginning. More content coming 🥰
Happy New Month 😊
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72CLPd2dkxA
Revived and Reimagined
Afrika was never a country. ‘African’ was never a language.
The history of Afrikan writing symbols is extremely rich and vast even though colonial history will have you believe there was little or one way of visual communication amongst Afrikan, rock art paintings being the obvious choice. This is an outdated belief that I find the pleasure of debunking.
My curiosity towards Afrikan writing systems begins with a book by Professor Saki Mafundikwa titled Afrikan Alphabets. In this book I was fascinated by the Nguni Symbol Writing system as it was closer to the Southern African context, which I am blessed to call home. Through this journey and research I asked where the inspiration for my work came from as design school predominantly offered European principles of design found in Modernism and Bauhaus, but never really explored those of Afrika. This was an important turning point in finding myself through typography and writing scripts.
*Madímì, is an ongoing project looking at the revival of Nguni Symbol Writing examining Indigenous Knowledge embedded within writing systems. The aim is to reveal how this knowledge may be authentically and thoughtfully brought into contemporary visual practice and passed on to following generations through capturing Indigenous Knowledge, which in essence is ‘living’ knowledge, capable of being preserved and transferred, while being produced and imagined in contemporary and future ways.
This then brings me to the question of how design can become a vehicle for the preservation and promotion of Indigenous Knowledge Systems. A zulu proverb says, “Indlela ibuzwa kwabaphambili” (The road ahead is directed by those who lead) and so organically my research led me to the elders who've inspired me, the likes of mama Esther Mahlangu who is well known for her practice of Ndebele patterns and, among many titles an Afrikan philosopher of science, Dr Zulumathabo Zulu to mention a few.
For many years now, it has been my desire to do something for Afrika Day as it is a special day for me to celebrate the greatness that I come from and the inspiration for what I do. I am proudly Afrikan! And it brings me the greatest pleasure to present to you my solo exhibition, an extension of my MA thesis project. Revived and Reimagined. When you walk through this exhibition, you will see *madímì’s conceptual and practical connection to Indigenous Knowledge and the unpacking of my creative process in terms of how it fluidly flow/ed between keeping and creating knowledge. This two day exhibition begins with an opening on 25 May 2022 and ends with a series of workshops, 26 May 2022.
Exhibition Address: Fiberspace Gallery, Katarina Bangata 40, Stockholm
Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/34z7cV7av
Dress code: Afrikan
Looking forward to seeing you on AFRIKA DAY!
AfriKa spelt with a K (not a typo)
24/04/2022
YOU ARE INVITED
Afrika day with an Afrikan twist! I am inviting you to madímì exhibition; a celebration & study of indigenous knowledge while exploring the Nguni Symbol Writing and how it may be revived.
When: 25-26 May 2022
Where: Fiberspace Gallery
Katarina Bangata 40
116 39 Stockholm
Sweden
Scan QR code to RSVP or follow link in bio and fill in details 😊 Program will be sent to you on the 10 May 2022. Tack så mycket.
AfriKa spelt with a K (not a typo) 😉
03/12/2021
I will be speaking at conference today. I am delighted and honoured. *madímì - an on going project which seeks to promote indigenous knowledge of Nguni Symbol Writing.
26/11/2021
SHORT NOTICE but here it goes:
This weekend 27 & 28 November 2021 I will be exhibiting and selling some of my designs at Christmas Market, in Stockholm Sweden. These designs are an extension of my ongoing research which I have renamed "The Revival of Nguni Symbol Writing". I will be selling screen printed posters, a Christmas card and button badges. Please note this is a limited edition. As for the fabric, it is not available yet but stay tuned for more.
Thank you for your support.
TaVa Take TaVaTake Designs Nhaka Creative Agency
02/11/2021
Aspire to Inspire
School visits
05/09/2021
📸
05/09/2021
Just😁
05/09/2021
📸
29/06/2021
I am proud to announce that TODAY 29 June 2021, we
Tapiwanashe Garikayi
TaVaTake Designs
will be speaking at the at 1800hrs CAT. Curated by Simon Charwey
For us this is a BIG THING as we will be representing not just ourselves, but a continent to the whole world tonight. It is an honour to present on this stage.
To find out what this is all about register here (link in bio)
Mama AfriKa, this one is for you.
20/05/2021
I am inviting you to join the conversation 😊😊 Link in bio 😊
08/04/2021
Rebrand done for a business based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ahmed Dajee, the talented designer behind Atelier Dajee, launched his label in 2009, with a focus on bespoke womenswear. The brand produces a much sought after ready-to-wear collection. Inspiration includes the interplay of Johannesburg’s energy contrasted with classic romanticism, with the main source being female energy.
More about the brand: www.maisondajee.com
02/04/2021
Logo design for an entrepreneur. Diamond Stitches is a small company founded by Harare based Entreprenuer, Kudzayi Madziyire. It manufactures and supplies corporate wear.protective wear, uniforms, corporate gifts and branding.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
About TaVaTake
I am a graphic designer who started creative problem solving and Art at a very young age and grew throughout my education at Dominican Convent School in Harare, with the support of my family. I attended Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA) where I honed my skills through a two year Graphic Design and New media Diploma programme, mentored by Professor Saki Mafundikwa, and graduating in 2012, becoming the youngest and overall second best student. During the same programme, my designs were selected for the SOUL Trust Poster design competition as well as a book cover design for Simudza Zimbabwe Competition. Most of my designs were type inspired. Subsequently, in order to gain as much experience and exposure as I could, I acquired a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design (2016) and Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Visual Communication Design, specialising in Graphic Design at Greenside Design Centre, Johannesburg (2017).
My passion for typography led me to being the first Zimbabwean awarded membership to the International Society of Type Designers for my project titled, “The life’s work of Adrian Frutiger” in 2016. My project, Reviving the "Bantu Symbol Writing" into contemporary Visual culture received three awards from the two most prestigious creative industry and brand communication awards for Africa and the Middle East: a Gold Loerie, a Gold Pendoring as well as a Grand Prix Pendoring award.
My project, the only student entry to take Gold at the Loeries 2017, became the overall winner of the student category across Africa. In May 2018 I exhibited my project at the Harare International Festival of the Arts, and in October 2018 a rebrand project I worked on during my internship at Grid Worldwide TBWA won a Bronze award at the Loeries 2018.
I am particularly interested in the potential of type design in contemporary African society, where traditional cultural practices often become a staged authenticity in which the history of meaning in the objects and designs is often lost, sometimes even to the producers themselves. It is in this way that important indigenous systems have been transfigured in contemporary society merely as elements of decorative art, or a curio for mass consumption. I can see the potential of type design to halt this waste and abandon of our most valuable cultural resources.
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