Halo Year end review 2019: Sala Kahle 2019, Sawubona 2020!!

For those of you who don’t live in the Kingdom of KwaZulu-Natal – “Sala Kahle” is the Zulu phrase for Goodbye and means “Stay Well”. And Sawubona means “I See You”. It’s an apt farewell for the end of a decade and a time of reflection as we enter a new one.

2019 has been a richly blessed year for Halo. We’ve had fantastic growth; we’ve made new friends and clients; learned new skills; welcomed new team members and strategically focused further as corporate business and marketing designers.

It’s hard to narrow our Top 10 highlights of the year, but here goes:

1. Branding history in the making. We are chuffed to be working with the Multiply Group on the iconic Umhlanga Arch. This is Durban’s newest (and most spectacular) iconic landmark and it’s an honour to be involved in this history in the making! The Arch launches mid 2020, mark that on your calendar!  The Multiply Group was established in 2016 and already has created such positive economic and social change both in South Africa and globally – they inspire us to be and do better!
2. Remote mine film and photography. Hayes directed a team to produce video and photography for Rio Tinto in Madagascar. A true adventure complete with the challenges that come with leading a world-class crew into a remote area. The outcome sees our imagery featured on their global website and brand library and will continue with further production in the new year. A production like this is not easy but his calm leadership ensured a successful outcome.
   

   This incredible shot was taken from the east coast of Madagascar during the mine shoot.

3. Branding Africa’s best facilities services provider. We renewed our long-term contract with IFS – a giant in Facilities Management in Africa. IFS is special to us – it’s not too often you get to work with a dynamic team with the insight and forethought to make their goal of becoming market leaders become an actuality. Partnering with them we’ve seen a medium sized business rise up like Daniel against Goliath and now they are managing the largest camp in the world at the Mozambican LNG project. We are so proud of them!
4. New team members. Shivani joined Halo as a copywriter and key account manager. We knew we had a gap, but we didn’t realise how much so until we had an in-house wordsmith and the positive energy that she brings us. She and Gillian, who heads up our accounts, are continual cheerleaders and motivators in our studio. After a long search, we found our last missing link in the form of our newest designer Chris who will be joining us in January. A rock musician and Gen-Z creative, he brings Halo to our planned full complement. We’ve never intended to be a big company as then we’d sacrifice agility and personal service. Rather we aim to be an independent specialist creative agency who are the best team you can partner with and with the team culture and talent our team have, we really believe we can do this.
5. Developing Africanacity! Louise & Deshnee have been working hard with the Absa Index and Structured Solutions team to design and systematise their branded material and marketing. This has been challenging and rewarding for Halo to work with a large national bank –  undertaking global UI website projects and learning Excel better than any of us designers ever thought we could! Louise’s hunger for innovation sees us continually looking for new solutions, and Deshnee’s calm approach has led her to become a brand specialist in yet another household company name.
6. We launched 12 websites! Websites are one of the first entry points for a company’s marketing, so being able to contribute to such an integral growth point for them is important to us. We’ve designed brands and presentations; strategies and marketing plans; tender designs and pitch decks… it’s been a busy year!
7. We got to work with our brand crush 🙂 A few years ago we took a photo of a billboard in Richards Bay because we had a crush on the brand (yes, this is at thing for graphic designers!).  Fast-forward to 2019 and we’re working with them!! South32 was spun out of BPH Billiton and are a progressive and downright nice company to work with. What a great combination.
8. Research & Development. Dominique continued to be our secret weapon with her research skills allowing us to develop comprehensive marketing strategy for specialist sectors in Africa and South America. Combined with our work with TechMet – an investment company who are playing a leading role in supply of the key metals critical to the future growth of Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage and Renewable Energy we’ve learned so much about new technology and the the pending global technology revolution.
9. We were able to make a difference! We visited with the elderly at TAFTA and shared a tasty treats with them; we contributed to the SPCA’s fuel fund so they could go the distance; we sponsored 10 underprivileged girls to attend an upliftment course; we assisted with furnishing a young entrepreneur’s boardroom; we re-branded our community church that is providing a Homeground to the people of Westville and beyond. We couldn’t do any of this without our incredible clients. 
10. All of this happened because of you!! Our tenth, and most important highlight is our gratitude – THANK YOU, our amazing clients and supporters. We are so grateful for your faith in Halo and supporting us as we continually grow and evolve. You’ve been patient with us when we’ve hit speed wobbles; given us the freedom new ideas and innovations; trusted us with your brand equity; and said words like “Awesome”, “Amazing” and “Revolutionary” which fuel us to work harder and continually work harder at making a difference.

Thank you.

So long 2019, stay well. And Hello 2020, we see you.

– Team Halo

ps. we’re leaving you with a lemur video we took on shoot 😇