A-Maze Magazine by A-Maze

Helping Creatives Navigate the Art Maze

Nalson Makamo – the Search for Eternal Joy Clive Sithole -An African Inspiration

Reasons why why every every Reasons creative should should draw draw creative effective ways ways to to 44 effective market your your business business market part 11 part

Things Every Young Artist Should Know. Things Every Young

ArtistShould Know

Thebeginners beginnersguide guideto tostart startyour yourcreative creativejourney journey The

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Nomthunzi Mashabalaba

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Hard Work – why does great art take so much work Clive Sithole – An African Inspiration

Pamela Phatsamo

Urban Nomad

Get 15 Appointments a day – Called Call tips

Why Not Use A Refrence – The importancqe of using refrencing

4 ways you can use word of mouth marketing for growth

Reason Why Every Creative Should Draw

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Nalson Makamo – The search for eternal joy

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3 Important things brands Should know about their customers

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4 effective ways to market your business Part 1

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E’kse – High Morning

Amaze�Digital�Magazine Helping Creatives Navigate the Art Maze

Who we Are Art is an explosion Artist helping artist navigate the art space. Art maze magazine is a collective of artists who are dedicated to helping creatives navigate the art space by providing information and help in a fun and helpful way. What Do we Do To our readers. We provide information and Helpful services that are both impactful and at the same time create an environment for learning and exploring the art space as a whole. What sets us apart is our ability to think and feel like an artist and our ability to identify with our audience, we are able to offer services and information that gets to our audience and they can immediately implement. All the while giving services that will provide nearly customized help for brands, business and individuals.

For our advertisers, we offer a wide range of platforms for them to advertise to our audience by making sure we always have an engaged audience that can be funneled into their products and services. We pride ourselves in excellence. Why Work With Us Outside the question of why not work with us, We are a young Media agency. We can offer great services yeah, and so can all the other brands. We do not merely work with you. You become part of our family. Like family, we take care of our own. Ensuring that you prosper along with us. Helping you achieve your goals.

NOMTHUNZI MASHALABA

(B.1975 South Africa) Celebrating some of the best creatives whose work you will meet along your creative journey. She has been an inspiration for us at Art Maze and another interesting guide post to the creative looking to make it in the creative industry.

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Nomthunzi Mashalaba’s work is quietly beautiful and introspective, much like the artist herself.

Matters Conceptual, Erdmann Contemporary (2010) Crossing Boundaries, Qatar, VCUQ Art Gallery (2011) Something to Write Home About, Greatmore Studio (2011) Slices of Life, Infecting the City Festival in Cape Town (2011)

She uses delicate layering, vivid colour and seemingly random bits of text that add ambiguity and intrigue to her creations. Throughout her career Mashalaba has worked in a range of disciplines, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, video and even performance –choosing whichever medium best conveys an experience or idea. She plays with fragility of memory and perception, her work always ambiguous, and unresolved, evading clear definition. The fragility of her work makes a fascination contrast to the mosaic translations produced in collaboration with Spier Arts Academy, and offers her work another conceptual positioning.

Hard Work

(Why does great art take so much work) A typical morning; Wake up at around 4 am. Clean around the studio, organise the work desk. Open the diary and see what’s on the menu for the day. Turn on the computers and Software. Load a playlist. Do a bit of exercise. Bath and dress. Pull up the work chair and we working until midnight. Pass out for a few hours and start all over again. Why is art so much hard work? I grew up poor and I never want to be poor again. Art was the one thing I was good at from a very young age and it was one thing I could do all day without having any complaints. My parents couldn’t really afford to sustain my art habit so I had to do it myself. Turning the Passion for art I have into a business that could sustain me was not easy

work. Working for yourself means being the input ( sales, marketing, Advertising), the Process ( making the actual artworks) Output ( Selling to clients, People buying my products) and being a one man team at the time was one of the hardest challenges of my life its draining and often times you are just dragging yourself from one point to another. And the truth is. It should be like that for art. With the number of creatives that exist and the few spots available mean the competition to be the best creative means being better then the next guy by a huge margin. In all aspects, not just the creativity or artwork quality. That means long hours doing tiring work with little to no resources. Most of the hardship is caused by the

number of tasks you need to get done to get one person to buy your services and any products you may make. For example by the time you get to a client who needs to buy that art, you have at times spent months painting. In those months you need to have means to live. Meaning you need to do some other things to get money to pay for that time painting? Often than not, you will not find buyers quickly and you might spend months working trying to find a buyer which also costs money.

The mental stress you go through while working is also another reason why being a creative is hard work. There is never a time of true comfort, you in an environment that is constantly changing. You always have to be producing work to stay relevant. You need to market yourself while networking and getting the right contacts. So why go through all of that pain and struggle? Because creating is satisfying work. You get to build things that other people can only dream of. You have access to a different way of looking at life and a different way to be alive and leave your mark for future generations.

CLIVE SITHOLE AN AFRICAN INSPIRATION BY ANDILE CHILIZA

Clive has become one of Africa’s living celebrated artist with world class craft, work and skill along with a very personal style and signature for depicting South Africa or African Art Primary as a Ceramist in pottery as they usually put in the west. Raising awareness in African Culture and shining our Flag all across the Globe. Clive Sithole was born in 1971 and was largely influenced by the 1980s. The 1980s were a turbulent time culturally, and were marked by growing global capitalism, global mass media, significant discrepancies in wealth, alongside a distinctive sense of music and fashion, epitomized by electronic pop music and hip hop. Neo Geo and The Pictures Generation became leading art movements during the decade, alongside Neo-Expressionism which became popular in Germany, France and Italy (where it was known as Transavanguardia). Artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel were leading artists of the era, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who established the street art and graffiti movements. With commission from Art patriots across the world Sithole has definitely made a name for himself in the industry and continues to deepen his mark in carving a name for himself and a lot of artists back home. His work and Pottery Showcasing a unique African narrative and heritage is seen and found in the most Prestigious galleries all over the Globe Italy, France, London and Germany to name a few and has sold pieces of his in Private spaces. An artist's journey can be very challenging and some lose sight of the destination of big goal or dream that's aligned with the self and soul. As a young boy growing up in the rural far early before his booming career Clive used to play a lot by the river in the western Cape of South Africa collecting clay and making play pieces just in the name of fun, soon after he saw his the elders make pots, this old practice and craft would become a base for his works. Soon After or not long after he came to Durban and as a creative one of the spaces he worked in is found in CBD called the BAT canter where he worked along many of South Africa’s seasoned and thriving Artists. After Bats he went to UKZN to further himself academically all the while further mentoring and sharing his skills. Many would agree that he definitely is one of Africa's best Let's celebrate our own and what we can learn from such stories, never give up on the dream and your dream no one can understand the importance of dream and the only one who can bring it to life. Take inspiration from such great creatives and find yourself through your own Art-Maze

PAMELA PHATSIMO SUNSTRUM

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum is a figurative ar tist and designer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. 08

Her work has been featured in numerous galleries and exhibitions, including Tiwani Contemporary in London, England and the Museum of African Design in Johannesburg. Sunstrum was born in 1980 in Mochudi, Botswana, and spent her childhood in different parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. She came to the United States in 1998 and received a BA with Highest honours from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in International Studies with a concentration in Trans-national Cultures in 2004. Sunstrum received her MFA from the Mt. Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007. She later lived in Baltimore Maryland as an artist in residence at the Baltimore Creative Alliance, while also teaching at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is currently based out of Johannesburg, South Africa while showcasing in both individual and group exhibitions around the world. Sunstrum was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Art & Art History

of York University in 2017. Driven by a fascination with ancient mythologies and scientific theories, Sunstrum muses on the origins of time, geological concepts, and ideas about the universe. Her works on paper, large-scale installations, and stop-motion films are rooted in autobiography, addressing the development of transnational identities, human connections, and cross-border rituals. Motivated by her experiences in diverse locales, Sunstrum explores how one’s sense of identity develops within geographic and cultural contexts. Her drawings – narrative landscapes that appear simultaneously futuristic and ancient – shift between representational and fantastical depictions of volcanic, subterranean, cosmological, and precipitous landscapes. Having lived in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the United States, Sunstrum developed an alter-ego, Asme, to convey her evolving selfhood.

The image of Asme is often super- imposed with overlapping gestures as a means of suggesting compounded time, illustrating her universal, atemporal existence. Sunstrum’s landscapes also expand on themes of timelessness; she reconstructs sites both real and imagined to reveal the small scale of individuals within the vast universe, a concept that is reminiscent of 18th-century notions of the sublime.

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About Urban Nomad For the explorer in you

Urban Nomad is a brand dedicated to the explorer inside, the traveller, the back packer. The world has so much to be seen and we live in world now where you can explore the whole world. Enjoy a drink in New York and Eat in South Africa or Fly to the Maldives or back pack through Europe. The Adventure is out there. The Urban Nomad is the Person who is an explorer. A collector of sights and memories. Meeting new people, embracing new cultures and living on the road. We cater to the explorer by giving

them clothing that expresses the personality and love to explore, being an individual. Living to the limit of your being. From the City to the rural. The Nomad can be found. Like the trades men and woman of the past who would travel the world looking for trade and creating opportunities. The Urban Nomad is more than just the clothes they were or the place where they are found. The Urban Nomad is a lover of life and cares about the common good. We offer clothing and accessories that help the Nomad in you in your journey.

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Get 15 Appointments a Day. 3 Cold Call Tips Cold calling clients sucks but it is an important part of building your small business.

1. Get a Yes that’s actually a yes

The book how to Win Friends and Influence People, which shows how to connect with people by being more likeable. Getting an agreement. Not by tricking people but by asking the right kinds of questions. Finding Key Principles to base your agreement on. Creating a shared perspective or view by finding things you have in common. Most people you call are going to say that they're happy with the services or products they currently have, so begin with that. For example, begin by saying, “I’m sure you have an insurance plan that you’re happy with.” The prospect will most likely agree that they do, but because you understand their position, they will instantly feel more comfortable with you. Then move the conversation along using questions about things you will continue to agree on:

Can we agree that time is money and that anything is possible? Is it possible that there is a better insurance offer out there? Once you have the prospect agreeing with you, you begin to transition to, the process of setting up an appointment with them. It’s important that you never disagree with the person because this can be seen as arguing. You can acknowledge their objections and agree with their viewpoint, but not their conclusion.

2. It is not a numbers game.

There is a long-held belief that the more people you call, the more appointments you'll be able to set up. This doesn’t account for the reality we live in today. Think about your own day. You might be in meetings in the morning, errands over your lunch break and taking your kids to a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. If I missed you in the morning, maybe able to reach you in the

afternoon. The key is to call fewer prospects each day, and instead call those prospects more often. Is calling each lead three to four times a day for up to three to four days.

3. Find the right people

Most people fail at cold calling because of this one mistake. Identify a need when prospecting on the phone. This old way of thinking has you only focusing on prospects who have a demonstrated need. By doing this you have limited your potential prospects to a small percentage of any B2B market. This is because 95% of all people will tell you that they are happy with what they have. They don’t have a need. They’re happy with what has worked. If you’re only focusing on those who have a need, it can make your cold calling efforts frustrating.

why not Use a Reference?

Looking back, I have robbed myself of a lot of creative skills. Why? Because when I started working with reference images. I instantly got batter at pose work or ﬁgure or colour.

Now, I won’t lie. I have been for years lazy to reference my images for work that I have made for my illustrative career and the fears I’ve had to be restricted by the image in front of me that I won’t do as good of a job being creative and coming up with something unique.

From one creative to another, there is a lot of shame for using reference images. Just because people expect you to just be able to draw anything, even something you have never seen before.

(How important is it to use references for your work)

It was easier even for a conceptual piece to create because I didn’t have to come up with ideas on the spot, my brain wasn’t working too hard thinking. Instead, I could be in the moment and paint.

Honestly it just annoying. The amount of time spent making sure something looks like your imagination only to look at the real thing and it looks nothing alike. Cure? Well, using a reference. Not copying someone else’s work but using an image of a pose, using a piece of digital art for a colour reference or whichever you need in-between. Figure drawing is by far where you need a good reference for your work. If you look at how diﬀerent the human body is from person to person and how it

folds from pose to pose to how light hits the ﬂesh from diﬀerent sources of light. There is a lot of things to memories and remember whenever you start painting. Composition is also one of those things we want to look at when getting reference images. You can get a bunch of images and compose a whole painting just by having some good references with great composition. Then you can slowly digest and keep the parts you need from picture to picture while building your painting or design or any other form of art you may be thinking about making. Observation, there is a whole world of detail that we see but do not register while we painting. Having a good reference around helps in getting into those details and how they contribute to the sum of the whole image. You can then mix and match ideas and work from there. No need to wreck your brain coming up with a huge mix of detail that isn’t even essential to the plot of your art. Referencing is a great skill to have in your creative bag as it will help you stay sharp as well as avoid that artistic block that you get when you are just purely taking from memory.

4 Ways you Can Use Word-of-Mouth Marketing to Drive Growth Start Ups can get hyper-focused on paid channels like Google Ads and Facebook Ads, but personal recommendations drive buying decisions. We all know we like to do business with the people we know trust and like. The one thing that does get me every time, is when someone I know and respect recommends a piece of software. Food or Clothes. A single personal recommendation from someone I trust is all it takes for me to

download a demo, try some new food or go buy a piece of clothing with no other marketing or sales. Most companies don’t make the effort to gain good word-of-mouth because it’s hard to measure, but it’s a huge missed opportunity to none expensive way to drive more growth. There are four simple ways that you can use to “make word of mouth” work for your marketing strategy.

Channels These are the points where people are able to get in contact with you as a business. People are busy and the world is moving faster than it’s ever been. Your job is to make the process for you client customer shopper as easy as possible to talk and share referrals about your business to their friends.

If you’re selling marketing software, you’ve probably got marketing leaders, and if you’re selling customer-service software, I’m sure you’ve got a customer-service team.

Celebrate advocates When People Love your product, it is natural that they will want to talk about it.

This doesn’t mean making them some kind of official influencer and curating everything you want them to say.

It shows that you actually appreciate that they took out the time to do something that directly benefits you. The incentives they give to those who recommend new subscribers are very expensive, Find a way to reward your loyal audience that sends people to your business. Non-cash incentives often encourage more meaningful recommendations because they are authentically fans of the product and not just hunting for some easy money.Use your internal experts No matter what product you sell, you probably have people you work with that fit your customer profile, and you should empower them to be the face of the product in whatever way they want.

These internal experts are a huge untapped resource in most companies. They carries a lot of influence among the audience they are trying to sell to.

The key to good word-of-mouth marketing is that it’s authentic, so don’t try to control the message but encouraging them to sound like humans not ads. The way you get more word-of-mouth marketing is by building a relationship with customers that goes beyond just buying and selling. Your customers expect you to have a good product or service, but what they don’t expect is for you to be invested in them as people. You can give them a voice in your content by asking for quotes, give them a platform to tell their story at events and roundtables, and surprise them with gifts outside of when their contract is up to be renewed.

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Reasons Why every Creative Should Draw To Teach the Eye to See Drawing helps the eye capture better detail for those artwork or designs. It teaches the eye to look for those finer details that we would ordinarily miss. Most creatives abandon it over time to focus on their chosen medium but with it we miss the fundamentals of art that exist in almost every creative discipline. To Inspire Before we even work on our final design or master piece, we need to be able to see it. For conceptual creatives this is very important because this is where you mix all the elements of your Creative piece. The process of doodling your designs or art before making them, helps your brain free up ideas and make connections that if in the actual moment of building you wouldnʼt make. To Record Shapes and Patterns for a Composition A creative piece made from 4 or less shape elements is both beautiful and bold. Making it have a stronger appeal and easily digestible by the eye of the viewer. Drawing helps in being able to capture the way the shapes connect together in order to make the final piece. Knowing how to draw these shape

elements helps you in creating more balanced compositions that look pleasing to the eye. Analyse, Problem Solve and Fix To solve a problem is always easier on pencil because you can always remove the parts you donʼt want and add what you do want. The process is time effective and saves you a lot of headaches because you can have the changes happen now. Not having to invest any material is good. We all know how expensive creative materials are. Less Time Problem Solving More Time Working By working with a drawing you know exactly what you will be doing when you get to the canvas or design tablet. The process of drawing, problem solving and finalising ideas within the sketch helps save so much time when you finally get to the part of making the art.

improve you actual drawing and painting skills grow. Helps in building an agenda Sometimes when building the art you get lost in the fun of building that you forget the message you are trying to speak about. Drawing helps in building the agenda of what the art will be about, what are the topics you will be speaking to and how you will do that in the art? Improve hand Eye Coordination Constant Practice will help in building a strong hand eye coordination for any creative, especially when you work a lot with your hand. Improve the Memory Drawing needs you to have a really good memory, for holding in all those details, figure, and shape. There is a lot for the brain to keep and remember. Not counting the skills you have picked up over the years to actually make those amazing drawings.

Building Stronger Skills and Improve Drawing consistently will help improve the way you think through a design problem and creative issues you might face with a design or art piece. The act of drawing will help you mind form ideas better and help

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NALSON MAKAMO The Search for Eternal Joy

A Spectacle to behold. Starting your journey as a creative, you need to be able to get an understanding and embrace the scope of creatives that have come before you. For inspiration and as guide posts to see where you can go. Capturing youth Masterfully, Limpopo born artist Nelson Makamo uses a variety of media to create stunning portraits. Not one to follow trends Nelson's Work does not follow the now so normal image of African children as Deprived and poor. He says using this theme or motif is a huge mistake, rather explore both the beauty of youth and the eternal joy of childhood. Although going against such a tide seems hard Nelson's Work seems to have transcended these problems. Maybe that is why his work has been shown in TIME Magazine and was dubbed ‘The Art of Optimism’ and E’kse if you have seen his work you would understand why. The Subjects for his beautiful experiments, Children (and a few adults) would be part of Makamo’s award winning collection of drawings and Colourful paintings. He describes his process; he said: “I’m not really focused on trying to portray them as they are. When I look at someone, the moment I’ve seen them can feel so beautiful. I want to capture that moment on a canvas. I just had this urge to draw, to make a mark,” he says. That desire and passion grew stronger when he got into comic books, and then works by Van Gogh and Picasso. As a start these were beginning influences, it was finding African artists that really made him fall completely in love with art, he says.

akamo body of work forms part of a huge influential iconic brands, such as Georgio Armani, Musician Annie Lenox and hazehof Zutphente kurst Collections. Visual artist Dumile Feni was a major influence, and inspiration, for Makamo. Feni grew up in a poor family in apartheid-era South Africa before going into self-imposed exile in the U.S. and U.K. from 1968 until his death 23 years later. Much of his work focused on the struggle back home, with dark and sometimes disturbing drawings, mostly done in black and white. “My work is completely different to his, stylistically,” Makamo says. “But he’s important to me because I needed to see there was someone who was able to put out an amazing body of work despite living in really tough times.” These days Makamo finds hope in contemporary African artists, including fellow South Africans Kemang Wa Lehulere, Sam Nhlengethwa, Dineo Bopape and Zwelethu Machepha, and Nigerian visual artist Toyin Ojih Odutole. He’s also a “big fan” of American painter Kerry James Marshall – whose works exploring black history and identity in the U.S. have reportedly made him the highest paid living black artist in the world.

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3 Important Things Brands Should know About their Customers

you are a selling baking supplies. It is obvious that your target market likes baking – but, they have other interests, too. Maybe your market research reveals that many bakers also enjoy knitting. You will know what Post on social media platforms to get your brand noticed by your target customers. You can then better set your budget to better reach your target audience. 2.What influences their purchases All customers have different criteria to determine whether or not they want to buy a product or service. Some make decisions based on price while others need recommendations from trusted sources. They’re many reasons why a customer will choose to purchase one product over another, and it is important to understand why your customers come to this decision. These influences will directly affect your marketing tactics. 3.What type of content they respond toContent is king, and all marketers should be well aware of the types of content that their customers wants and needs

We have carried out many market research projects and we have developed tools for Finding out exactly what our clients need to know about their customers. There are some parts that influence your market directly. Such as: age, income and location. However when you think about it, you notice there are other areas you should focus on as well. These areas can dramatically influence how well you connect with your market. 1.interests It can be helpful to look deeper into the interests of your consumer. To get past the obvious typical interests. For example if

For example, email marketing may not be ideal for brands that wish to target a younger demographic. Because most teens are not on email but on social media like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. These are more likely to get a response. The opposite will be true for brands that aim to appeal to professionals or an older demographic E-mail marketing the types of content that will appeal most to these consumers. So, be sure to understand your customers preferred form for contact – and, get in touch with them through those means.

4 Effective Ways to Market Your Business part 1 Attract the target market you're looking for. your customers may be inclined to share information about you and your company through their social media, which could quickly reach a much larger audience. When you receive complimentary calls or emails from customers, be sure to quickly thank them and politely ask for a favourable review and to tell their friends via social media. Positive word-of-mouth serves as a reliable endorsement and can be more powerful than any advertisement that someone sees because they know and trust the source of the endorsement, whether it’s from a

friend, co-worker, or family member. Focus on generating repeat business from existing customers. Maintaining communication and a favourable relationship with your customers is one of the easiest ways to generate repeat business. However, you can help to ensure repeat business by adopting several approaches: Oﬀer a discount on repeat orders that’s exclusively for returning customers. Reward customers for money they spend on your business. Encourage customers to sign up for (opt in-

to) a weekly, biweekly or monthly email that will offer special discounts and promotions as well as useful information that the customer will find valuable. Create and distribute coupon codes to your existing customers (or potential customers) That offer a percentage discount off their next order, free shipping or a savings of a fixed amount. Your potential customers can quickly discover exactly what other people think about whatever it is you’re selling. It’s extremely important to put forth your best efforts to provide top-notch customer service, always be honest with your customers, sell only the highest quality products, fulfil and ship your orders promptly and take steps to build strong relationships with your customers. After customers receive their order, its then up to them to decide whether they want to write and publish a review about your product(s) and business. This is purely an optional activity on their part, but there are simple steps you can take to encourage your customers to publish a positive review of your product(s), without you coming off as being pushy or unprofessional.

Just as great reviews can help your business, earning poor ratings and reviews can literally destroy your business. Never underestimate the importance of ratings and review systems as you decide how you’ll operate your business and ultimately treat your customers. When the tags you include match a potential customer’s search words, a listing for your shop or one of your product listings appears in that person’s search results with a link directly to your shop or that product. Ultimately, once you start generating traffic to your shop, provides detailed analysis and information about those visitors. This information includes what keywords were used to find and visit your shop or product listings. Tracking this information is a fast and easy way to determine which of your keywords/tags is drawing the most traffic and which ones need to be fine-tuned or replaced with more commonly used words/tags.

E’Kse - High Morning Ekse is a series of short in coherent stories designed to mock the ordinary everyday life. If follows the life of a township dwelling unemployed youth as he battles the challenges of being unemployed and building a business. Along with ridiculous hyperbola made out of the challenges personified. The story is aimed for ages 18 to 26 and bring humor with educational entertainment. The language used is vulgar but through research of similar shows, comedy shows and writings became adopted to better meet our marketing needs The story follows Ek. As he goes about his day. The story begins as he wakes up in the morning and complains about his day. This is where he thinks of a way to get some relief of the stress by going to get a smoke at the merchant’s place.

On his way he gets stopped by an old friend. He offers him weed for his stress as an apology for a past debt. From the first puff he gets sucked into another dimension where he has to dance for his and his planets life. He wins the contest only to return back into the same place he had left. Falling asleep once again he awoke thinking it was only a dream. But there is a call on the phone this time. The story is designed like how a person who is high on marijuana would speak if they were telling a story high. We aim to put more content that speaks about the social ills we face min the township going forward as we refine our style and audience base. Illustrated and written by Grimson Darkhand.

A-Maze Magazine Navigating the Art Maze