Alumni
Heloise Janse Van Rensburg
Heloise Janse van Rensburg graduated with a BA Honours in Brand Leadership from Vega and then lectured on the Brand Building and Management undergraduate degree. She is now the National Brand Manager for Dermalogica SA. She eats, sleep and lives economics and loves it!
When we asked her what Vega taught her she had this to say;
“VEGA taught me to THINK. I discovered how every model and piece of theory I crunched into my brain with my BCom has relevance in the world of business and branding. VEGA made me see that brands are the focal point of every innovative business idea and without creativity, no part of commerce can be utilized best it can! Thanks to VEGA I now realize that the art of taking a perfect photograph is just as magnificent as creating a new and pioneering distribution system that strengthens a brand and delivers a product on time! VEGA tied supply and demand, balance sheets and brand valuation together and at last it was not boring anymore! After one year at VEGA I was curious, confident and convinced that my ideas could make a difference somewhere!"
VEGA never puts you in a box; our navigators empower you with knowledge, theoretical models, practical simulation… VEGA establishes the wisdom, the thinking, what you do with it determines the magic.”
Hloni Mahope
Hloni Mahope graduated with a BA Honours in Brand Leadership from Vega Jozi in 2006. She is now the Brand Manager for Nestle Smarties
in SA. Hloni says that Vega taught her not to be dictated to by a textbook
“All the answers we’re searching for don’t always lie in proven theories and streams of archived statistics but that the truth comes alive when we venture out into the world and understand the human story, which is often hidden behind old thinking and decaying strategy.”
Her advice for graduates is;
“Don’t waste your mind by attaching it to the “age old” thinking of your chosen company. Appreciate what is passed onto you in the workplace but also try to see it from a fresh perspective… Question, probe, push and pull and find your own truth. I think as Vega graduates we have the responsibility to go out into the industry and create a stronger, leaner, well oiled machine. Go out there with your guns blazing, work hard and never let anyone make you believe: “Oh but you’re fresh out of varsity, what do you know?”
Ryan Dayes
Ryan Dayes graduated from Vega Cape Town with a BA degree in Creative Brand Communication. He was part of the initial Cape Town class of 2005 when the campus opened.
In 2008 Ryan started his own freelance branding and design consultancy called
Soulshiver. His methodology is based on much of what he learnt at Vega;
“I collaborate with brands, I don’t dictate to brands.”
So what did Vega teach Ryan? Here’s what he had to say;
Vega taught me many things. Both personal and theoretical!
It taught me to think critically and with an open-mind. To not accept facts or in fact anything, for it’s face value but delve deeper into the subject matter, with which we are presented”
Without Vega I would just be good designer, or should I say makeup artist.
Now I am strategic innovator with a mindset on providing sustainable solutions that pave the way of change for the better in all fields of branding and design.”
Rowan Ellis
Rowan Ellis graduated from Vega in 2007 with a BA Honours in Brand Leadership. He now works as patient interface at ResMed Corp in San Diego, USA.
We asked Rowan what Vega taught him and this was his response;
“Where to begin? I attribute all my success to date to Vega. I went into the course thinking I had a strong marketing knowledge and quickly learnt I had only skimmed the surface. Over and above the theory, Vega taught me the importance of working cohesively in a team and the value of working towards the end goal. However; most importantly, Vega taught me how to take the tools of the trade and apply them across a wide scope of industries. Right now I work in a medical device company and I tackle each problem just as I would in the FMCG industry.”
Nicholas Pereira
Nicholas Pereira has been working as an Art Director/ACD for 9+ years in South Africa, Ireland and the Middle East. He was one of Vega's first graduating students and has worked at great advertising agencies with Creative Directors such as Tony Granger, Graham Warsop, Erik Vervroegen and Sandy De Witt. He is currently the creative director at Lowe Bull in Kenya. He's won numerous awards including a Cannes Lion amongst others. He won the first gold Loerie award for Vega
So Nicolas, what did Vega teach you?
Everything and anything worthwhile happens outside the box.
So what advice do you have for any graduates?
Do what everyone else wished they had. If you're not passionate about it, don't do it at all. Travel. Be fabulous, break every rule and moisturise, moisturise, moisturise.
Daniel Neville
Currently the MD of Idea Bounty, a crowdsourcing platform that provides a secure channel for the worldwide creative community to offer solutions to creative briefs, he heads up both the business and operations end of things at Quirk (Cape Town). Idea Bounty employs a grand total of three people - Daniel sits at the head and oversees everything from business development to operations. The business development end of things involves tasks like drawing up and implementing everything from business growth strategy as well sales and marketing functions. On the operations end he makes sure that all community management functions are happening as well as overseeing client support work and site/platform development strategies. Idea Bounty is owned by QuirkLabs and is one of three central pillars that supports the growth of new start-ups.
Onto Idea Bounty – in a nutshell:
A reward (Bounty) is offered for the Idea that best answers the brief and the contributor of the winning idea gets the cash. Highlighted clients include Unilever, Red Bull, BMW, SAB and Vodafone.
The idea - Its very simple really. Quirk as a digitally born agency became convinced that the old traditional model of sourcing and generating creative ideas (especially for marketing and communications briefs) was out of date and often did not benefit the client.
Idea Bounty was officially born on the 28th November 2008, which makes them all of 2 years and 6 months old. Basically Idea Bounty allows a client to throw a much wider net when generating creative ideas and solutions to challenges - it also opens you up to receiving Ideas from people who fall outside of the traditional marketing/communications industry.
Daniel Ting Chong
Daniel Ting Chong, who graduated from Vega in 2009, scooped one of South Africa’s highest accolades by being included in the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans 2011. Daniel forms part of the “Arts & Culture” section-mentioned as a “Designer, artist, VJ”.
These top 200 South Africans were chosen for their impact, their creativity and the resonance of their values with the project of building the South Africa we all want to live in: vibrant, prosperous, equitable, diverse and hungry for the challenges of growth and change.