Sam van Straaten
Head of Design
Cape Town, South Africa
0833592837
samvanstraaten.com/
I’m a lateral thinker with a great eye for detail and 10 years experience working both in print and digital. I enjoy creating beautiful, immersive and captivating stories. Telling them visually gets me excited.
I was born and raised living the simple life on a commercial grain farm near Caledon in the Western Cape of South Africa.
Once just a hobby and a form of creative expression, design and art direction has become my full time occupation. I studied at the University of Stellenbosch where I finished my BA honours degree in Visual Communication Design in 2009 and this has formed the basis of my professional career.
I currently work full time as Head of Design at Arc South Africa, a member of the Publicis Africa Groupe, with 35 Arc offices worldwide, employing over 1500 people. Arc is an intelligent brand engagement agency that engineers sales for clients. While at Arc, I have been partnered with great and exciting brands such as Capitec, Telesure (FirstForWomen, DialDirect, Budget Insurance, Auto&General), Adidas, Reebok, MARS (Royco, M&M’s, Whiskas & Pedigree), Nestlé, City of Cape Town, Virgin Active, BMW, MINI, Toyota, Protea Hotels, Philip Morris International, Direct Axis and Sanlam.
I never want to stop learning, growing and mastering new skills and that is why I encourage creative collaborations of all kinds.
I was born and raised living the simple life on a commercial grain farm near Caledon in the Western Cape of South Africa.
Once just a hobby and a form of creative expression, design and art direction has become my full time occupation. I studied at the University of Stellenbosch where I finished my BA honours degree in Visual Communication Design in 2009 and this has formed the basis of my professional career.
I currently work full time as Head of Design at Arc South Africa, a member of the Publicis Africa Groupe, with 35 Arc offices worldwide, employing over 1500 people. Arc is an intelligent brand engagement agency that engineers sales for clients. While at Arc, I have been partnered with great and exciting brands such as Capitec, Telesure (FirstForWomen, DialDirect, Budget Insurance, Auto&General), Adidas, Reebok, MARS (Royco, M&M’s, Whiskas & Pedigree), Nestlé, City of Cape Town, Virgin Active, BMW, MINI, Toyota, Protea Hotels, Philip Morris International, Direct Axis and Sanlam.
I never want to stop learning, growing and mastering new skills and that is why I encourage creative collaborations of all kinds.
Work Experience
Education
University Of Stellenbosch
BA Visual Communication Design
Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Information Skills, Art History, Philosophy, Theory of Art, Drawing, Industrial Psychology.
January 2006
- December 2009
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Languages
Afrikaans (Native),
English (Fluent),
German (Conversational),
Skills
Art Direction,
Graphic Design,
Illustration,
Layout,
Logo Design,
Photography,
Publishing,
UI/UX,
Visual Identity Design,
Web Design,