My name is Barbara van Wyk, I see rainbows in everything, and I love making plans and solving problems.

I’m a communication designer by trade, and some of my favourite things are: I’m happiest finding new ways to articulate, visualise, and move information. My skills (in priority order) are: I work well paired with and managing a strong team and a client who are both as excited about a project as I am. I love handling a job from start to finish - even better if it’s the start of a long-term relationship that consistently serves the team involved and allows us to grow together.

I aim to deliver valuable work, and find it very important to define and measure success.

I find that I get the best results when I am regularly surprised.

CASE STUDIES

These should give you an idea of my work, but please don't hesitate to reach out and book a call for a more comrephensive study.

  Google Cloud Go Green Software eBook     BCX branding exercise     Grip6 multipack builder     The Queen Pet Shop branding exercise     The Future Group     Stacey Hawkins Website     Brooke Pattrick Publications     Portal to Africa UX journey  

BITS AND BOBS

I've included some samples of fun, interesting, or particularly challenging bits of work below, as well as a reel showing one or two quick case studies - this should help to illustrate just how specific challenges were unpacked and solved.

PERSONAL PROJECT: BUILT CHARACTERS

"Barbara is fantastic to work with. She grasps briefs easily and always asks the right questions – especially in the complex field of B2B. She has a very collaborative approach and prefers to keep you looped in on her creative process and journey so that there are no surprises at the end – something that I quite enjoy. She always takes direction and provides her well thought out point of view when necessary which I appreciate. She is always willing to lend a hand and is brilliant at planning and prioritising. Barbara works well independently and also thrives in a team setting, often mentoring our junior- mid level creative teams, she empowers them with the correct training and has a tremendous amount of patience. Her work is great overall and we love working with her!"

Prianca Pillai, Account Director, Wunderman Thompson

"Barbara has played a remarkable role as a Creative Director for British Council. With her visionary approach, she consistently delivers captivating and innovative concepts that breathe life into every project. Her keen eye for detail and unwavering dedication to excellence make her an invaluable team member. It is a pleasure to witness her talent unfold, and I would recommend her for any creative endeavor."

Wei-Ling Chiu, Regional Head of Exams Marketing, Sub-Saharan Africa, British Council, South Africa

"Barbara’s creative concepts bring a whole new level of value to the ideas and campaigns I create for both corporate and SME clients. Having worked with Barbara on various projects for several different clients, I have come to rely on her consistent quality of work because she always knocks it out of the park!"

Chandré Partridge, independent strategist

"Barbara is the best! She always makes us feel like we are her only client, delivering with a giggle and a smile (we think ;)). Her turnaround times are amazing, no job is ever an issue. Plus she is just an all round 'lekker mens' - we love working with her."

Kato Jansen van Noordwyk, Client Service, Helium Advertising

"It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Barbara van Wyk. I have known Barbara for several years, as her employer at Brooke Pattrick from September 2014 through to December 2015.

Barbara is an imaginative designer, with a discerning eye, a knowledgeable theoretical and practical base, and an original creative flair that produces outstanding results. Resourceful & self­ reliant, Barbara is tenacious & determined in seeing projects through from start to finish. Good­ natured & affable, her direct, polished communication style allows her to tackle complex subjects with patience, boldness and an assured professionalism. Barbara's primary design focus was on Brooke Pattrick's print and digital media brands, working with independent editorial teams.

Branding
Barbara's real strength, to my mind, was her tackling of the rebranding of Brooke Pattrick itself, helping the business present its good work in a more compelling way. Her intent was to "represent the integrity of the editorial teams employed by Brooke Pattrick, as well as the quality of the content produced," wanting to give potential readers and advertisers a clear and attractive idea of who they were dealing with.

In my view, Barbara achieved this in no uncertain terms, and the business is the better for it.

Barbara's native intelligence for design is among the best I have seen. She has the drive and energy necessary to see complex projects through to completion. She is both a team player and a dynamic individual, a professional who wins the respect of others through her integrity and unwavering desire to bring out the best in her peers.

If I may provide you with any further information in your consideration of Barbara, please feel free to contact me. "

Darren Smith, Publisher, Brooke Pattrick Pubications

"If you're looking for someone that truly cares about the success of your project, takes the necessary time to fully understand your business, its requirements and then produces outstanding creative work, then Barbara is probably who you should be speaking to. We've worked together on many projects both as colleagues and with me as a client of hers and I can comfortably endorse Barbara as a true professional and someone that really cares about what she does."

Ross Allchorn, CEO, ShopCreatify

"It was an absolute pleasure to work with Barbara for two years while at ShopCreatify.

Barbara's a rare individual. I've often worked with digital professionals who are excellent in either design, development, management or strategy, but it's not common to work with someone who can do it all. Barbara's creativity shows in every aspect of her work, from design and code to interactions with people and projects. Barbara is smart, curious and capable, and she can move between systems-thinking and creativity with ease.

Barbara really shines in the areas of strategy and consultation. She can naturally and confidently interface with clients, stakeholders and decision-makers, pull together all the strings and help craft a solution that will tick all the boxes — either by creating something completely new, or leaving something better than they found it.

When I look back on working with Barbara though, what I really remember is the fun we had while working together - getting excited about design systems, geeking out on development frameworks or brainstorming ideas for human-centric processes of different kinds. Most importantly, Barbara is a kind and passionate human who has a way of bringing out the fun and human side of any team."

Quintin Schnehage, Founder, Designer/Developer, Consultant, UX Forge

"I had the pleasure to work with Barbara for 3+ years - the impact she made during that time did wonders for both the close knit team she contributed to and the work we produced together.

Barbara's process is very intentional - she carefully considers the work at hand which speaks of how much she cares, and you will find her continually challenging herself and others by asking if there is something to be improved. This approach resulted in many iterative refinements in process and boosted our efficiency in general.

As a talented creative, Barbara was an absolute pleasure to support as she headed up design and development undertakings as a technical lead. She always made sure that her work was aligned to what was important to the client and their business, and went to great lengths to make sure that she understood all the nuances that contribute to their high level goals. An enviable ally in making sure any digital project is successful and effective."

Jessica Schnehage, Project Manager, ShopCreatify

"I have worked with Barbara on various projects on a few clients and it is always a pleasure. Barbara is always available to talk through any briefing issues and is very solution driven. We generally work to hectic turnaround times and again Barbara always manages to deliver against very short deadlines. I would happily recommend her."

Lynn Miller, Account Manager, HKLM

"Barbara joined our company in October 2012 when at that stage, our studio, was disorganised to say the least. She spearheaded the archiving of old work going back years, organised the studio into a presentable professional workspace, schedule work among the other designers and brought a sense of order to the studio that I have not seen in the time I have run the business.

Her design skills, knowledge and eye for detail, particularly with details like grammar, are first class. Her commitment to 'get the job done' is outstanding working after hours and weekends where necessary and clients are always impressed with her manner and level of service.

We are really sad to see her go, would have no problem recommending her services and want to wish her luck in all future endeavors."

Richard Lendrum, Managing Director, The Future Group

WORK HISTORY

Communication Professional - van Wyk

Jun 2016 – Present

I offer research, strategy, branding, visual design, and front-end development services to clients in a variety of industries worldwide. I prefer to work with socially, morally, and fiscally responsible mid-sized private companies who grow with me, or established corporates who know what they want and are willing to take advice about what they need.

Creative Director - Wunderman Thompson

Nov 2021 – Nov 2023

I freelanced for Wunderman Thompson, spearheading a brand refresh for one of their larger clients. I worked with their strategists, designers, developers, and account execs and managed to deliver work that truly delighted the client. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to visually transform the way a brand communicated their values, offerings, and services.

Creative and Strategy - ShopCreatify

Sep 2019 – Oct 2021

At ShopCreatify, an agency specializing in building and maintaining high-converting e-commerce stores, I formed part of the executive team and managed several clients and a small team. I provided strategic consulting, project scoping, design, and front-end development services. I particularly enjoyed the deep dive into e-commerce during a boom in the industry - this was a brilliant learning opportunity.

Creative - Helium Advertising

Jan 2016 – May 2016

At Helium, I was involved with strategy, visual design, and front-end development for various campaigns for First National Bank and enjoyed becoming certified in Google Web Designer and DoubleClick Studio, as well as experimenting with in-browser motion and interaction design and learning more about planning for users with deprecated digital tools. This was a good opportunity to bridge knowledge gaps re crafting subtle yet impactful messages within fairly strict guidelines.

Designer - Brooke Pattrick Publications

Sep 2014 – Dec 2015

I was tasked with rebranding Brooke Pattrick - a well established publishing house focusing on infrastructure and the built environment - as well as reworking some of its titles (printed magazines and corresponding apps). I created individual brands for several magazines as well as for the publishing house itself. This involved improving data visualisation, interactivity, and readability, and aligning digital versions of the various magazines to their printed counterparts. I also assisted with art, copy, and implementation for web and email marketing campaigns. Feedback on the work was very positive. After completion of the rebrand, the company merged with another leading South African publisher (Interact Media Defined) in an effort to increase the scope of their work.

Manager of design - Future Group

Oct 2012 – Aug 2014

I ran the Future Group’s design studio, handling the bulk of their concept work and constantly working to maintain/improve their various projects in terms of branding, visual design, and strategy. I worked on several prominent magazines, some websites and some advertising accounts. I reworked several of their products and received extremely positive feedback. I focused on both detail work and curation, and ensured that every aspect of the products produced - from copy, to art, to finishing or implementation - went smoothly and had a good result. I managed the internal and external design staff, and received positive feedback on the performance and attitude of the team.

TEAMS I'VE WORKED WITH

van Wyk clients
+27 (0) 83 558 8306    |    barbara@vanwyk.work    |    Instagram: @barbara_vwyk
All work is copyright of Barbara-Anne van Wyk and their respective clients. Work may not be used or modified without the express permission of the owner.