The studio
BOAN is Angel Maile and Bonolo Mathabela. We started in 2021 because we kept meeting companies who had bought a logo when what they needed was a decision, and nobody had told them the difference.
The studio is one room, two desks, a plan chest and a wall we pin things to. It is not a metaphor for anything. It is genuinely the whole company.
We take on a small number of projects at a time and run them properly rather than taking everything and running late. When we are full we say so, and we tell you the real date rather than the date you would like to hear.
01What we hold to
The hard part is agreeing what the company is. Once that is written down, the design follows quickly and nobody argues about blue.
The people you meet are the people who do the work. Nothing is handed to a junior after the pitch, because there is no junior to hand it to.
Our own identity is two colours and one typeface. It is not a limitation we suffer, it is the argument we make to clients about what discipline looks like.
Every project begins with a written quote listing what is included and what is not. No hourly surprises, no invoice that arrives larger than the number you agreed to.
The website you see in a presentation is the website that ships. Design that cannot be built is a drawing, and we are not in the drawing business.
If a brief is aimed at the wrong problem, you will hear it in week one rather than at handover. That conversation is uncomfortable once and useful for years.
02The method
Subtract until it stops working, then put back the last thing you took.
It is the only test we know that reliably separates a decision from a decoration. Point at an element and say what it is for. If the answer is that it adds visual interest, it goes.
03Who you deal with
Founder and Creative Director
Angel decides what the work looks like. Every identity that leaves BOAN has been drawn, argued over and redrawn on her desk, and every piece of print has been checked against a proof before it goes to press.
Founder and Managing Director
Bonolo works out what a brand is supposed to do before anyone draws it, and then makes sure the thing that gets built actually does it. He also runs the studio, which means the quote you receive is the invoice you get.
04In their words
We asked for a logo. They talked us out of it in the first meeting and gave us a system instead, and the system is what got us onto a shelf.
Kagiso Sithole
Founder, Kgosi Roastery
Kgosi Roastery / Food and drink
The first version they showed us was mostly numbers and white space and I hated it. Six months later it is the reason we are shortlisted for things we used to be told we were too small for.
Refilwe Dube
Managing Partner, Marula Capital
Marula Capital / Financial services
I had a manufacturing date and nothing else. They ran the whole thing backwards from that date and we did not miss it by a day.
Thabile Ngwenya
Founder, Thabile
Thabile / Beauty and personal care
The workshop was worth the whole fee on its own. It was the first time in six years that all nine practice managers agreed on anything in writing.
Dr Nomsa Khumalo
Clinical Director, Sesi Health
Sesi Health / Healthcare
05Where to find us
Studio
14 Keyes AvenueRosebankJohannesburg2196Hours
Monday to Thursday, 09h00 to 17h00. Friday until 14h00.