Book Launch

Cover design, interior book design, ebook design, author website design, promotional materials for advertising the book such as posters, banners, and social media graphics.

Publication

Editorial design for books/magazines, cover design, illustration and graphic art for book covers and interiors, advertisement designs for promoting the books.

Advertising 

This includes ad campaign design, social media graphics and Google Ads, as well as website design.

Ecommerce

Website design with e-commerce integration, graphic design, advertising materials for social media and Google Ads, and branding for the online store.

Digital Presence

Website or blog design, social media graphics, branding (logo, business cards), promotional materials for collaborations or sponsored content.

Art Gallery

This includes catalogue design, promotional materials for exhibitions (posters, invitations, social media graphics), and website design for galleries.

About

Introduction
Riaan Wilmans Art and Design Studio, situated in Pretoria, South Africa, specialises in book design and visual art, catering to clients globally, with a focus on self-publishing authors, trade publishers, university presses, business owners, interior designers, interior architects, architects, art collectors, and art galleries.

Riaan conducts meetings at Mesh Club Rosebank in the Keyes Art Mile, Johannesburg, as well as Spaza co-work space in the Karoo Lifestyle precinct, Pretoria although, the majority of client interactions occur via email: info@riaanwilmans.co.za.

Background and Experience
Boasting over a decade of experience in Visual Art within private studio practice, Riaan honed his expertise to include print and digital design, culminating in a BTech in Multimedia obtained in 2012.

Personal Story
Equipped with a BTech in Multimedia and a decade of experience as Visual Artist, Riaan accrued further invaluable expertise across diverse domains: as a Graphic Artist in Landscape Architecture, as a Graphic Designer in Advertising, briefly as a Graphic Design Lecturer in Higher Education, and as a Litho Printer and Graphic Designer in Publishing. This wealth of experience paved the way for establishing his enterprise.

Unique Value Proposition
Riaan Wilmans Art and Design occupies a unique position at the intersection of three disciplines: art, design, and literature, all unified by the central theme of cultural and intellectual history.

Mission and Vision
Riaan’s mission is to cultivate human development by continuing the legacy of cultural and intellectual history. He gives form to ideas not just by visualizing them, but by using the history of ideas to inform his art and design.

Clientele and Achievements
Presently Riaan collaborates with three eminent Social Science publishers: HSRC in South Africa, Royal Collins in China, and Boydell & Brewer in the UK.

A notable achievement includes becoming the HSRC’s ‘go-to designer’ for their most demanding titles, leading to the reimagining of their most prestigious series: ‘State of the Nation’ and ‘Voices of Liberation’, which can be viewed in his publishing design PDF portfolio.

Riaan’s graphic design services are highly recommended in a letter of recommendation by HSRC, where he has become their ‘go-to designer’ for their most prestigious titles. He has also been featured in an interview by Radio 702, representing book cover design specialists in South Africa.

Riaan also continues his part-time artistic practice, and exhibited his VISIBILITY body of work at Trent Gallery in Pretoria in 2019. The artwork can be seen in the Shop section of this website.   

Featured Project

Brief: Design a Book Launch Package including cover design, typesetting and formatting, and editorial illustration for chapter openers. Also, design the publishing imprint logo, and social media book ads.

Creative response: The cover design was deeply influenced by themes of decolonization and class division. Each segment of the design adopts its own distinct style: the lower section employs a serif font to represent European influence, while the top section uses a handwritten font to symbolize unemployment. This thematic consistency is maintained throughout all design materials.

The author used the book cover to market his book on social media using Facebook, and on television; channel eNCA and SABC.

Reviews

It was extremely easy and a great pleasure to work with Riaan. As per his webpage details he submitted to me seven great first proposals for my book cover. All were stunning in their own right and it was difficult to make a choice.

—Dr. Georges Hess

—Dr. Georges Hess