About

Introduction

Riaan Wilmans Art and Design, 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, and university presses in terms of design, and interior designers, interior architects, architects and art collectors when it comes to art.

Riaan conducts meetings at Mesh Club Rosebank in the Keyes Art Mile, Johannesburg, and at 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 both print and digital design, culminating in a BTech in Multimedia obtained in 2012.

Vision and Mission

This professional evolution prompted the rebranding of his creative studio, now with a renewed mission: to assist in visually realising others’ ideas as well.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Riaan’s creative methodology is underscored by a commitment to craftsmanship over mass production and the often resulting generic aesthetics. His goal is consistently to unearth and visually express the intrinsic emotion and core concept of each project.

Personal Story

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

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’.

A Letter of Recommendation is available here.

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.

Featured Project

Creative response: A cover design influenced by decolonisation and Marxist segregation, with each segment in its own design style; the bottom part with a serif font signifying European influence, and the top part with a handwritten font signifying unemployment. The same theme was taken through to the rest of the design material.

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

Testimonial

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

Portfolio