Metro FM

Metro FM is the largest National Urban Commercial station in South Africa with around six million adult listeners tuning in from all across the nation. The station’s core genre, R&B, is the most popular music genre among South Africans between the ages of 16 and 34. Metro’s penetration within this market is 43 percent of the total market. (source)

I know next to nothing about this identity design (their marketing dept. never replied to my e-mail), other than to say that the typeface is the FF DIN family. Metro FM is an SABC radio station (SABC logo featured in Part 1) so it might be safe to assume that their design team are responsible for this one too.

I really like how the M letterform, resembling both an audio spectrum analyzer and cityscape, breathes life into the logo when animated, like the Sasol logo. Take a look at their website or TVCs to see the M in action:

Kalahari.net

Kalahari.net is the largest and most dominant e-Commerce platform in Africa offering a huge range of books, music, DVDs, games, electronics and gifts. First registered in April 1998, Kalahari.net offers top-selling products available on 24-hour delivery, various payment options, door-to-door delivery, wish list facilities, vouchers, free gift-wrapping, etc.

Kalahari.net is a division of Media24, a Naspers brand. The name links the brand to Africa by its association with the Kalahari Desert, a well-known African landmark.

Interestingly, they might have been called Kalahari.com by now, if they'd won a domain name dispute back in 2001. I really enjoyed the below extract (for context, I was employed by Electric Ocean a month before, just as they were entering a state of turmoil, so it comes as no suprise...):

On a date prior to June 9, 1999, the Complainant entered into an agreement with a company named Electric Ocean to acquire the registration of the Domain Name which was at that time held by Electric Ocean. However, before the transfer could be effected the registration of the Domain Name was cancelled on Electric Ocean’s failure to pay the fees. The Domain Name fell back into the public domain.

The logo was designed by Garth Walker of Mister Walker Design (formerly Orange Juice Design, who were later acquired by the design house of Ogilvy South Africa). Garth never responded to my e-mail either, but I had better luck contacting Kalahari.net themselves, and they had this to share:

In essence, it was our aim to capture the spirit of the organisation through the use of a 'symbol'. The 'symbol' itself is the man running with the sun/streamer and with the use of warm colours, the logo represents the spirit of our organisation. i.e. A happy, warm company within an African heritage. The logo is horizontal in format for web legibility with no use of vignettes or thin lines. Type is simple and complimentary to the logo's message.

My favourite part is the hypnotic ribbon. I'm not sure what the typeface is - the closest match I can find is Fiendstar Extended (UPDATE: it's Nimbus Sans Extended). The running man (Khoisan rock paintings figure) also features in the 2010 FIFA World Cup logo.

Kaizer Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs is a South African football club, founded 7 January 1970 in Soweto, Johannesburg, by soccer legend Kaizer Motaung shortly after his return from the USA where he played as a striker for the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL. (How about this for a classic moment in time.)

The team is nicknamed Amakhosi which means "lords" or "chiefs" in Zulu. The club is unarguably the biggest football club in the country in terms of success and popularity, estimated to have over 16 million (very, very, very fanatical) supporters - Nelson Mandela being one of them.

Kaizer Chief's brand manager responded to my e-mail request for information on the logo with the following:

Kaizer Chiefs logo was made in 1969 and the only changes that have been made have been tiny graphic details to make it easier for embroidery etc. At one stage we were called IWISA Kaizer Chiefs after a sponsor. The Chiefs insignia has always been there and the colours have always been the same.

After some more digging around I found the Atlanta Chiefs logo (1967 - 1972, altered slightly when the club briefly reformed in 1979), and so the origins of the Kaizer Chiefs identity became clear. The chief mark underwent some small cosmetic changes, the full "Kaizer Chiefs" name was added around the mark, and two footballs were added on either side.

I feel the footballs are unnecessary and redundant though, and I'm not a fan of the arc effect on the type either (although it doesn't bother me so much in the Atlanta Chiefs logo). And I'd always thought that the Kaizer Chief's chief had a visible eye line, but it turns out to be the beginning section of his headdress!

In January this year they were awarded Best E-Commerce Store in South Africa's first E-Commerce Awards, and also won in the categories "Best Online Bookstore", "Best Home and Garden Store", "Best Movie Store" and "Best Music Store".

I'm hoping their site design (see screenshot) and IA had nothing to do with this achievement - sheesh, what a mess! And it only gets worse as you navigate deeper. As always some (hopefully constructive) thoughts come to mind, which I've decided to list:

• Every single item on the page is competing for the eye's attention with complete disregard for any level of visual hierarchy. It's chaotic, unorganized, and difficult to look at. As a result, navigating around the site takes longer than it should.
• There's no logical grouping of related items within the layout. I count 6 different specials, in 4 different places. User-related actions at the top of the right-hand column are detached from those in the top right of the header, which are grouped with general site links which further adds to the fragmentation and confusion.
• Redundancy! Why 2 "Sign in" links and 2 "Create a Profile" links, just 30 pixels apart?
• Consistency! (my favourite word). I don't want to even begin to count the number of typefaces, their variations and colours that are clashing with each other. Some box headings are bulleted with an arrow, some aren't. Rounded corners, square corners; round buttons, square buttons, beveled buttons; gradients, stripes, dotted lines - pick a style and stick with it!
• Nearly half of the left-hand column is consumed by "Delivery" details. Sure, it's good to know, but not that important when I've just walked through your door and haven't found anything to buy yet? The same can be said for "Payment Options" and "Our Guarantee".
• The page footer, consisting primarily of 3 link lists (one of which is mostly useless until you're logged in), consumes one quarter of the page height. Mad.

Some humour from their FAQ, question 3:

How do I find my way around Kalahari.net?

Wait, that's not the joke. Here's their answer:

The site works like a shop with departments. Your first step is to take the lift to your desired department. So, click on BOOKS, MUSIC, VIDEOS/DVD's etc. and it will take you to the department where you want to buy or browse. Each department has its own products.

Or discover the site dynamically by clicking when your SCREEN MARKER changes into a HAND on links. Simply move your marker/arrow randomly across the screen.

"Screen Marker". How quaint.

"Simply move your marker/arrow randomly across the screen". And voila! The items of your dreams will magically appear in your basket.

Online shopping is an adventure of discovery with Kalahari.net. If you're not convinced, look at their logo. Look deeepp into their loooggooo... your muscless are feeeling relaxedd, your eyes are becoming heavyy...

The term incendiary refers to a fire that has been deliberately set. While it is most often used to refer to crimes of arson, it is also technically correct to use it for any fire which has been deliberately started. (via)

Application: "The new Nudies album available on Kalahari.net for only R92.76 is like, totally incendiary, man!"