The South African Mint

Jul 29

25 years of democracy

The South African Mint (SA Mint) is the continent’s leading manufacturer of legal tender coins as well as commemorative and rare collectable coins. The SA Mint wanted to create an exciting collection marking a major milestone in South Africa’s democracy so they approached us to drive the creative direction and implementation of this historic project.

The brief

SA Mint is one of the world’s leading mints and over the years has earned a worldwide reputation for its appealing designs, exceptional craftsmanship, and the high standard of its quality coins, winning numerous international awards in the process.

To commemorate 25 years of democracy, the SA Mint announced the release of a new coin series including both circulation and collectable coins. We were tasked with facilitating the process of identifying exciting themes that would make for both unique commemorative collectable coins and circulation coins. Next, Breinstorm Brand Architects selected nine artists from different backgrounds, all working in a variety of different styles, whose work would translate beautifully onto the coins. Our main consideration was the level of detail and careful consideration of linework in their artistry.

The coins marked the first time the SA Mint embarked on a participatory programme to solicit coin themes and designs from members of the public. With the help of two marketing research companies, we conducted focus groups in four major metros - Tshwane, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Through these, we asked Born Frees (those born under democracy) for suggested coin art themes. Born Frees were asked to nominate the things that have brought South Africans together since the advent of democracy.

The end result was a truly memorable, collaborative, and exciting coin collection marking a major milestone in our country’s democracy.

The transformation

Paying homage to the Constitutional Court

The typography that appears on all the coins is based on the prison cell graffiti left by apartheid-era prisoners themselves.

Going down memory lane

Three collectible coins, five R2 circulation coins depicting five different rights in the Bill of Rights; and a R5 circulation coin featuring the design of a ballot box and a long queue reminiscent of the first democratic elections in 1994.

Research Campaign

We ran a research campaign online to include a broader age group and identify the parts of the Bill of Rights that resonated strongly as things that have brought South Africans together and represented the concepts of Freedom, Culture and Democracy.

The showcase of cleverness

Marketing meets mission: Marking the milestones of SA’s history

Typographer - Garth Walker

Walker’s interest lies in developing and encouraging a design language “rooted in the African experience” and it is this that he is best known for. He is the typographer behind the Constitutional Court’s globally recognised typography.

“The design of the typeface, named Son of Sam, 7 is inspired by both incidental and official letterforms found on the site and documented by Walker in the commencing stages of the design project. His initial and guiding thoughts to the design may be summarised in four points. The design of the typeface had to indicate utmost respect for the site and its history. It should be a 'democratic' font based on the typography that could be salvaged from the Old Fort complex. It should include mixed letterforms (in the words of the designer, 'a fruit salad ... just like South Africa'). Finally, a unicase font would aid legibility and ease of reading, and thus accommodate varying levels of literacy”