Creative Cape Town came across another project which, while it may be confusing to our readers, is actually a great business initiative.
Cape Town Creatives a is an online directory and community of creatives. It showcases creative talent across a variety of genres including photography, art, illustration, animation, graphic design, jewellery design and more.
It was started in August 2009 by Beth Durham, a patriotic Capetonian with a passion for the arts.
“I’ve always taken a keen interest in the arts and crafts sector and became increasingly aware of the amazing, unique talent emerging from Cape Town. I found myself regularly tracking the blogs and websites of various designers from Cape Town and thought it would be wonderful if all that talent was aggregated on a single website, so that it would be easy to find and also so that there would be a permanent showcase available online for some of Cape Town’s finest talent,” she says.
“A directory structure seemed the best way to achieve this, but, right from the start, I was determined that this directory would be different from others I’d seen. “It had to look good, be personal, easy to use and not be so huge that the companies listed under z saw absolutely no benefit. More than anything though, I hoped that it would help to facilitate conversations between listed creatives and the public and even between the listed creatives themselves.”
Currently the website showcases the work of 73 creatives from more than 16 different genres. Linked to the site is a blog featuring creative events happening in the city and a partnership with Cape Town film and theatre reviewers allows the blog to bring fresh, quality content to readers each week. The blog also provides a platform to showcase new work and share listed creatives’ news with the public.
The organizers see the project as a great way to expose the rest of the world to Cape Town’s creative talent. Since launching the site, they have received interest from other nations and visits from people from 123 different countries.
They plan to start up similar websites for Durban and Johannesburg and to start an online shop. “But for now, we’re concentrating on the small things which, if done well, will keep us moving in the right direction towards the accomplishment of something bigger” says Beth.
