The Manor

Johannesburg, South Africa

Reclaiming the narrative
The Manor Africa is an African storytelling platform founded and produced by the acclaimed South African creative, Trevor Stuurman. When tasked with creating a logo and masthead for his new venture, we undertook our usual deep dive into research and exploration.

The setting
‘Manor,’ according to the Oxford dictionary, means a large country house with lands; the principal house of a landed estate. Historically, a unit of land, originally a feudal lordship, consisting of a lord’s demesne and lands rented to tenants.(Oxford Dictionary)

Our understanding of The Manor Journal is that it aims to reclaim what is authentically ‘ours’ in the African context. The same way the African freedom fighters reclaimed their country’s liberation. As the African proverb say, 'until the lion tells its story, the hunter will always be the hero.'

Creative approach
Indigenous knowledge became our catalyst for reclaiming the African narrative. Our research led us to Timbuktu, the ancient city in Mali that houses the renowned Sankore University—one of the world’s oldest learning centers in the world. As we delved deeper into Timbuktu’s heritage, we were captivated by the Sudan-Sahelian architectural style, which became the essence of our design. This architectural influence is a fitting analogy for a platform envisioned as a home for African stories.

__