Zambia Space Academy c1960

From 1960-1969 Zambia had a space program with ambitions of beating the US and Russia in the race to the moon.  A retired school teacher set up facilities on Great North Road near the capital Lusaka.  Training exercises, designed to simulate the effects of space travel, included disco-era calisthenics and rolling its 'Afronauts' down a hill in a 55-gallon drum.

The plan was to send a young cadette to the moon with two trained but uncooperative cats.  If that trip went well there was to be a follow up mission to Mars involving 12 Afronauts and ten cats.  The Space Academy submitted for but did not receive $7,000,000 in funding from the Zambian government and another $1.7 billion from the UN.

The Afronauts were championed by Captain Matha Mwamba, a 17 year old girl.  However, Mwamba's parents pulled her out of the Academy when they discovered she was pregnant. "They won't concentrate on space flight," says the Academy's director, "there's too much love-making when they should be studying the moon."

The unofficial "Zambia National Science, Space Research and Philosophy Academy" had a tiny aluminum and copper rocket which they claimed was ready to be blasted into space.  In addition the Academy's scientific pursuits, the program had an evangelical objective:  to make Zambia "controllers of the Seventh Heaven Interstellar space."

There are BBC newsreels and newspaper clippings which document this remarkable program.  Their 're-discovery' by the InHouse/OneWay design team launched this whimsical resurrection of the 'Afronauts.'  Be a part of history with your very own Zambia Space Academy t-shirt!

AFRONAUTS shirts are on sale now at One Way Zambia outlets (contact one of us or check in at the Manda Hill Kiosk) - Adult sizes S-2XL Heather Gray + black "ringer" tee AND (shown above) white + black.  

Tracking the Orange Buffaloes

InHouse has been in the unique position of being able to 'track' Zambia's elusive Orange Buffalo.

From the beginning InHouse has been working hard to carry on with its "communicating science to the public" mission while still taking on purely creative and purely commercial projects (check out THIS fun project!).  In Zambia, Inhouse is very involved in health communications campaigns -- creating brochures, posters, logos, etc, for international and local projects to not only 'brand' their campaigns but more importantly, to (1) arm community health workers in with the most up to date and correct information and (2) provide them with effective ways to get that communication to the people who need it most.

The Orange Buffaloes Project was done in collaboration with a few international NGOs started years ago with a straightforward logo design...the logo went onto shirts, hats and smocks and brochures....The latest iteration of this project was the branding of bicycles in collaborations with Akros and PATH through World Bicycle Relief, whose line of specially-designed and super-sturdy bikes is called the "Buffalo Bicycle." (Hence, the Orange Buffalo Project!)  

InHouse is lucky to be partnering again with Akros Global Health to document their most excellent work in the field and was brought on at this *nearly final* stage of the Orange Buffalo Project.  The last stage will be a follow up -- once the Orange Buffaloes have seen some rough days on the road and been scraped and skuffed and are all tired out from their hard work in rural Zambia.  For now -- here are some snaps from "the maternity ward" as WBRs Brian Moonga calls his assembly floor.

14 guys (all men today) staff the 'ward' and give life to 120 bicycles a day.

And here they are, all ready for the first distribution.  In all over 1,100 Orange Buffaloes will be 'released' into the wild.

These community health workers now have a new way to *physically* get InHouse-designed materials out into the community!  (Win-Win and pats on our back.)

Here is the link back to the Akros website -- Photos by InHouse. 

SPECIAL ISSUE: August's SPORT FISHING magaine

Special Issue: JULY's SUNSET

Special Issue: JUNE Traveler special

SPECIAL ISSUE: May Feature

Barista Magazine was perhaps too obvious a choice for May's Special Issue given InHouse's relationship to the coffee, coffee shops, coffee growers, barista judging, barista training, etc.  That said, it's also appropriate and timely (having just seen the World Barista Championship come and go in the month of June) so off we go to the land of coffee.

Barista Magazine's design/layout went under the knife pretty recently providing yet another fascinating study topic.  What trends were they following? What standards are they setting now? What specific choices did they make with their remodel with regard to ditching design elements (or hanging onto them)?  The new look was overdue -- they went 7 full years with the same masthead and cover design. It will be interesting to see how this cover design evolves.

For these covers, two black and white photos from Zambia's Barista Championship were chosen. We've presented two different layouts.  These options would give an editorial board two very different covers to choose to publish.  And, for Barista magazine, either would be a 'black and white' first.

Barista Magazine's inside is done by a fabulous and highly specialized 'industry' design shop in Portland, Oregon (Pail Design). If you ever get a chance to peak INSIDE this publication, it's a feast for the eyes and well worth tracking down a current and back issues as it's chock full of fascinating information -- all beautifully and creatively presented.

Maybe what we really need to do is to start an AFRICAN BARISTA Magazine?  Oh dear...what fun trouble are we going to get into next?

InHouse is proud to have contributed photos from Zambia's Barista Competition to Barista Magazine's online blog and their coverage of competitors in the World Barista Championship held in Melbourne, Australia at the end of May.

SPECIAL ISSUE: April Feature

"Triathlete" has been in the works for a while.  As a study project, it was put on hold as we tended to clients and met other deadlines.  BUSY IS GOOD!  The particulars for this project are interesting from many technical perspectives:  their choice of fonts (they use a lot of different and fairly obvious fonts but alter them all significantly), the use of photography (most of their cover photos are action shots and have several layers with the masthead sandwiched in between), and mixing colours.  "Triathlete" also does not have a single set of fonts they use from issue to issue -- they really change things up from month to month; issues share the masthead (which is very oddly positioned on the page and creeps over both the right and left printed borders) and little else.

We considered a dozen photos and even did a pool photo shoot.  The pool shoot was great fun but the results were disappointing:  the pool chemicals were not cooperating (it was just cloudy enough to make the photos not quite clear) and quite frankly, our underwater camera is not meant for this use and the quality of the photos were disappointing when they were made life-size.

I'll be highlighting some new partner companies (and their services) in the coming weeks as well as catching up on Special Issues for May and June!  Thanks for insisting on finally seeing our SPECIAL ISSUE April Feature. 

SPECIAL ISSUE: March Feature

This is the third installment of our SPECIAL ISSUE project.  As mentioned previously, we hope to carry on with a new magazine cover 'study' each month.  The topic must be timely and unique and of course, it has to be a challenge!  The challenge this month was a mix of planning, logistics and styling.

The options for this cover were limited.  I had decided in advance that I wanted a cake....but it was the cake we were eating, not the cake I was making for a photoshoot.  For this cover-photo, the cake was cut and ready to be served to hungry guests...the lighting was rotten and the cake's middle ice cream layer was threatening to melt. In short, there was not time for styling or planning the 'shot' needed except to make sure there was something that could be used for this purpose. I had about 4 minutes and only one chance and time to dash off a few quick shots of the cake uncut, cut, and some of the slice, the cake and the slice....you get the picture. Photojournalism meets food-styling.

The basic layout was already set (based on the cover studies) and I wanted a quick turnaround and the pressure of a deadline.  The cake was devoured immediately after the photos were taken but for a few chocolately crumbs; the chance to re-shoot has passed.  From a dozen or so images this one worked the best.  Others were better photos but with the layout, this was the most suitable.

For any photoshoot it is so important to have the final product in mind.  If the final product is not yet known, you really have to be sure to cover your bases:  get landscape and portrait shots that you love, pay attention to details, and commit to using photos in their most 'natural' state.  Photoshop can do magic but the best photos are ones that are very carefully composed, where the photographer has done everything with the camera to get it press ready with just a few touchups - or ideally, none at all.

The photographer must pay attention to all the technical details as well as the aesthetic.  They must compose an image that draws attention away from the things they can't change. This is as true for a cake as it is for a person....it's easier to sweep up a stray crumb (for the cake) or brush a few unruly hairs (for the person) than is it so try to 'clean up' a messy photo after the fact.  And truth be told, if I've extensively photoshopped an image of my own, I rarely like the final product.  Technically it could look just fine but as the photographer I'll know the things that were corrected, covered up, wiped away... changed.

I remain committed to the advice given by photographer Michael Wang: take a good photo....don't crop, don't photoshop...just take a good photo.  And in his memory, I carry on.  I also can't leave things well enough alone, so I went back to the remaining slices this morning and put together this 'staged' and  'styled' version of  the same magazine.  Same project but a totally different challenge.

Open Book

A quick project...

SPECIAL ISSUE: February Feature

 Here is the second installment of our SPECAL ISSUE.  For 2013, InHouse plans to put together a new magazine cover each month. The idea behind this project is to set aside some time for study.  The choices for images, font, masthead, colours, layout, formatting, etc are far from arbitrary.  And for a magazine cover -- as opposed to a one-off poster or brochure -- these elements must be consistent from issue to issue, no matter the topic.  As with many design projects, a magazine layout 'works' when the reader recognizes the magazine (and all it's familiar elements) but actually notices the story.  The magazine needs to be familiar enough to keep readers/customers buying every month but also different enough so the reader/customer knows that it's a new, exciting issue sitting on the store shelf for them.

(The first SPECIAL ISSUE)