Visit Rwanda
As a consultant for The PC Agency, I was tasked with helping to rebrand Rwanda, shifting the global perception away from the genocide and towards responsible tourism, alongside promoting Rwanda’s role as a tech hub and incubator within Africa.
The country is well known for its magnificent mountain gorillas but travellers tended to come for a short period to see them and then move on to another country. Part of our brief was to increase the average length of stay, and demonstrate everything else the country has to offer. We were to aim at the premium demographic, to tie in with the increased cost and restricted allocation of permits to see the gorillas - a prudent step which has helped contribute to a healthy and growing primate population as well as benefited the local communities.
We created a new brand identity for the tourism board; a new website to cover Tourism, Trade & Investment and Visit Rwanda’s partnership with Arsenal FC; and finally shot promo films to be aired on African TV, online, at events and on social media.
I shall never forget a giant silverback gorilla coming over to sit next to me in Volcanoes National Park, nor flying over the King’s Palace in a helicopter with the door wide open and camera in hand.
Nor the fantastic, home-grown talent so reflective of the country as a whole. One such example are the photographers Gael Ruboneka Vande Weghe and Philippe Nyirimihigo who produced the stunning aerial photography book This is Rwanda, spending weeks and months photographing from the sky with Akagera Aviation.
Logo Design & Brand Guidelines
Rwanda is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills. When designing the logo, I was inspired by the volcanoes in the north of the country, home to the mountain gorillas, as well as the traditional artwork, Imigongo.
Arsenal Partnership
Visit Rwanda’s initial three-year partnership with the club ran from 2018-2021. It has proved a popular move with Rwandans, who are big football fans and welcome the global exposure. I consulted with the Arsenal design team to make sure the logo I was designing would look great in any size, from the arm of their strip to billboards.
Visit Rwanda went on to sponsor Paris St Germain, with stars such as Lionel Messi helping to boost the tourism campaign.
Website
I worked as Creative Director on a brand new website for Rwanda - effectively its window to the world. I came up with the vision and wrote all the copy, on the back of a whirlwind tour of the country and endless research. The fabulous Overthrow Digital did all the coding.
I particularly loved writing the section on responsible tourism, including the three National Parks with their incredible wildlife and geography.
Short Film Direction / Production
I hand-picked my film crew for their experience filming wildlife in challenging environments. Director of Photography Rob Hollingworth has filmed many series with Sir David Attenborough. Sound Recordist / Drone Operator Tamara Stubbs and I are both on the Younger Members’ Committee at the Royal Geographical Society. We all travelled the length and breadth of Rwanda gathering footage.
For the Tourism video, we focused on wildlife and activities, filming gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, chimpanzees in the montane rainforest at Nyungwe, game in Akagera National Park and traditional dancers at the King’s Palace in Nyanza. We recorded traditional song within the dome of the King’s Palace, a natural sound studio of sorts.
For the Trade & Investment video we were keen to highlight case studies which reflect the country’s forward-thinking approach to technology, notably widespread 4G coverage, contactless payments on the bus network in the capital, a solar farm and a methane gas plant on Lake Kivu. We also took a look around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Kigali, whose vision is to educate and empower the next generation of African leaders and innovators.
I chose Pictionary Productions for the editing, being a great fan of Michael Johansson’s skill in timing everything perfectly to the music.
Photography
In addition to collecting material for the website and producing the films, as the official Stills Photographer, I always had my camera to hand whilst travelling in order to build up the photo bank for the Tourism Board.
