How we work

Over the past years QUBA has established itself as one of the leading graphic design, production specialists and creative consultants in Johannesburg. To keep our work inspired we maintain a small production staff that is highly skilled and enjoys a close and positive interaction with clients. We make projects and products our personal concern and are well known for going the extra mile.
To be fair to all parties we prefer to charge by the hour and for production only. We are speedy and our prices are therefore very competitive. Projects are performed with a high sense of responsibility and concern, a strong work ethic and with the humour and flexibility forged by 16 years of not missing a deadline.

QUBA

Quba (formed 2002) is the result of a partnership between Francois Smit, the owner and creative force behind Orrel and Wishbein, a graphic design company (formed 1996) and video and animation studio Thursday Morning. With a collective 28 years experience in the fields of design, graphic journalism and video production, Quba was created to leverage our specialist abilities in design, illustration and video production and to offer our expertise to corporate clients, NGOs and marketing communities. In addition to corporate work, branding and publishing, much of the work we do focuses on adding communicative strength to social enrichment projects and the conception, creation and enhancement of communication and educational tools.

Design

Is print dead, a place where words go to die? Or is print alive and well, home to trillions and trillions of words that have been preserved by the labours of a billion scribes? Dyed in the wool magazine man John Griffin, President of the National Geographic Society's magazine group says print rocks. Print-editor-turned-blogger Jeff Jarvis of buzzmachine.com says ideas get trapped on pages and die. A blogger and a magazine exec square off . Is paper too one-way in an interactive world, or will the Web actually breathe new life into dead trees? We still believe in print. From the humble Z-fold pamphlet to the mighty tome and everything in between. Bring us your world in words and pictures and we'll make it come alive in a scintillating publication. We'll even give you free advice! ...

Video Production

We guide a client from concept and scriptwriting to shooting, editing and duplication. Whether you are looking for Professional Video, Broadcast or High Definition, we are very budget-minded and can work within the parameters given by our clients.

Illustration

Illustrare: "light up, embellish, distinguish" The illustrator's role is one of interpreter; a bridge between worlds – words and pictures, words and words, music and pictures – with all the imaginative potential of the artist's individual idiosyncratic vision. Adrian Shaughnessy's piece on Design vs. Illustration provides a valuable insight into the status of illustration today. See more at francoissmit.com .

Informational Graphics

In addition to corporate work, branding and publishing, much of the work we do focuses on adding communicative strength to social enrichment projects and the conception, creation and enhancement of communication and educational tools.

Web Design and Hosting

According to Rich Hoxsey of Print magazine the web has "grown up and got a job". There's no better place to sell things, buy things and get things for free. You can choose to be organic, sporadic, nomadic or plain old static. New technology and software allows you to be the boss, the manager of your content, the keeper of your house. No longer do you need to phone the geeks to update your content. Once the architecture is in place, your piece of real estate on the World Wide Web becomes truly yours. If you decide to paint the walls red or add a new piece of furniture, change is no more than a few clicks away. Successful web design is a subtle balance between the way it looks and the way it works. To get the balance right you need someone who understands that you don't nee...

Host with QUBA!

Get everything you need for your dynamic website with one of our Hosting Packages. It includes a multitude of great features, professional templates, fast and secure servers, multiple extras, and high quality customer service! Contact us for a quotation.

Some of the sites we are working on:
Gifts from Presence
Return to Essence
Danntech Instrumentation
African Minerals Standards
ENJIN Magazine
Terri George Energy Healing
Kalahari Books
Awesome Puppets
Haywire
Francois Smit
Vivian
Syd
Samcode
MN Publications
Thorax Life Protection

What we do

Graphic Design
(Corporate ID and development, all printed matter, promotional material, books, magazines, newspapers)
Illustration
(analytical, satirical and opinionated art for newspapers, weekly/monthly columns, covers, publications, advertising)
Informational graphics and design
(informational graphics, visual communication aids for workshops, reference materials and training)
Motion Design
(web, CMS design and management, interactive, video and broadcast design)
Web Development
(Content Management websites and database development, website design, e-commerce, newsletters, website hosting, domain management)
Creative concepts, ideas and consulting
(advertising, publication, illustration, web)
Layout
(typesetting, production of all printed matter)
Video production
(shoot, editing, corporate, advertising, broadcast identity)
Writing and research
(articles, columns, copywriting, information materials development)
Print management
(for all printed matter, magazines, books, brochures, stationery, marketing materials, posters, banners)

For enquiries, please e-mail Francois or Debbie

Websites with QUBA

Instant account activation, visitor statistics, Control panel, Daily back-ups, Firewall protection, Anti-virus scanning, Anti-spam filter, Webmail, 99.9% uptime, 24x7 network monitoring, 24x7 security surveillance.

Website development features:

Domain and hosting

Domain name registration
Hosting (MySQL databases, e-mail addresses, visitor statistics, control panel, webmail)

Design and identity

Manage your own content with a CMS (Content Management System) website
Template design (W3C compliant)
Logo design

Get found

Online contact us pages
Site search
Google Adsense / Adwords campaigns
Sitemap submission to Google

Communication and service extras

Online newsletter system and subscriptions
Online forum
Comment system
Calendar / reservations
Galleries
Membership management
Links
Your own blog
Online forms
RSS feeds to and from your site
Downloads system
Online business index

Sell

Online shop, cart and e-commerce
Online auction system
Banner ads and management

... and a lot more!