So, who are "we"?

We are Konrad Rode and my feline brother, Spike, who plays an important role in the design process, despite not having opposable thumbs.

What do I do?

I draw cartoons, caricatures and more, usually starting by drawing them in pencil, outlining them in black ink, then scanning them and adding colour and other elements digitally. I spend a lot of time shouting at my Mac and avoiding admin as much as possible. I have 26 years of experience behind me.

Additionally, I offer graphic design services.

Spike's role? He sleeps as close as possible to my feet, keeping me company and securing the perimeter.

What makes me special?

Job, not ego

I have a pragmatic approach to design, which serves my clients and their markets, instead of my ego. It's something designers tend to learn through experience.

Copyright

An important distinction is that my art and designs belong to my clients, because they paid for it. Many design studios claim they own the artwork, meaning when they lose a client, they may refuse to hand over the original files, or hand over only low resolution files. I've seen this happen plenty of times.

When the job is done, I send the original files to my clients.

Clients

My clients are often individuals or small businesses, although I do have large corporations as clients from time to time. Here are some of them:

• Altech Card Solutions
• Amazon Web Services (via BMGI)
• BDO South Africa
• Durbanville Wine Valley Association
• Grey Africa
• Human & Rousseau Uitgewers (NB Publishers)
• I&J (via Marine Products)
• National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI Kleinmond) 
• Oudtshoorn Municipality
• Paarl Vintners (Paarl Wine)
• The Property Magazine
• Revlon South Africa (via Women24)
• Rode & Associates Property Consultants & Valuers
• Sea Harvest (via Marine Products)
• The Shuttleworth Foundation
• Tafelberg Uitgewers (NB Publishers)
• University of Cape Town (UCT)
• Vela VKE Consulting Engineers

Thabo Matime
General manager, New Product Development, Netcare

"Konrad, wow!!!! I’m blown away. Thank you so much. I've always wanted this. I really love it."

Pieter De Waal
Sole proprietor, Hermit on the Hill wines

"A stickler for detail, Konrad appreciates the difference between good and great, and won't stop tweaking till the end-product meets his exacting standards.

"His offbeat sense of humour, coupled with his ability to transform this into his designs, makes it a pleasure to brainstorm new concepts with him.

"Konrad has been a key member in developing my brand, and I always look to him for inspiration and creativity."

Tania de Maine-Oosthuizen:
Manager, Tharagay Addictions Services

"We love his work, from initial ideas to final designs! What he has done for us, was simple, yet elegant, and purely beautiful".

Zeki Hilmi
Sole proprietor, Chelsea Village Framers and Antique Shoppe

"Konrad has this exceptional ability to develop illustrations.

"We were so thrilled by the work he undertook for us that we employed Konrad to design our wedding invitation, which, through collaboration and Konrad's outstanding knowledge of graphic design, he designed for us exactly what we were looking for. All our guests commented and said, "what an amazing wedding invitation!"

"I recommend Konrad to everybody and will use him in the future again."

Sanett Uys
Marketing manager, Colliers International

"The work Konrad did for us has been outstanding! His customer service is great and his creativity exceptional. He is willing to think out of the box and come up with new ideas, which we love."

Ursula Jensen
Blue Sky Towers

"That is AWESOME. We handed the caricature pictures to the 3 guys at a dinner and they were completely blown away. What a lovely surprise it was for them."