THE Zululand Observer (ZO) team, especially the design and advertising departments, excelled at the 25th annual Caxton Excellence Awards held at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein on Thursday evening.
Honouring journalistic, sales, managerial and administrative talent, the competition was tough as 1 300 entries from 120 community newspapers throughout the country vied for honours in 35 categories.
ZO graphic designer Anton de Waal stole the show with no fewer than three entries making it into the finals and he claimed the Ad Designer of the Year award.
The ZO name featured prominently with 13 finalists nominated for various awards.
In the Best Large Ad category, where the ZO had three of the six finalists, Tammy Harmse and De Waal jointly scooped the award for the winning ad. A first time entrant, De Waal was over the moon.
‘I feel it was a personal achievement of a lifetime goal. I was totally blown away. It was something I aspired to do and prove myself. Although it was quite a challenge, being my first time, I felt confident about the quality of work I produced,’ he said.
‘The quality of advertisement designs, according to the external judges in the field of graphic design, speaks volumes for the ability of the ZO to give our valued advertisers the kind of professional designs they deserve,’ said ZO Editor Dave Savides.
‘Bearing in mind that the design is offered free to advertisers, this makes the ZO the obvious choice for those wanting to reach their target market in the best possible way. ‘We are very proud of Anton and the team,’ said Savides.
Harmse’s success followed on a long list of Caxton achievements she has enjoyed over the years.
‘I was thrilled to win such a highly contested category and this would definitely not be achievable without our brilliant graphic designers,’ she said.
Editorial
It was a close call for Deputy Editor Ronelle Ramsamy, who was runner-up in the Journalist of the Year category.
Umlozi reporter Simangele Chirwa was a finalist in the Most Promising Journalist of the Year category, while Richard Springorum, a finalist in the Sports Writing category, showed that the ZO has plenty of strength in the writing department.
‘The all-round success of the ZO entries is testimony to our continual striving for giving our readers and advertisers best value for money,’ said Savides.
‘Another pleasing achievement was that of our Eyethu Bay Watch publication which was also a finalist in the Best Free Drop Newspaper – more than 24 pages category, just narrowly being pipped for first place.’
ZO Caxton winners and finalists
Ad Designer of the Year: Winner – Anton de Waal
Best Large Ad: Winner – Celebrating Heritage (Tammy Harmse and Anton de Waal)
Finalist – The Heart of a Community (Tammy Harmse and Anton de Waal)
Finalist – The Future is Now (Charmaine Heath and Anton de Waal)
Best Major Ad Feature: Finalist – Tourism feature (Tanya Reddy, Tanya Oosthuizen, Cherise van den Berg, Louise Calitz, Theresa Botha and Laurie Smith)
Finalist – Netcare supplement (Tanya Reddy, Tanya Oosthuizen, Cherise van den Berg, Charmaine Heath, Venetia Campbell and Dave Savides)
Finalist – A Year in Review (Burnadette Oosthuizen, Theresa Botha and Val van der Walt)
Best Free Newspaper (more than 24 pages): Finalist – Eyethu Bay Watch
Best Sports Photo: Finalists (Larry Bentley and Val van der Walt)
Best Sports Writer: Finalist (Richard Springorum)
Most Promising Journalist of the Year: Finalist – Simangele Chirwa
Journalist of the Year – Top 4 finalist (Ronelle Ramsamy)
