About
CRD works where craft and structure meet: editorial layouts, brand assets, campaign rollout, production-ready artwork and the systems that keep creative work moving cleanly.
The studio is led by Christopher Gara, a Senior Art Director and Creative Director with seventeen years across editorial, retail and brand — from national magazine titles to high-volume campaign production.
What drives the work
- Strategy first. Design decisions rooted in purpose, not surface styling.
- Craft matters. Typography, spacing and production detail are part of the value.
- Built for use. Work that functions across print, digital and production.
- Systems create consistency. Templates and workflows that help good design survive real deadlines.
- AI, without losing taste. AI and automation are used to scale craft and production consistency, not replace taste.
Disciplines
Editorial design · Brand identity · Packaging & retail · DTP & production · Creative direction · Production systems · AI-assisted workflows
Based in
Cape Town, South Africa
Craft
The discipline of the printed page.
- Visual direction with an editorial eye
- Publication design and layout systems
- Typography, hierarchy and pacing
- Brand detail carried through to final artwork
Grids, rhythm and restraint — the habits of magazine design, applied to everything the studio touches.
Systems
The structure that keeps it moving.
- Templates and master files built for reuse
- Workflow and production logic that hold under deadline
- Automation and AI-assisted production, scripted not improvised
- Scalable delivery across channels and formats
At Ninety9Cents this meant Adobe-scripted automation for high-volume retail campaigns — fewer repetitive layout tasks, faster delivery, no drop in standard.
Craft on the page. Systems behind it.