Stephen Embleton

 What If My Soul… 10-10-2001 What if my Soul is ready to go? What if its time is now? What if it’s done what it’s had to do, And answered if when why & how? Will it go when I sleep or when I’m awake? And will it go at all? ‘Cos what if it’s waiting for my body to act… To intentionally stumble and fall? So the jokes on my Soul, it’ll just have to wait, ‘Cos I don’t think I’m quite ready yet. But we’ll see who laughs last (my Body or Soul). Check with my mind…it’s taking the bets.

 I Saw The World Today (Poem) 2001     Did you see the world today? Did you marvel at its splendour?        Did you take to flight, up to that great, bright light, On wings so strong and slender?        On your way up, did you look back down, And see something vast and grand?        Did you remember your days, long forgotten ways, When time was written in the sand?        And from high above, as high as a dove Did you pause and see… The world has a heart, an imperfect heart, That’s perfect, just like me?  

While at blue.Kryptonite, I played around a lot with design, illustration and HTML. Iconopolis was an experiment in the world of the then isometric-style desktop "icons", set in a three-tiered world. Though no longer supported by modern browsers, it featured animated gifs and java layers animating elements across the screen. These included the right hand rocket lifting off, randomly fling diagonally down and back again, and landing. The bus leaving one bus stop and stopping at the next, then running back. The SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) billboard-sized TV screen test pattern fuzzing. The wooden crate icons top left, growing and shrinking vertically. The pale vertical tunnel, being a teleportation device taking people between lower levels. The public park fountain sprinkling. And there were clouds that moved right to left across the top. Two buildings featured are buildings from Durban, South Africa, at the time – SABC and the Lion Match Company.  It was abs...

The Escapist (from *The Escapist) Apologies to William Blake 2000 Writer! Writer! Write tonight On the paper bright and white. What new world in your minds eye Could frame thy tearful butterfly? In your misty dreams & lies What anger did you vent your cries? With what will did he desire? With what hand did burn the fire? How much bolder can we start Than to show a man his heart? But when his heart did feel the heat, Did he not begin retreat? What the go-between must claim? That your soul be damned to endless pain. What the curse? What bad task Did you use in evil to bask? When our hero dried his tear He found your hell and drew his spear. Did he smile your work to be? “Why did you who made my world forsake me?” *The Escapist is an unpublished graphic short story of mine, in which a character within the story realises they are a creation of a writer, who has dreamed up their world and their fraught life. 

  FLYBOY – The South African Superhero Designed by Stephen Embleton in 1999. Flyboy Badge (regular) Flyboy Bullet (extruded/3D) Take the memory of something and try to redraw or recreate it. Guaranteed it’s slightly different to the original experience but it’s now your interpretation of it. Now it’s got some of your other perceptions, some of your other memories, and some of your misconceptions about it combined to give you something unique in your world. A superhero has a specific look, try and redraw him/her & you end up with a new superhero. If you were me he/she’d have some South African characteristics – e.g.: a bruh-cut, khaki tights to blend into the veld, a multi-coloured cape to represent all the official race-groups, a hip-translator to communicate with every citizen, and a red-bull flask on his/her back – hey, he/she needs wings. And the most important characteristic would be his/her badge on his/her chest. He/she’d be too busy getting air-jacked to get a designer t...

Stephen Embleton: Designer in 1999 of Biltong, a hip quirky handwriting font. Fontified by Brode Vosloo at Sacred Nipple. Take a detour through any one-horse-town and you’ll find them on the side of the road advertising the best fast food in South Africa. Biltong – don’t ask what it means, you just know what it is. Buck, cow or ostrich meat hung on a hook, salted for taste, and dried out in the veld air for your convenience. Designed by Stephen Embleton of Blue Kryptonite fame, Biltong uniquely captures the freedom and looseness of authentic African signage. The creativity and flamboyance of the aApeople has been successfully harnessed and meticulously compiled to make you a font fit for your unashamed assault. About Sacred Nipple Type Foundry: Founded in 1996, Sacred Nipple Type Foundry was a South African foundry located in KwaZulu-Natal. The main designers were Brode Vosloo, Lyall Coburn, Stephen Embleton and Scott Dukes. View the Font PDF spread. Download the font here.

Version 2 of the Armadillo Interactive website. Using html/java layers and animations.

Created for the Matchmaker.co.za revamp in October 1998, this brand redesign took on a romanticised Indian theme, incorporating a fantastical world based on Indian designs, landscapes and architecture as well as the local Durban culture. Using a landscape format for the key sections of the site, Stephen illustrated the home/landing page and created some iconic design motifs.