Art at its best

Wetumwene Shikage The born Swakopmunder started her journey in art at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, attaining a Bachelor of Arts in applied design, specialising in illustration. Upon returning to Windhoek, her very first job in advertising saw her getting a taste of what it is like to work on a Loerie-winning campaign. It was in 2018 that she moved to her current creative home where she continuously pushes towards the pinnacle of delivering award-worthy campaigns that make a difference in society.As art director, Baufeldt contributes her creative mind wherever it is needed in the team. She believes that art direction boils down to storytelling, and each story starts with dissecting the brief with the rest of the team, brainstorming, and generating concepts that meet the specified objectives. It is in the task of rendering those concepts into visual designs that Baufeldt gets to escape into her area of expertise – with headphones on, cut off from distractions. Always on the hunt for new ideas, she often turns to constraints, such as a tight budget, as potential sources of inspiration. She also frequently looks to internationally acclaimed campaigns to keep her creative juices flowing and remind herself of the possibilities that can be found in every brief.To Baufeldt’s delight, she feels that the company culture at Weathermen & Co is perfectly set up for discovering possibilities. The environment enables her to be her best creative self and feed on the input from her team, especially during brainstorming sessions where anyone can ask questions and freely share their thoughts. Baufeldt has found the collaboration and support of her team particularly helpful in the age of Covid-19. “The team checks in with each other daily and everyone feels appreciated for the work they do. The world of advertising is inherently stressful so being a supportive, close-knit team has enabled us to maintain connectedness and performance,” says Baufeldt.While she is in her element in this creative environment, Baufeldt finds herself out of her comfort zone every day. “Being more of an introvert, I have previously struggled with expressing my thoughts, but I’ve set the intention to be bolder in sharing my ideas and to embrace my awkwardness as one of my greatest strengths.”

Art at its best

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-17

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Art at its best

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-17

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