One Small Seed
A multiplatform media powerhouse for contemporary South African culture
In 2005, Giuseppe Russo started One Small Seed in his adopted hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. Russo’s own story—after just a couple of months spent visiting the country, he felt the urge to create a cultural mouthpiece—embodies the concept.
Since planting his own small seed in Cape Town with a single quarterly title, the publisher has grown exponentially. In the course of five years, he’s added a social network, television platform, and a number of online magazines (all showcasing South African pop culture) to his media enterprise.
The original print version is your usual glossy brew, featuring stories–from fashion designers and music to artists to architecture—all hailing primarily from South Africa. Not long after the magazine started, Russo expanded to video, introducing stylized short format documentaries under the banner Onesmallseed.tv.
Ultimately, with the addition of a social network, Russo’s vision for a brand that people believe in came to fruition. Onesmallseed.net allows South Africans to create profiles with online portfolios, and from that came two more publications–Picture This (photography culled entirely from Onesmallseed.net), and a new digital magazine, Selected Creatives.
Looking through Onesmallseed.net, the 10 digital issues of Picture This, and Selected Creatives (also compiled from the social network), it’s overwhelming to take in the amount of creative talent that Russo has amassed around One Small Seed. We recommend taking a look, and if you like, enter the cover design competition for the 20th issue of the magazine (soon to be distributed worldwide).
