Meet the
Designer
Hello, I’m TJ
More formal – Talitha Joubert
I planted the seed that grew GoldPear into what it is today – and like any good seed, it took time, the right conditions, and more than a few unexpected turns to get here.
After school I studied Goldsmithing in Stellenbosch, learning the discipline of working with precious materials and the patience that fine craft demands. From there I moved into retail, working alongside some of South Africa’s most respected designers in Cape Town – but selling the work of others, rather than creating my own, left me restless. I knew I needed to be on the other side of the process.
A move back to Stellenbosch led me to Portchie’s Red Teapot Gallery, where working in that creative environment broadened my horizons in ways I had not anticipated. Travel and fellowship deepened my love of colour, bold pattern, and art in all its forms. It was during this period that I began attending graphic design night classes at the Stellenbosch Academy, working my way through the Adobe suite and discovering that digital design and hand craft were not opposites – they were two expressions of the same instinct.
That instinct still shapes how I work today. In my own time I design original artwork digitally, then transfer it to linoleum and carve it by hand for print making. My lino and pottery work and my professional design work look nothing alike – and that is exactly the point. One is where I find freedom. The other is where I apply discipline. Both keep me grounded.
A New Chapter
I got married, became a full-time graphic designer, and spent the next five years working my way up to senior level. Then my husband and I did something a little unconventional – we put everything we owned into a storage unit, packed the Macs and bundled our two Boston Terriers into the car, and spent just over a year travelling South Africa. GoldPear grew steadily throughout that journey, taking on bigger and more complex projects until the freelance work outgrew the nine-to-five entirely. In 2024 I resigned and became my own boss full time.
We eventually settled in a small coastal town just outside Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape – a deliberate swap from the pace of Cape Town for something calmer and far better for the mind, body, and soul. I still thrive on deadlines and online client meetings, but there is nothing quite like stepping away from the screen to clear my head with a walk on the beach, finding creativity in nature, or exchanging ideas with like-minded people in a community that genuinely inspires me. It is a good place to do good work.
The Work I Love
My greatest passion is brand development – creating a sustainable, original, and versatile visual identity that a business can carry confidently into any context. Whether that means building a brand system from scratch or rescuing a logo that a client generated with AI and needs to actually work in the real world, the process of developing something that is genuinely unique and built to last brings me real satisfaction.
Packaging design holds a special place for me too. There is something deeply satisfying about designing for the physical world – something a customer can hold, turn over in their hands, and connect with on a shelf. That intersection of craft, colour, and communication is where I feel most at home as a designer.
I also have a passion for redesign specifically – identifying what is not working, understanding why, and finding a better version of it. This applies equally to brand identities, packaging, print collateral, and websites. The instinct to fix, improve, and enhance is probably the most consistent thread running through everything I do.
Web design and development remains part of what I offer, and I genuinely enjoy the research and strategy that underpins a well-built website. Understanding a client’s business from the inside out, identifying the gaps in their online performance, and designing something that addresses those gaps is satisfying in a different way to print and brand work – but it draws on the same core skill of looking at something and knowing how to make it better.
Outside the Studio
Design does not stop when I close the laptop – if anything, that is when the other kind of creativity begins. In my own time I work on my lino printing, pottery, and sewing, always pushing to become more technically proficient in each. I find creative energy in travel, colour, and culture, and my husband and I share a bold, unapologetic taste that spills into every corner of our home. South Africa is an endlessly rich source of visual inspiration, and living on the Eastern Cape coast means nature is never far away when I need to reset and refill.
Why GoldPear?
The name carries more meaning than most people realise. Gold connects back to my roots in goldsmithing and represents both me and my husband – we are, quite literally, the golden pair. Pear is a nod to Pierre — a personal tribute to my late father. A name carried forward with love.
The logo takes it a step further – a pear transforming into a globe. Growth from good ideas. That single image captures exactly what GoldPear exists to do: take your vision and present it to the world in a way that is visually appealing, credible, and growth-oriented. The size of your company does not matter. The portrayal of your idea does.
And yes, there is a real pear tree growing in our garden. A quiet reminder that growth takes time, faces challenges, and requires patience – but ultimately bears fruit.
The Logo That Grew With the Business
Like any growing business, the GoldPear brand has evolved over the years. Starting as a delicate gold line-art mark, moving through a colourful gradient phase exploring a fresher and more contemporary direction, before arriving at the current logo – a bold, confident pear with a lightbulb. Growth from good ideas. Three versions, one story, ten years in the making.
