EDUCATION

NO. 3
2011
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 5>

CONTENTS
FEATURES
14 > Oona Scheepers: A fairytale from Prieska
to Porsche

24 > Fabrica: 10 questions for Omar Vulpinari

38 > Re-sounding (architectural) success

50 > After the glass shoe

COMMUNICATION DESIGN
64 > Frost*: Understanding the serious
playground of business and good design

76 > Summer Olympics 2016: Rio’s brand

sculpture gets the thumbs-up

88 > The sound of music BUILT ENVIRONMENT

EDUCATION
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BUILT ENVIRONMENT
98 > Capsulation for 9 hours

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
104 > Transit cases: Chairs from Mexico

112 > Glass, a fragile yet giant industry

124 > Designing the world: An introduction to a

sustainable future and the role of
industrial design

130 > The jury adjourns

136 > Designing for life

DESIGN PROMOTION
144 > Leimei Julia Chiu: A champion for design
promotion across boundaries
 7>

148 > DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA: A new lens on

the known world

CREAM OF THE CROP

156 > Knitting for initiates

162 > Moving images: Time to catch a wake-up

call

166 > Vases for lifestyles

172 > All stars below

178 > Design sensibility

182 > Vega School of Brand Innovation shines

brightly

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8>

CREATIVE LEARNING
188 > Images for change: A sustainable bond
with spaces and places we occupy

194 > Authentic African stories. The real deal

200 > Cross-Pollination

208 > Sketch Assembly: The Merry Company. An

exercise in collaborative sketching

HIGH SCHOOL RESOURCES

216 > Design for yet another age

222 > Growing young talent

230 > Recommended reading

EDUCATION
 9>

www.bowman.co.za
EDUCATION
10 >

EDITOR'S FOREWORD
A new year has begun and just
when we think we are a little more
familiar and comfortable with the
trendy titbits of 2011, another list
of X-factors make the front pages.
Technology makes our world so
pliable and malleable that it can
reinvent itself again and again. Un-
fortunately the rules of Mother
Nature is less pliable and struggles
to adjust to the world’s greed
for success – so much so that she
reacts more and more in despair
and desperation. Thinking, work-
ing and doing everything sustain-
ably is not trendy anymore or even
limited to a minority group in so-
ciety. It is slowly becoming an
everyday lifestyle. Just imagine the
immediate change if we could live
in a world where it is second nature
to act responsibly in everything
we do?
Designing a different world sounds
like an enormous task but it is cer-
tainly possible, and even more so if
we change our teaching method-
ologies to rather fit in with the
changing needs of the world around
us. It is also imperative to move
towards developing a ‘culture of
design’ that will not only ensure a
better educated consumer mar-
ket that will force businesses to
become more competitive in
quality and output, but also create
a culture that is characterised by a
gradual increase in strategic think-
ers, true leaders, problem solvers,
innovators and entrepreneurs.
This is another reason why we are
keeping a keen eye on creative city
Cape Town who is currently get-
ting ready to bid for the Interna-
tional Design Alliance’s World De-
sign Capital 2014 designation.
In this edition of ED> we intro-
duce you to a number of designers
who are impacting greatly on the
world around us. One being South
Africa’s own design star, Oona
Scheepers who is a great success
in the automotive industry. Véro-
nique Vienne contributes a special
interview with Omar Vulpinari,
head of Visual Communication at
Fabrica, the Benetton Group’s com-
munication research centre, and
we ‘re-sound’ architectural design
when talking to local talent Don
Albert who recently launched the
book, Sound Space Design. Meet
Zimbabwean-born shoe designer,
Liam Faye and learn how he uses
his native country as inspiration
for most creative decisions that
he make.
We also showcase a different set
of design fields like glass, ceramics
11 >
and knitting. The Sound of Music
introduces the world of sound
design and we specifically look
at production companies Milestone
Studios and Adelphoi Music. As a
great designer, strategic thinker
and brand developer, Vince Frost
certainly needs no introduction.
While using the 2010 FIFA World
Cup as a measuring tool, DESIGN-
ING_SOUTHAFRICA is taking count
of the true impact of the creative
industry on economic develop-
ment. Brazil is also starting to
take stock and we have a look at
the branding development of Rio
Olympics 2014.
We also explore the teachings of
biomimicry and the Cross-Pollina-
tion workshops where nature is a
vital mentor in developing better
solutions for the changing world in
which we live. Also check out the
experiential and collaborative
methods of the Sketch Assembly,
as well as the latest hot talents
under our Cream of the Crop sec-
tion.
It is indeed a rapidly changing
world. Have a great and inspiring
read.
Suné Stassen
Editor
EDUCATION
12 >

CREDITS
FOUNDER > Cameron Bramley COVER ARTWORK >
Rob Mills, Edge of light 2, 2004. Pigment ink
CHIEF EXECUTIVE > Karuna Pillay print on rice paper worked over with beeswax
and oil paint. Dancer, Kristin Wilson from
GROUP EDITOR > Jacques Lange Natalie Fisher's Pieces of a Dream. © Rob Mills,
www.signsoflife.co.za
EDITOR > Suné Stassen
DESIGN & LAYOUT > Bluprint Design
CONTRIBUTORS > Jimena Acosta, Fatima
Cassim, Maran Coates, Vikki du Preez, Jennie PUBLISHED BY >
Fourie, Melissa Haiden, Kigge Hvid, Jess Henson, DESIGN>MAGAZINE
Janine Johnston, Angelique Kendall, David T: +27(0) 12 346 7788
Larsen, Anastasia Messaris, Beth Peterson, Chad F: +27 (0) 12 346 2559
Pietersen, Erin-Lee Saunders, Sarah Stewart , E: design.arrow.magazine@gmail.com
Liani van der Westhuizen, Retief van Wyk, Marlé
van Zyl, Véronique Vienne W: www.designmagazine.co.za
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DESIGNarrow
SALES DIRECTOR > Jeff Malan
© 2011 DESIGN>MAGAZINE
PRODUCTION MANAGER > Stacey Rowan
ISSN 1814-7240
ADMINISTRATION > Michelle Swart Number 3, February 2011

DISCLAIMER: No material may be reproduced in part or whole without the express permission of the
publisher. No responsibility will be accepted for unsolicited material. The publisher accepts no liability
of whatsoever nature arising out of or in connection with the contents of this publication. The pub-
lisher does not give any warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of its contents. The views and
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EDUCATION
 13 >

ENDORSERS MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS

EDUCATION
14 >
OONA SCHEEPERS
A fairytale from Prieska to Porsche
By Chad Petersen
The multibillion-Rand automotive industry
has many designers vying for a position in
the field of vehicle design. This highly com-
petitive field makes it extremely difficult
for aspiring designers to find a job. So it should
come as a surprise that a farm girl from
Prieska, a small town in the Northern Cape,
has managed to cement her place in the
international automotive design industry.
Oona Scheepers is South Africa’s very own
‘star’ automotive designer who has managed
to make it big internationally, designing for
prestigious companies such as Porsche, Audi
and most recently Volkswagen AG where she
is head of the Design Studio for Colour and
Trim.
Her humble beginnings found her playing
in an old ash heap on the farm and at this
point Oona never dreamed of becoming an
automotive designer but always knew that
she would do something art or design-related.
The ash heap was her favourite place where
she would find broken porcelain objects,
glass and other interesting bits and pieces to
create fantasy worlds. This, together with her
fascination for semi-precious stones that
she found on the farm, formed the basis for
what she loves doing today, which she says
are “cars, colours and materials”.
Oona studied Graphic Design at the then Cape
Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University
of Technology) and drew a few automotive
illustrations while at Tech but this was mostly
to please her car-crazy husband. She could
never have dreamt that this was a sign for her
future success. After completing her diploma
she applied for a job as a layout artist at Car
magazine. She really wanted this job but was
turned down. This incident was a huge turning
point for her, instilling a lot of drive in her to
become successful. She now looks back think-
ing that not getting the job was actually a
blessing in disguise because had she been
 15 >

LEFT: Oona Scheepers with some of her tools of trade. RIGHT: Colour range of the new Volkswagen Polo.

EDUCATION
16 >
accepted for the job she might not have be-
come the amazing automotive designer she
is today. Oona quotes the Dalai Lama who
once said that what you don’t get is usually
the bigger gift, and this is something that
in hindsight makes complete sense to her.
Oona’s husband Stef worked at British Ley-
land and Renault in Elsies River until the
companies withdrew from South Africa. After
this there was not much else relating to the
automotive industry in South Africa for Stef
to get involved in so the family relocated to
the UK in 1987, where Stef got a job in auto-
motive design. After spending two years in
the UK, they moved to Germany in 1989. Ini-
tially they only planned to be abroad for two
years but those two years have become 20!
After moving to Cologne in Germany, Oona
was unable to work since she did not have a
work permit. She started drawing portraits
of the kids in their son’s kindergarten and
little did she know that this was going to
be her ticket into the wonderful world of
automotive design. One of the fathers was
so impressed with Oona’s art that he offered
her a job and promised to sort out a work
permit. At this point she knew nothing of
what the job offer would entail and was
surprised to find out a few days later that she
would be working in an automotive design
studio. Initially she was hesitant to accept
the position but her boss told her that au-
tomotive design was all about proportions
and she has mastered this skill through her
portraits. “That was 21 years ago and I have
never looked back with any regrets,” says
Oona. The rest, as they say, is history.
Her first permanent position was at Porsche
where she was involved with the design of the
Carrera GT. For her, working on the Carrera GT
is one of her career highlights: “It was the
birth of new car development when the Car-
rera GT had its so-called rollout” It was dusk
at the test track in Weissach when the engine
roared up for the first time and blasted down
the straight. The feeling is indescribable and
every time I think about it, I still get goose
bumps.”
Oona draws much of her inspiration from
nature. She believes that nature holds the key
to the perfect colour palette. This can be seen
in the Porsche Cayenne that was inspired by
the Kalahari’s colour palette and the Audi TT
by the shades of a Free State thunderstorm.
“There is nothing that beats the colour and
textural inspiration that you get from nature.
Nature has a few golden rules and if you keep
to them you can’t go wrong. I love using South
African landscapes when selecting colour
– it is pure and crisp. It’s almost like looking
at everything through a polarising filter,” she
explains. She also mentions that many design-
ers often get their inspiration from everyday
life, architecture and furniture design. Here,
she says, you can find the perfect balance be-
tween contemporary materials and colour.
When asked how her studies in graphic design
helped her refine her automotive design skills,
 17 >

TOP: Design team of the

Porsche Carrera GT.

BOTTOM: Porsche Carrera

GT interior. ©Porsche.

EDUCATION
18 >
she explains: “The basis of any creative pro-
fession, be it architecture, furniture design
or automotive design, is a solid foundation
in art. I am responsible for design, colour and
trim, which means I develop the colour pro-
grammes for all our vehicles, exterior as well
as interior. As a graphic designer I had a very
good intuition and knack for colour, texture
and composition. This has helped a lot.”
The colour and trim form one of the three
classic pillars of automotive design – the other
two being exterior and interior. Everything
you can see, feel and touch on the vehicle
comes from the colour and trim designers.
She explains that only when all three ele-
ments are in harmony does the car become
a perfect unit.
In recent years computer-aided design has
become more and more prominent in auto-
motive design studios and with good reason:
it allows for a more realistic representation
of a design and changes can be made easily
without having to redraw the whole concept
by hand. However, Oona says that there is
no substitute for the “mighty pencil” be-
cause any good designer will still start with
original sketches and ideas on paper. “The
essence of good design is the skill of deliv-
ering good drawings.” Walter de Silva, chief
designer at Volkswagen, finds time to draw
each and every day. “To draw should be sec-
ond nature and it should be an unconscious
act. You should automatically start sketching
when you see a piece of paper and a pencil/
pen without giving it much thought. There
 19 >

FAR LEFT: Oona Scheepers

with the new Volkswagen
Polo. © Volkswagen.

LEFT: Original drawings of the

third generation Volkswagen
Polo supplied by VW Design.
Although technology has
certainly added great value to
this industry, and the initial
design phase is definitely
more computer-oriented than
in the past, it is fair to say that
any good automotive designer
will still create initial concept
sketches on paper before
enhancing it on computer with
the aid of 3D renderings and
virtual reality. Interestingly
enough something like clay
modeling still has a very hands
on role in the design process
and makes it possible for all
concerned to see and touch a
real life sized model. ©
Volkswagen.

EDUCATION
20 >
TOP LEFT: Oona Scheepers and
Stefan Sielaff, head of Audi
Design with the Audi A5 3.0
TDI quattro. © Audi.
TOP RIGHT: Audi A6 interior
sketch. © Audi.
CENTRE: Selection of interior
trim materials. © Audi.
BOTTOM: Trim variants for the
Audi R8. © Audi.
will always be hundreds of pictures trapped
in your mind that need to escape onto paper,”
says Oona.
Mentors are very important in a designer’s
life – they are there to inspire and to keep one
motivated. Walter de Silva is one of Oona’s
mentors and to her he is one of the greatest
automotive designers. He makes the final
decisions on a design and he understands
how to define the identity of the brand. This
makes him the ideal mentor and an asset to
the Volkswagen brand. “Having the privilege
of working with Walter is like being part of
a live thriller” says Oona. She left Porsche
to join his team at Audi and later followed
 21 >

when he was called to head up design at

Volkswagen.

The more time the designer spends with

his or her product, the more successful the
bonding process. Oona explains that one
needs to understand the car and react to
its needs. The automotive designers are ac-
tively involved in the process from the very
beginning through the first initial sketches,
of which there are hundreds, until the start
of production. The exterior designers start
with the design and are very closely fol-
lowed by the interior designers. The colour
and trim process, which Oona leads, starts
in this phase as well. Colour and trim stay on
board the design process for much longer
than the rest of the design department to
sort out all the final detailing needed for a
new vehicle.

The design process of a car, as one can imag-

ine, is extremely complex. From scratch
through to the marketplace takes about 48
months of intensive work. It is for this reason
that predicting rather than following trends
drives Oona’s work. She explains that lon-
gevity of proportion is more important than
the detailing on a design and she strives to
create timeless designs that are not trend-
dependent. She lives by the design philoso-
phy of “Keep it simple – every line has a
function!”

When Oona stepped on board at Volkswagen

she was responsible for the VW Polo which

EDUCATION
22 >
became her ’baby‘. The Polo is a global prod-
uct but if one looks closely at the design of
the Polo in different parts of the world,
you will notice slight tweaks in the design.
Oona explains that Volkswagen AG values
the concept of localisation. All right-hand
drive Polos, as well as the Cross Polo are
built in South Africa and when they build
the cars locally, she makes sure that they
get as much local content into the product.
This allows for clear differentiation between
markets. Oona has close contact with all the
production plants worldwide, which include
South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, the USA, India,
Russia and China. And it is important for her
to have regular international contact to make
sure that all market demands and needs are
met. “The intercultural challenges are ex-
tremely exciting and I love collaborating
with the designers from the different coun-
tries,” says Oona.
The automotive design industry is still a pre-
dominately male-dominated profession.
However, Oona says that she has absolutely
no problem working in this profession and
that she actually enjoys it. She goes on to
say that as in every profession, you have to
earn respect regardless of your gender.
“One of the most important things is to try
and keep emotion out of business. It is not
always easy for females to stick to the cold
business facts,” says Oona.
There is constant pressure in the automotive
design industry to always 'up your game' to
improve on models and compete with other
manufacturers, and creative people deliver
the best results when put under immense
pressure. Adriaan van Hooydonk, chief de-
signer at BMW, once said that it is important
to find a rhythm similar to that of top sports-
men who are also not able to constantly fight
for the gold medal. This strategy avoids burn
out. “I had excellent training growing up in
the Karroo. The Karroo taught me endurance.
Twelve years of boarding school also taught
me a lot of discipline – these two qualities
make you succeed when others tend to give
up,” says Oona. “Creative people hardly ever
have breaks. By this I mean that even at
home designers are always absorbing new
ideas so their antennas are always set on
‘receive’.” Some of Oona’s best ideas come
during the night, which is why she has a
notepad and pen next to her bed. “Of
course it is not always possible to make out
the scribbles in the morning.”
Oona concludes: “South Africa is alive with
possibilities and South Africans need to
know that they have every right to stand
proud. If one is ambitious, have clear goals
and believe in yourself, you will make it, no
matter what your circumstances are. Suc-
cess is just a by-product of dedicated hard
work.”
About the author
Chad Petersen is an industrial designer spe-
cialising in consumer electronics with a par-
ticular focus on socially responsible design.
He is currently working at …XYZ in Cape
Town. <
 23 >

TOP: The new Amarok from

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
is the company's first foray into
the bakkie market. Working across
the entire Volkswagen product
range, Oona Scheepers says that
the Amarok is the one project that
is most influenced by her country
of birth. “As I grew up on the back
of a pick up, this is a true homage
to South Africa." © Volkswagen.

BOTTOM: Wolfsburg, Germany.

Volkswagen's state-of-the-art car
plant, one of the most advanced
automotive factories in the world.

EDUCATION
24 >

10 QUESTIONS FOR OMAR VULPINARI

FABRICA

By Véronique Vienne

Photo by EJ Camp
 25 >

Serving humanity and art in roughly equal doses

A new generation of dreamers is coming of age, young people who believe that
humanist convictions can shape their future. Omar Vulpinari is among a handful
of experienced educators who actively support their aspirations and efforts. As
head of Visual Communication at Fabrica, the Benetton Group’s communication
research centre, Vulpinari is helping them become the kind of communication
designers who will make a difference.

The work atmosphere at
Fabrica is unique – some have
compared this intercultural
campus to the Bauhaus. Fab-
rica’s studio consists exclu-
sively of young designers
from all over the world who
develop campaigns for clients
with a social agenda. The Jap-
anese architect Tadao Ando
has transformed an old Pal-
ladian villa into one of the
most remarkable contempo-
rary landmarks which has be-
come home to Fabrica. The
place, and the people working
on the premises, expresses,
in 21 century language, the
st
values elaborated by archi-
tects like Le Corbusier and
Mies van der Rohe – values
that the architectural critic
Peter Blake had described as
“serving humanity and art in
roughly equal doses".
In a recent interview, Omar
Vulpinari explained how he
tries to create memorable
and artful campaigns that
address the most pressing
social issues.
V> Fabrica is located less
than 30 minutes from Venice.
Every two years, at the Venice
Biennale, the most provoca-
tive contemporary artists
worldwide exhibit their most
recent projects. It’s such a
stimulating environment,
isn’t it?
O> Fabrica is definitely in a
very fortunate cultural and
geographical position. It is
located just north of Treviso
so by car it’s 30 minutes from
the culture capitals of Venice
and Padua, 40 from Cortina
(the heart of the Dolomite
Mountains), and another 40
from Lesolo, the most pop-
ular beach-culture coast of
the Adriatic Sea.
This makes the Fabrica ex-
perience very appealing, not
only for young international
art and design residents who
stay at Fabrica for 12 months,
but also for visiting design
educators, entrepreneurs,
promoters and writers. In fact,
many prominent artists and
designers passing through
the region frequently stop
at Fabrica for casual visits,
lectures and workshops,
making the institute a very
special and dynamic ‘think-
hub’ in a global network of
design-led innovation.
V> Your visual vocabulary is
direct, bold, often unnerving
(your Global Violence Preven-
tion campaign or anti-smoking
ads, for instance). You don’t
seem to be afraid of contro-
versy. Is getting people upset
about issues a Benetton
tradition?
O> Truth sets you free, but
can also hurt. Our images are
about universal realities that
need to be communicated

EDUCATION
26 >
and addressed, but in a universal
audience context this can mean
displacing someone.
Very often our images are direct,
and for this reason disturbing, but
this is not a stylistic/self-marketing
choice. International research ef-
forts in social communication have
demonstrated that when behav-
iour change is required through
visual communication, the mes-
sage and its language must be
direct and emotionally impacting
to be memorable and therefore
effective.
For example, countries that adopt
those disturbing but realistic
photographic images of smoke-
related diseases on cigarette packs
have on average an immediate
drop of 20% in tobacco consump-
tion.
V> Your residents (as Fabrica’s
grant holders are called) are young
communication and product de-
signers, video makers, photogra-
phers and interaction designers,
most of them under 25. And they
stay with you for a year or two,
maximum. Plus they come from
around the world. Yet your cen-
tre creates socially aware cam-
paigns that are surprisingly con-
sistent in terms of message and
image. What’s your secret?
O> First of all, it’s natural for any
environment doing distinctive
work like Fabrica to attract people
who are aligned with that nature
of work. We are mostly known for
our communication design for so-
cial concern through our global
campaigns for United Nations
and for 19 years of publishing
Colors – The Magazine About the
Rest of the World.
Secondly, our selection process
is very sensitive towards sincere
care for design as a social agent
of change. This also means look-
ing for candidates who have strong
image-based communication skills
that can transcend perennial lan-
guage barriers and have a more
direct impact in a global multi-
lingual context.
Thirdly, my being at Fabrica for 12
years now has probably also helped
a lot in maintaining consistency of
message and image.
V> Massive change will not happen
with old ideas. You are a pioneer
of what you call ‘lateral thinking’.
What makes this approach really
different?
O> ’Lateral thinking ideas‘ first
need ’Lateral thinking funding’.
Unfortunately very few govern-
ments have effective research
funding policies. Italy is definite-
ly not one of them as our univer-
sity research funds are almost
the lowest in Europe, and still
falling.
Essentially, lateral thinking is
about thinking without (or with
less) fear of failure. Advancement
and creative solutions cannot
come from environments that can-
not take risks of failing. In the end,
the privilege of being able to af-
ford failure first of all requires il-
luminated governors/entrepre-
neurs/patrons and their support.
V> Is providing students with real-
life clients and real-life challenges
one of the new possibilities you
see for people who teach commu-
nication design? Is it what ‘practice
research’ is all about?
O> It’s not a new possibility but it’s
an increasingly relevant one. In a
world and market of growing multi-
player complexity the designer can-
not avoid collaborating closely
with the end-user, the client and
numerous other stakeholders
and professionals in different
disciplines (scientists, program-
mers, business consultants, and
more). Therefore, the designer’s
project-based training cannot any
longer be focused on the slow-
track classroom-simulation basis.
Practice research must take the
students into the clients’ meeting
rooms and to the streets of public
service. This will not only turn
out as a real benefit for the stu-
dent but also for the market and
the community.
 27 >

TOP: Japanese architect Tadao Ando has transformed

an old Palladian villa into a remarkable contemporary
landmark which has become home to Fabrica.

BOTTOM: Fabrica students at work.

EDUCATION
28 >

V> Are you foreseeing social

networking as a way to promote
long-term environmental and
humanitarian responsibility? What
we learnt from the Obama cam-
paign is that the Internet can
trigger change — but how do you
sustain a new vision over time?

O> Certainly. I think that social

networking is an extraordinary
vehicle for long-term social change
and will become more so when
issues like China’s government
censorship and Africa’s lack of
adequate infrastructure are re-
solved. But because we are in the
realm of social networking it’s
more a question of who will deter-
mine the long-term vision.

Here is where I see the great im-

portance of the hundreds of thou-
sands of design students we have
globally today. If all these future
designers embrace the enormous
social responsibility they have
from day one of their careers, and
take advantage of the communi-
cation potential of social network-
ing, they will absolutely be able
to make a very important contri-
bution to sustaining and spreading
a new vision over time. This is my
most important mission with
residents at Fabrica and also my
students at the IUAV University
of Venice in San Marino.
 29 >

Client: UNWHO Road Safety | Art director & photographer: Yianni Hill |
Creative director: Omar Vulpinari
Campaign commissioned by UNWHO for the First United Nations Global
World Road Safety Week 2007. The campaign includes five posters and
public service announcements addressing “young road users” which are
the most frequent victims of road accidents. © Fabrica 2007.

Client: UNWHO Child Injury Prevention Campaign | Art director: Valery

Gudenus | Photographer: Piero Martinella | Creative director : Omar
Vulpinari
The global campaign was commissioned by World Health Organization
and UNICEF for the launch of the World Report on Child Injury Prevention
in 2008. The campaign aims to convince policy makers to implement
preventative measures for the top five injury causes. © Fabrica 2008.

EDUCATION
30 >

V> I have a bone to pick with you:

I don’t believe that ‘expanded
media’, which is central at Fabrica,
is really going to transform the
way we think and behave. I would
compare the blending of all dis-
ciplines to the Tower of Babel, COLORS magazine issues –
not to the invention of the print- Madness, Slavery, Trujillo and Tours
ing press. Can you convince me – under the creative direction of
Adam Broomberg and Oliver
that the world is a better place
Chanarin. Adam, a South African,
because I can take photographs
was a Frabrica resident in 1998 and
with my iPhone? creative editor for Colors from
2000 to 2003. Adam and Oliver are
O> If anyone can effectively, easily a photographic team who have
been collaborating for over ten
and economically document im-
years and are now based in London.
ages, text and sound any and every
instant of their life, anywhere
they are, I’m sure the world will
be a better place in many aspects.

Just think of the citizen journal-

ist phenomenon. Today we have
more uncensored information
shaping our reality, coming from
off-the-street people with phone
cameras and blogs than from pro-
fessional journalists.

Another example is the e-reader

that is already giving us the pos-
sibility of having thousands of
e-books in our pocket wherever
and whenever we want them.
Personally, and I’m not alone,
this is definitely comparable to
the invention of the printing press.
V> You are probably better in-
formed than most regarding the
numerous problems and conflicts
afflicting people around the globe.
Client: Ulss 9 Treviso: Mamma
Beve Bimbo Beve | Art director &
photographer: Alizée Freudenthal
| Fetus photo © Contrasto |
Creative director: Omar Vulpinari
Fabrica conceived the symbolic
image for the communication
campaign Mamma beve, bimbo
beve (Mummy drinks, baby drinks)
for USSL 9, the public health unit
of the Treviso area, Venice, Italy.
© Fabrica 2010
 31 >

Kuduro series by Chris Saunders,

a South African photographer
and filmmaker. In 2010 he won a
year-long grant at Fabrica where
he researched and helped
produce two issues of Colors
magazine and worked on various
video and photo projects for
United Colors of Benetton and
Fabrica. © Chris Saunders.

LEFT: Pantsula series. CENTRE: The Smarteez series. RIGHT: The Tshe Tsha
Boys series by Chris Saunders ©

EDUCATION
32 >
In your opinion, what was the most
pressing social issue in 2010?
O> No doubt that global warm-
ing is always at the top of the list.
The UNWHO has global warming
effects on human health as its
current priority, because the
Earth will regenerate in time but
humanity could be in front of
the so-called ’sixth extinction’ of
life on the planet.
V> You are a vice-president of
Icograda, the global body for com-
munication design. What specific
impact do you have on its philoso-
phy, strategy and programmes?
O> Currently I’m leading two ma-
jor projects: the Icograda Design
Education Manifesto 2011 and
Iridescent – The Icograda Journal
of Design Research.
The Icograda Design Education
Manifesto 2011 is a core document
that defines Icograda's position on
design education, taking into con-
sideration the emerging themes
of technology, inter-disciplinarity,
cross-disciplinarity, design re-
search, entrepreneurship, design
management and design thinking.
Iridescent offers an international
peer-reviewed publishing platform
for innovative research with a spe-
cific focus on issues of relevance
to contemporary communication
design and curriculum develop-
ment.
V> You told me once that you are
not interested in “design for de-
signers” but that you’d rather
champion “ideas for people”. I
want to make sure that I get what
you mean. Are you saying that
too often designers try to please
themselves rather than have a
real impact on their audience?
O> Some young designers are too
often influenced by ‘designer
cool’ and by what other designers
think of their work – often fea-
tured out of context on their per-
sonal websites. In the name of
peer-related approval I see too
much work that is not focusing
on the essentials of the message
required by the client and the
user. This can happen not only
because of ego-centred agendas,
but also because it’s very easy to
be creative and cool with what is
not essential, and very hard to
be creative and cool with only
the essential.
I myself have not been alien to
this attitude in the early stages
of my career. My experience makes
me think it’s part of the common
personal evolution that all de-
signers deal with sooner or later.
 33 >

Client: UNWHO World No Tobacco

Day – Show the Truth | Art
directors: Namyoung An and
Gabriele Riva | Photographers:
Piero Martinella and Sebastiano
Scattolin | Creative director: Omar
Vulpinari | Teeth photo © Province
of British Columbia, brain photo ©
Commonwealth of Australia and
child photo: © World Lung
Foundation.
World No Tobacco Day is
celebrated around the world on 31
May. The theme for 2009 is Show
the truth: picture health warnings
save live”. For this occasion
UNWHO commissioned a global
campaign to urge decision-makers
to apply pictorial health warnings
on all packages of tobacco
products. © Fabrica 2009.

The body of work, Die Vier Hoeke,

is an in depth photographic study
of the South African Correctional
Services system. These
photographs originally started
while Mikhail Subotzky was an
undergraduate student at the
Michaelis School of Fine Art, are
now complimented by a new
series, Umjiegwana. Mikhail was a
Fabrica resident 2006 and has
subsequently exhibited in major
galleries and museums worldwide.
© Mikhail Subotzky.

EDUCATION
34 >

The Albino series by Pieter Hugo. Pieter, a South African photographer, worked in RIGHT: From the series
Fabrica’s photography department for two years. His interests alternate between Die Vier Hoeke by Mikhail
socially aware documentary photography, especially on themes relevant to Africa Subotzky ©
and other developing countries. Pieter's series of portraits of albinos are actually
fragments of mirrors. When you really look, those pale, transparent eyes, that hair
of a color without color, that fragile and delicate skin, they really tell us about
ourselves. They bring out fears and our prejudices to the surface. © Pieter Hugo.
 35 >

About the author for UNWHO, UNICEF, UNESCO,

Véronique Vienne is a former
magazine art director and editor
and has written extensively on
lifestyle trends, design ethics,
and business practice. She is the
editor/author of Citizen Design-
er and The Education of an Art
Director (with Steven Heller), Art
Direction Explained, at Last!,
Fresh Dialogue Three and Fresh
Dialogue Four and a collection of
her essays on design was pub-
lished by Graphis Press under
the title Something to be Desired.
UNDCP, UNICRI, Max Planck Insti-
tute, The World Bank, Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights,
Witness, Amnesty International,
Reporters Without Borders, In-
stituto Terra, ArteFiera, Istituto
Luce, The New Yorker, The Walrus,
Flash Art, Electa and Cult TV – Fox
International to mention just a
few. Omar also teaches Commu-
nication Design at the IUAV Uni-
versity of Venice in San Marino. <

She teaches a graduate course

in design criticism at the School
of Visual Arts in New York, is a
visiting professor at the Beaux-
Arts School in Lorient, France,
and a lecturer at Parsons Paris.

About Omar
Vulpinari

Omar was born in the Republic of

San Marino and raised in the USA.
Today he lives in Treviso, Italy.
Since 1998 he has been Head of
Visual Communication at Fabrica,
the Benetton Group communi-
cation research centre founded
by Luciano Benetton and Oliviero
Toscani. Here he has been crea-
tive director for social and cultural
communication design projects

EDUCATION
38 >
RE-SOUNDING
(ARCHITECTURAL)
SUCCESS
By Anastasia Messaris
With the release of their new book Sound
Space Design: The Architecture of Don Albert
and Partners (Pythagoras Media Company,
2010), Don Albert & Partners have the oppor-
tunity to showcase their conceptually inno-
vative, technologically astute and slightly
unconventional method of creating universal
architecture. ED> spoke to principal architect
Don Albert about key issues surrounding
their approach to creating sound spaces.
ED> Central to your investigations of space
and innovative design is your idea of ’not
knowing’. The communication designer Bruce
Mau stated in his An Incomplete Manifesto
for Growth that: “Process is more important
than outcome. When the outcome drives the
process we will only ever go where we’ve
already been. If process drives outcome we
may not know where we’re going, but we
will know we want to be there.”
I find this idea appealing in that it fits into
your idea of ‘not knowing’, that the progres-
sion of the wander is undoubtedly both more
fulfilling and more beneficial than the end
result. It may be interesting to note that Mau’s
An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth seems
to condense what I think your practice is
about: growth and discovery, both for your
architecture and for the environment in
which it is situated. Has there ever been an
occasion in which you found the journey
vastly more rewarding than the end prod-
uct? Has this shaped your idea of ‘not
knowing’ at all?
DA> Yes certainly, and that ‘process-driven’
approach is something promoted by many
designers, physicists and educators, including
Thomas Heatherwick, Isaak Newton and Aris-
totle respectively. I think in any of our un-built
work, the ’end product’ is merely drawings,
models, animations and images, so here the
process is more rewarding simply because
there isn’t a built work as such. Of course this
media is still an architectural artefact. I would
go so far as to say that ALL our projects’
processes are more rewarding to me as an
architect than their built manifestations,
 39 >

The Millennium Tower provides an

ideal urban focus, new symbol and
powerful identity for Durban, Africa's
busiest port. The tower is a port
control and vessel-tracking facility.
It communicates fluctuations of sun,
wind and tide, while symbolising the
growth and transformation of the
city into the third Millennium. It is a
75 m high kinetic sculpture that add
significant information for the local
surfers, sailors, fishermen, workers
and holiday makers.

EDUCATION
 40 >

because, in general, the memories I have of the

projects are in the making. I rarely get to use
and experience the buildings as a client would,
or the public would. In any case, architecture
is in the mind first and foremost.

Views of the book Sound Space Design: The ED> How have the advances in computer tech-
Architecture of Don Albert and Partners. nology aided in your design exploration?

DA> When I started practising as an architect,

I used an abominable piece of software on a
PC called TurboCAD. It was really crude 3-D.
When I got to UCLA, real-time movement through
3-D environments was just being pioneered on
Silicon Graphics machines the size of an average
car, using military flight simulation software
no less! Nowadays that kind of computing power
resides in a cheap laptop, let alone an Apple
PowerBook. Software has improved exponen-
tially too. Today Rhino Grasshopper and simi-
lar software are capable of doing mathemati-
cally rich generative scenarios that a decade
ago could only be done through MAX SP and
Mathematica, both of which were impenetrable

software to most architects. At each step, we at
Don Albert & Partners have tried to keep
abreast of, if not be ahead of, the curve. Hav-
ing said that, and as noted in ‘not knowing’, I
am very sceptical about how BIM is affecting
the industry from a creative point of view, as I
believe it short circuits a lot of abstraction
that should occur in the design process.
ED> In your book you call yourself a contextual
architect and you explain context as something
that is not entirely rational, that is fluctuating
and circumstantial and will most certainly alter
within the lifespan of a building. You also (quite
refreshingly) draw influence from pop, specifi-
cally the music videos of Kylie Minogue and Dawn
Shadforth. In this way I see pop (or popular-ism) in
itself becoming a context. Is this a correct cor-
relation?
DA> Yes, certainly. Although popular culture
is an intangible thing generally, it certainly is a
’context’ to me.
41 >
ED> Does this then correspond to your beliefs
of an architecture of longevity, that the build-
ings people like to look at and inhabit (i.e. are
popular) will have the most lasting success as a
design? But if pop (or popular) abides by trends,
does that mean that the architecture that pop or
popular-ism produces is also a trend? Further-
more, how does your version of pop context
differ to that of say, the Century City’s and
Caesar’s Palaces of pop context?
DA> There is obviously a question of taste in
everything, however, my view on pop music, as
much as pop architecture, is that the song it-
self, or the building itself has to be intrinsically
meritorious from a ‘structural’ or ‘functional’ point
of view to enable any kind of longevity or appre-
ciation in the first place. There are rules, but the
most important quality of pop is currency. This is
what elevates it into the popular consciousness
and might separate it from the competition,
however from that moment on, i.e. the moment
it has registered as ’popular‘ it becomes legacy,
precisely because it was once novel enough to
EDUCATION
42 >
THIS PAGE: Stills from Kylie Minogues' videos
Can't Get You Outta My Head (left) and Love at
First Sight (right), both directed by Dawn
Shadforth, showing a distinct appreciation for
the structural possibilities of fabrics and
simplistic computer generated grids that were
popular in 1980s video games and music
videos. These concepts were reinterpreted in
the structure of the building trusses which
modulated up and down in a simplistic fashion,
filled with mesh to allow natural air flow into
the building, Proud Heritage Clothing Campus,
2005. View the videos here.
OPPOSITE PAGE LEFT: Design study for the
balcony of the diner at Proud Heritage
Clothing Campus, Warehouse 1.
FAR RIGHT: Proud Heritage Clothing Campus.
register as such. I hope I am making sense,
but I think a simpler way of saying it is that
everyone remembers a fresh take on some-
thing, or something that is original and new.
The imitations are generally what are not
’lasting’ as you say. We will always remember
Lady Gaga’s Poker Face even if it’s hideously
dated today. The song only broke through at
a certain time, because it was great POP! From
that moment on though, it becomes a ‘classic’.
There is nothing wrong with being ‘on trend’,
but its far more interesting for me, to be
pioneering.
The Caesar Palaces of the world, whilst being
popular venues of commerce and retail, are
not particularly innovative aesthetically, so
if I had to split hairs, I would say I am interested
in intelligent, innovative ‘POP’ (music and
architecture), as opposed to works that are
following an already established trend.
One finds, particularly in South Africa, that the
design culture is especially trend-driven, and
lacks depth and conceptual rigour as a conse-
quence. In almost all design and architectural

publication in South Africa, there is an at-
titude that ‘as long as it looks trendy, it’s ok’.
The current big trend is ‘green’, or ‘eco’ of
course, which I feel has become somewhat
of a facile pretext for conceptualisation, as
if the concern for sustainability has never
been on any architectural agenda before.
ED> Both your writings and your architecture
convey a relentless sense of enthusiasm and
optimism. It is a feeling of looking forward
(in pre-conceived notions of culture and con-
text, of budget and technology, of form, of
education) as opposed to a very strong South
African tendency to look back to previously
defined ideas of context and identity. Perhaps
this is why you seem to court a fair amount
of controversy. Can you respond to this?
DA> I actually don’t know about any con-
troversy. I certainly haven’t seen anything
in print. I can imagine what you are writing
of though, in terms of the way I have been
shunned occasionally by certain groups in
the academe and in the profession, so a fair
response to your question would be that
certainly, I am not interested in self-fulfilling
43 >
and limiting regurgitations of the past,
period.
The history of South Africa is an appalling
one, and is not to be shied away from, how-
ever, I believe that we need to fashion a
positive vision of the future, one where our
commonalities and capacities as human be-
ings are amplified, as opposed to our dif-
ferences, which, seventeen years into so-
called democracy, still seems to be the case.
ED> Your (in South African terms) unconven-
tional method of producing architecture is
occasionally conceived locally as a Eurocentric
way of designing, and the consequent archi-
tecture is then viewed as best suited to the
cultural and technological climates of Europe.
But was there ever a time when you were
startled by how very South African you seemed
in your design process, when your way of
creating space was so obviously local?
DA> I think if you look at how certain neo-
modern architects are designing from Cali-
fornia, to Spain, to China, that there is nothing
especially European, or Eurocentric in them,
EDUCATION
44 >
 45 >

and by extension, in the approach of Don
Albert & Partners, unless you are suggesting
that all neo-modern (process-driven?) archi-
tecture is Eurocentric? I have a big problem
with that statement, for many reasons, but
mostly because I believe that Western civilisa-
tion draws on extensive roots and borrowings
from Africa in the first place.
I think that there is a great degree of sensi-
tivity towards ‘specificity’ and context in the
architecture that I regard as inspirational and
merit worthy. The key for me is how to abstract
contextual issues (as opposed to forms) in
order to unleash their power and create new
ideas and new architectural forms and spaces.
I also don’t see anything particularly prob-
lematic with being influenced by local forms
or morphologies either, as long as there is
some critical attitude towards such physical
hegemony. Furthermore, I don’t see why or
how that notion of abstraction belongs ex-
clusively to Europe when in fact, the idea of
abstraction belongs to everyone, and is
very alive and well in Africa.
Do these critics who view our process as
Eurocentric not know of the abstraction in
carved African masks that influenced Picasso
(and thus the whole of modern art), or the
wonderful mathematics and abstraction in-
volved in Zulu beadwork? Or how much the
Greeks in fact borrowed from the Egyptians
forming the bedrock of Western civilisa-
tion, amongst many, many other examples?
I think the connection between so-called
Western modernism and African, and the
Eastern cultures, is a deep one and should not
be oversimplified in the criticism of modern
architecture.
ED> I personally sense enormous growth
in your designs between the initial concept
and the final architectural product. To me
it seems your grasp of intricate and alter-
native technologies is able to transform
your vision into an architecture that is (in
your own words) “robust enough to endure
and meaningful enough to be valued.” Yet
in your book you speak relatively little about
technology and more often about concept.
For you, how does the one influence the other,
and at what stage is technology thought
about as a concept in itself?
DA> To me, technology is an enabler, not
an end-in-itself. It is the tool that allows us
to be creative, to see things differently, to
make things differently. There is no single
technology that is inherently any better than
any other. I am very happy to draw on a draw-
ing board, if that is all that is at hand. It’s
what you do with it that matters; and that is
why the concept is always stressed in our of-
fice, not the medium. Of course, sometimes
the medium informs the concept, and vice
versa, but it’s about the idea ultimately. I
am not interested in pontificating about
certain technologies, as these, inevitably
become redundant sooner or later anyway.

The Fingerprint House concept was their first attempt at a digital,

algorithmic design process. The basic idea is to create a HIS and HERS type
web-enabled, flash-generated software that would enable you to design for
different clients, as it would automatically generate a hybrid of the clients'
tastes. Don Albert and Partners believe that Internet-enabled house design
has great potential in the future. View the videos here.

EDUCATION
46 >
THIS PAGE LEFT: Diagrams of Organic
House, Cape Town – searching for
three-dimensional common spaces
(double volumes) and then converted
into a spline system inspired by Peter
Eisenman's 'virtual house' process.
RIGHT: Spline diagram.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Views of the
completed Organic House.
ED> In the commercial reality of architec-
ture in practice, how do you manage to
convince your clients of the importance of
concept?
DA> Usually the concept should be big
enough to survive commercial realities and
should obviously be borne of the same. I
can think of only one example in the past
when the concept just couldn’t be achieved
for reasons of budget. That’s not a bad track
record!
ED> In an interview with Nic Coetzer you
called the current practicing architects in
South Africa “a small new elite”. Do you think
a lack of interest from government and an
increase in architecture of commercial gain
has contributed to this? Where do you feel
the current state of South African architec-
ture is in terms of discourse, education and
practice? If we continue in this vein what do
you think the eventual outcome will be?
DA> I am not clairvoyant, but I do believe
that a dwindling economy, coupled with a

lack of intellectual rigour, rampant corrup-
tion, a lack of concern for meritorious appoint-
ments and a paucity of competitions and
genuinely public debate (i.e. involving city
planners and administrators) on architecture
in South Africa, as is currently the case, is
going to have a negative long-term effect on
the profession. The climate of public commis-
sions in architecture should always be the
litmus test of a nation’s values, and its value
in architecture.
At the moment, there is a coterie of 'glamor-
ous' architects doing well for themselves,
and there is a justifiable concern for 'green'
architecture which is worthy and will hope-
fully have a greater impact on commercial
developments, however, in the main, the art
and role of architecture is simply not on the
radar in South Africa and is practically ignored
by government. Until something radical hap-
pens in that regard, I see very dire consequenc-
es for South Africa, and not just from a purely
architectural point of view. We need to see
architects returning to an active position of
intellectual and commercial integrity.
47 >
ED> Your book is an exciting new addition to
the chronicles of local architectural theory
and practice. What prompted its produc-
tion and have you learnt anything through
the process of recording your thoughts and
documenting your discoveries?
DA> Thank you. I think your preceding ques-
tion, more than anything, alerted me to the
fact that South African architects need to
engage with each other and their audience
more. We need to be proactive, and of course,
document what is going on in our heads, if
anything.
Your questions are indeed a welcome out-
come of the process of taking the time to take
stock. I think that I have learnt that making
architecture is much easier than making books
about architecture, but unfortunately I will be
doing more of that too. My next book, inci-
dentally, is going to be the first in a series on
Pop Architecture, one pre-millennium, and
one post.
EDUCATION
48 >
KwaZulu-Natal Legislature building, 2009. This
complex is a microcosm of the province's
landscape, geology and diverse cultures.
Drawing on the accretive nature of building in
Africa, and indeed in all life-forms, the
architecture fuses vernacular and futuristic
geometry into a hybrid that is able to change
and grow without compromising the aesthetics.
A landscape of ceremony and celebration is
devised by emphasising outdoor eventing
particular to Zulu culture and by imbuing
certain areas like the Ensamo (sacred place) and
Olwandhla (artificial ocean) with ceremonial
functions that incorporate ancestral approval
and blessings. The building is conceived to
render unto the nation, an elevated status of
the province known as the Kingdom of the
Zulu, whilst giving the Legislature and
Administration the authority, space and
technical ability to perform its duties.
ED> You have studied in both California and
Durban, at two very different institutions.
Are there any aspects of the educational
process at each institution that you believe
should be incorporated into the study of
the built environment?
DA> Each had their pros and cons. The stand-
ard of education and of the teachers at both,
in my time anyway, was outstanding. If I had
to be glib, I would say that the South African
education, which stems from the British,
like it or not, is inherently more interested
in the minutiae of building, the structure, the
envelope, and the detailing (i.e. it is Victorian
in outlook, and also, rather fond of industrial
building processes and materials), whereas,
in the USA, the agenda is possibly more
Greek, (i.e. it is more about space, proportion
and meaning) which I think is a Jefferson-
ian influence, who of course was a great

architect, and not just the President of the
United States. It would be wonderful if South
Africa had an architect for President one day,
wouldn’t it?
NOTE: ED> would like to thank Don Albert
for his continuous enthusiasm, interest and
involvement in both the practice of archi-
tecture and this article.
References
O’Toole, S. & Gunning, S. (eds.), 2010. Sound
Space Design: The Architecture of Don Albert
and Partners. South Africa: Pythagoras Media
Company.
Mau, B., 2010. An Incomplete Manifesto for
Growth [online];
available: www.brucemaudesign.com
49 >
About the author
Anastasia Messaris graduated with a Masters
in Architecture at University of Cape Town.
Her research topic dealt with music as an
inspiration to and generator of space. Focus
areas of her career are architecture as a social
construct and architecture of light. <
Trumpet House, view of master bedroom
from below. The client was particularly
enthralled by Art Nouveau, which
became an entry point into the design.
Although the house was never destined
to be built on the initial site, the
Trumpet House design perfectly
demonstrates 'a not knowing' approach.
During a site investigation it was
envisioned that the building should rest
within a grove of jacaranda trees and
that a very flexible scheme to the
precise location of the trees, would be
ideal. View the videos here.
EDUCATION
50 >
AFTER A
GLASS
SHOE
By Maran Coates. Liam Fahy’s unconven-
tional background has greatly affected the
man he is today. Having launched his compa-
ny, Liam Fahy London in 2010, specialising in
women’s luxury shoes, Liam seems to be fol-
lowing the natural progression of an already
award-winning shoe designer.
Amongst his most important successes was
winning the first ever Fashion Fringe Shoe
competition in the UK in 2008, when he was
picked from six finalists. Liam’s innovative,
diverse design experience and unusual
conceptual signature styles impressed the
judging panel which included the legendary
Manolo Blahnik.
As part of his prize Liam got a paid intern-
ship alongside Rupert Sanderson, learning
the secrets of true Italian craftsmanship and
design. Liam says, “Italians work to live. They
do not live to work. And you need to speak
Italian if you want to work in Italy.” Sander-
son is quoted as saying, “for me, it's refresh-
ing to be able to work with such a young and
enthusiastic mind.”
I Ashi Bionicus range. © Liam Fahy London.
 51 >

EDUCATION
 52 >

© Liam Fahy London.


EARLY YEARS AND
INFLUENCES
As a youngster growing up on a snake farm
outside Harare, Zimbabwe, his isolated Afri-
can upbringing crafted his fundamental ap-
proach to design. By focusing on designing
from the inside through to the outside rather
than designing the outside only, Liam cap-
tures a sensibility of what he calls “our African
aesthetics’ powerful signature which em-
phasises functionality and simplicity”.
Liam’s strong aversion to capitalist corpora-
tions, along with his design approach, means
that the commercial weapon in his design is
to focuses on quality craftsmanship and
conceptual interpretation. His frustration
with capitalist corporations stems from the
fact that Liam has seen the social and eco-
nomic effects of mass production and poor
quality imitation in his own country, as well
as other third world countries. Liam’s con-
ceptual process is based on his personal
theories of physics and psychology which he
couple with the powerful tool of research.
As part of his personal philosophy Liam talks
passionately about the number two. “The
most important number in design is two.
Perfection in nature supports this. There are
two main hemispheres of the brain, two
eyes, two ears -the list is endless. Nature al-
ways maintains balance, simplicity and mini-
malism.” Liam further interprets this number
by looking at contrasting characteristics that
rely on the tension between the opposites.
This tension creates energy and strength.
53 >
The role of ‘two’ gets interpreted into other
contexts where it implies symmetry, ‘positive
and negative, black and white and rigidity
and flexibility which he always use in his de-
signs.
From a very early age Liam’s Lego collection
sparked his interest in physics. For him, Lego
portrayed the “very close relationship with
graphics and geometrical proportions, espe-
cially in relation to structures and move-
ment”. The I Ashi Bionicus range of boots he
designed is an example of both the use of
structure and movement and also of his re-
search which won him the 2006 Linea Pelle
Footwear Award in Milan.
Liam’s conceptual formula for success seems
to be pretty straightforward and in many of
his interview responses he mentions the role
of research. “You can never do too much re-
search. I love the research process. A project
will always evolve as you do more and more
research.”
As an example he explains that the I Ashi Bi-
onicus range was inspired by a myriad of
sources, ranging from a telephone handset,
a ceramic plate, Bjork’s music video All is full
of love, Apple iPod, Toyota i-series, i-robot,
armadillos, the joints of crabs, the tops of
coffee cups and helmets. The overall con-
cept emphasises purity and simplicity in
form through clinical colour and minimal
construction. Though the inspirations are
futuristic in some sense, the conceptual
principle is rooted in functional simplicity.
EDUCATION
54 >
Liam proudly says: “Some people look at
how shoes are made and design a shoe that
conforms to that. I like to design a shoe and
then invent a way to make it.” With this in
mind Liam then thinks of the ‘how’ part
which is where he poses questions like, “can
I combine an inflexible incongruous medium
to a traditionally flexible and soft product?
Or could the product be mechanical, have
moving parts like pressing a button that
opens the top? Or can the heel be altered
with a remote control?” In the end the I Ishi
Bionicus boots were made from a neoprene
‘sock’ with vac formed plastic gloss caps and
detailing.
Liam first experienced ‘the theatre of fash-
ion’ where design and psychology meet
when he was head boy at Harare Interna-
tional School. Here he learnt that entertain-
ment gets the audience’s votes. “Entertain-
ment and emotion depend entirely upon
personal perception. Psychology is the big-
gest component of entertainment.” For
some the entertainment is in the fleeting-
ness of fashion itself. However, engaging
the emotions in that experience adds an-
other dimension to Liam’s work. By consid-
ering and experimenting with functionality,
internal construction, acoustics of the prod-
uct, light properties and touch, Liam reacts
to his clients preconceived perception of
footwear.
Liam has also made the connection between
his homeland and his career. The experiences
on the farm where he grew up have, for in-
stance, given him the knowledge to look at
a sample of python leather and determine
its authenticity and also recognise the spe-
cies and its age.
FOLLOWING HIS PASSION
FOR DESIGN
After high school, Liam briefly studied at
the local international art school. At the
same time he spent time learning about the
value of social thought through his informal
training with local artists, mainly stone
sculptors, welders and painters. “Zimbabwe,
I think, has the highest concentration of
sculptors in the world. We used to make art
just for the sake of it and left pieces in
strange places for someone to find one day.”
Liam left art school for what he calls a hiatus
and “a break from the conventional Western
definition of work”. The hiatus was spent
along the Zambezi River with the Batonga
tribe. “It is their completely different way of
looking at life that interested me.” Many
people in the area have a two-hour com-
mute to work, work 9-6, no lunch, two-hour
commute home, microwave meal, sleep, and
repeat this Monday to Friday.”
Living in Zimbabwe meant that Liam did a
lot of travelling when he was younger. “It
was pretty isolated so it made me want to
get out there and see what was going on.”
Wassili range. © Liam Fahy London.
 55 >

EDUCATION
56 >
Deciding to study abroad seemed to be the
most obvious way to do that, where he
could embrace his passion for hands-on de-
sign. After his hiatus, Liam left for the UK to
study at the prestigious De Montfort Uni-
versity in Leicester where he enrolled to
study shoe design.
When reminiscing about his student days at
De Montfort University, Liam notes that the
“strange thing is that out of 20 students on
my course, four of them were Zimbabwean!
It must be something in the water.” He says
that many of the foreign students have a
unique approach to design. Based on the im-
pact of their culture and upbringing, Liam
says, “I can look at a design now and tell if it
was a Japanese designer, an African one or
an English one.” However, his advice to any
African who wants to study abroad is “to go
straight to work experience” but that “most
of what you learn is not what you are taught
but what you teach yourself.”
EARLY ACHIEVEMENTS
Being an achiever seems something that
comes naturally to Liam (or maybe due to
the ‘Zimbabwean water’). In 2003, Liam was
awarded H.I.S Presidential Award for his
academic achievements at school and while
at university, he was awarded first place in
the Drapers Designer of the Year Award in
2006 in the UK with his Safari range.
LEFT: Charlotte black satin. © Liam Fahy London.
RIGHT: Charlotte printed satin. © Liam Fahy London.
The Safari range of high-end boots referred
directly to Southern Africa’s colonial period
of the 1900s. Liam added to the authenticity
of the boots by using materials such as khaki,
canvas, mahogany and vegetable-tanned
natural leather. Most interestingly, Liam
took his inspiration to another level by
moulding the shape of the heel on the butt
of a vintage revolver from the 1900s.
After graduating Liam got a job at a consul-
tancy that was designing for the Cushe foot-
wear brand. He says: “I learnt more in one
week than I did in three years at university.”
During this period Liam spent almost every
month in China and Hong Kong, visiting
huge factories, eating strange things and
doing work for clients such as Harley David-
son and Caterpillar. He says that this first-
hand experience of the commercial process
was a shock to his creative system but was a
great learning curve.
VIEWS ON THE FASHION
INDUSTRY
Liam believes that the contrast between the
Chinese and Italian processes is immense.
Having seen the vast worlds between qual-
ity crafted footwear from Italy and the mass-
produced imitations in China, Liam had the
experience to decide where he wanted to
align his own business. Also, the time Liam
spent with the Batonga tribe in Zimbabwe,
TOP: Safari range. © Liam Fahy London.
 57 >

EDUCATION
58 >
allowed him to get to know people who bear
the brunt of mass production. “Every coun-
try and footwear industry in Africa have suf-
fered because of a lack of protection from
their own governments from what we call
‘footwear dumping’ or ‘predatory prices’
originating from China. Nobody wins but
the corporation or the dodgy government
minister.”
There are many designers who believe that
creativity is suffering because of the fast
pace of fashion. Liam sees the impact that
publication dates, sales seasons, VIP events
and special issues place on have on the qual-
ity of the product and on the design itself.
Some mass-produced labels can go from
idea to store in under a month, yet for small-
er design houses this usually takes six
months. This gives mass-produced brands
more than sufficient time to imitate and
capitalise on others’ ideas. His other con-
cern is that “audiences are being diluted by
the ‘atomic’ creation of media platforms for
fashion marketing such as MySpace, Face-
book, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and vlogs.
The result is that shoes no longer last a year,
they are in vogue for a month, max.”
TOP: Charlotte purple satin. © Liam Fahy London.
LEFT: Cerise mirror patent. © Liam Fahy London.
I’M MY OWN BOSS
Liam Fahy London was officially launched in
2010. From the onset Liam had to decide
where his new business would stand on cre-
ating and supplying clients with magnificent
shoes. Liam notes that “in China the factory
does it all, but in Italy the designer has to
do everything, all the sourcing and even
the packaging”.
Liam Fahy London only makes limited edi-
tion ranges which are available on its e-bou-
tique and through VIP agents around Europe.
“We really want to maintain a sense of exclu-
sivity and authenticity with our clients, even if
it means turning down large orders and cus-
tomers. For me it’s not about the money, it’s
about the appreciation of the article.”
Liam’s latest collection for Spring/Summer
2011 was inspired by two opposing ele-
ments: leather and metal. He employed
‘metal-smithing’ techniques that were used
to make armour and helmets in the 13th
century for the nickel or silver embellish-
ments on the new shoe collection. Though
ancient methods were utilised, it was impor-
tant for Liam that his shoes be classic and
“highlight and complement the foundations
of a strong wardrobe”.
“Most fashion designers tend to create col-
lections that have a superficial aspect to
them that don’t really go deeper than the
RIGHT: Cerise black satin. © Liam Fahy London.
 59 >

EDUCATION
60 >

surface of what their audience can see –

colour, patterns and silhouette. Many peo-
ple spend too much time with their heads
down instead of sitting back and thinking.”
Liam quotes Pierre Cardin who recently said:
“There is no more fashion because there is
too much fashion.”

Liam draws on the diversity of his work and

life experiences to create richness, including
the contrasts between the intensity of Chi-
nese production, the quality of Italian craft,
the practical functionality of Zimbabwean
art, as well as the context of living and work-
ing in London.

When asked what is next, Liam answers with

the most unlikely yet suitable reply for a
shoe designer: “I’ve always liked the idea of
a glass shoe – it’s just finding a way to make
it work.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maran Coates is currently doing a Masters

degree in Fashion Design at Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University. She has a particular
interest in conceptual fashion styling, social
commentary and critical fashion journalism. <

TOP: Chaunte python navy.

© Liam Fahy London.
BOTTOM LEFT: Caresse caramel.
© Liam Fahy London.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Caresse navy patent.
© Liam Fahy London.
 61 >

EDUCATION
 ION
DUATE COLLECT
GRA 10
SHOW 20

WIN A
NANO
64 >

Frost*
UNDERSTANDING THE
SERIOUS PLAYGROUND OF
BUSINESS AND GOOD DESIGN
By Marlé van Zyl. These days it could be
difficult to use the word ‘design’ without
the name Vince Frost or Frost* coming to
mind. The innovative, out-of-the-box thinker
has taken the design and business worlds by
storm and with studios in both London and
Sydney and with his eyes fixed on expanding
the base to Dubai and Asia, it seems that his
staff of 35 might soon be growing exponen-
tially.
You might recognise his fun speech bubble
design for the retail signage at Sydney Air-
port or the environmental graphics he did
for Sydney Park Playground that simply ooz-
es playfulness. Or his name might sound fa-
miliar as the man who won awards such as
the D&AD silvers, golds from the New York
Society of Publication Designers as well as
the New York and Tokyo Art Directors Club,
Futuretainment book, Abundant exhibition,
Sydney Airport brochure, State Library annual
To celebrate Actew AGL’s 10th anniversary, the company commissioned Frost*,
in collaboration with renowned Canberra-based artist, Robert Foster, to create
a sculptural installation for the foyer of their new headquarters, 2010.
65 >
report, State Library Centenary typeface,
Woolworths South Africa packaging and
FUTU Magazine. He is the man behind a
range of projects including TV graphics,
large wayfinding systems and books despite
also being named one of the top 100 most
influential people in Sydney by The Sydney
Morning Herald in its December issue. In the
magazine he is referred to as “the visualiser”
by a team of expert panellists.
In an interview with ED> this creative genius
gave us a sneak peek into his cheerful world
of graphics and brands.
Vince Frost, born on 23 November 1964 in
Brighton, UK, is a man who believes that
“the core to success is aiming for success
and getting it as right as possible”, and that
is exactly what he is doing. When asked
about his inspiration his answer was simple:
“the client”. From the moment of meeting
EDUCATION
66 >
with the client and hearing their desires and
objectives the ideas and images start pop-
ping into mind, he says. He and his staff then
start brainstorming and try to visualise ide-
as and test their quality and viability. He de-
scribes it as an exciting process, which in-
volves lateral thinking, strategy and creative
exploration.
During his formative years, designing was
something that excited him, but he first had
to do a lot of soul searching and struggling
for a while to find a possible career until he
stumbled across a design school, the West
Sussex College of Design. He was deter-
mined not to waste one single opportunity
and jumped in 100%. He drew inspiration
from magazines such as The Face and in his
first job his early inspiration came from
watching senior partners at Pentagram Lon-
don working on solving problems. One of
the founders of Pentagram, Alan Fletcher, is
also one of Frost’s icons. He describes him
as “amazing but a gruff designer and an in-
credibly witty thinker, whose ideas always
seemed effortless but they were clever,
spot-on and eventually made you smile once
you understood them”.
From the days of watching his seniors, al-
ways aiming for the best solution you can
achieve with the opportunity in front of you,
Frost still believes that this is the core of
success of any project. “Be hungry to please
your clients and involve them in the process.
Try and capture a unique point of difference
with every project. Collaborate because if
you want to work in isolation, become an
artist”. Frost is very enthusiastic about col-
laborations across different creative disci-
plines, as he believes that “bringing in anyone
with a new and different input that shakes
up predictable thinking” is great for a unique
development of each project.
Together with a major retrospective of his
work entitled frost*bite: Graphic Ideas by
Vince Frost, which was exhibited at the Syd-
ney Opera House, he also launched a book
entitled, Sorry Trees. The book formed part
of his exhibition and the title he explains
“was an idea I had after thinking about all the
trees that died with every job I had specified
over the years. The book is full of case studies
and captioned with explanations on how and
why they grew into what they did”. Readers
can expect a unique insight into the daily
working practices of his award-winning de-
sign studio.
Unlike some, Frost admits to his contribu-
tion to an unsustainable environment and
today he shows great responsibility towards
the environment and social development –
hence the reason why they are a carbon natural
studio that aims to minimise waste. Despite
technology, which allows for mass-produc-
tion, consumerism and mass communication
through various social media platforms,
Frost still believes that print and paper will
not disappear and will always be used in
some form or other. Might it be due to
greed or survival, “Man has always designed
ways of using natural resources, and today
we need to continually look for new ways of
capturing energy with little or no negative
harm to the environment. Creative thinking
can bring about new concepts and innova-
tive ideas that can make this possible.”
Every season trends come and go, but
according to Frost trends must not be
 67 >

TOP: Retail signage for Sydney Airport, 2010,

incorporating devices such as speech bubbles and
witty captions for a tone that is fun and
approachable – almost as though the Airport is
having a conversation with you.

MIDDLE: Abundant Australia, Venice Biennale

book, 2008.

BOTTOM: Advertising campaign for the Sydney

Dance Company, introducing the 2009 dance season.

EDUCATION
68 >

TOP: Celebrated publisher Phaidon Press commissioned Frost* to design the first truly comprehensive collection of
Indian recipes, demonstrating the incredible diversity of Indian cuisine. The inspiration for the design came when
visiting a small Indian grocery around the corner from the Frost* studio. The design team noticed that the rice came
in a cotton bag, which coincidentally had the same proportions as the big India cookbook. Every chapter is printed on
different coloured stock to suggest the texture and colours of India, 2010.
 69 >

LEFT: Book design for Rizzoli Publications, 2006. CENTRE: Trio, property development magazine. RIGHT: One-off
Frost*flat for Trio in Sydney, 2009. Frost* was one of four companies commissioned to design the interior of
exclusive apartments in the newly developed City Quarter. The 3D team at Frost* had great fun bringing its type
and ideas to life. They created new homeware products such as typographical cushions, limited edition prints,
bed spread, beach towels, plates and table runners.

EDUCATION
70 >

TOP LEFT: Frost* has developed a very

successful signature range of fashion,
accessories and homeware products.

RIGHT: Packaging for Woolworths

South Africa, 2010. The in-house
design studio Frost* has set up for
Woolworths has begun rolling its first
new packs onto shelf, the initial stage
of what will be a mammoth packaging
redesign program, eventually
encompassing more than 5000 items.

overlooked: “Trends have lots of power and
what is popular today creates interest, PR,
demand and sales.” The same can be said
for the power of the creative industries.
Because everything that is manmade has
been designed, Frost explains that design is
not only there to make things look nice:
“Design can be bad too”. He states that hu-
man ideas are unstoppable and we will re-
lentlessly continue to think up new ways to
make things better and simpler. “We all
want a better world in which things work
well, easy to clean and sustainable. And we
all want to put our own ideas into reality.
Therefore creativity can be seen as power-
ful and wonderful. Society progresses
through inquisitive minds,” he continues.
Frost was first introduced to typography by
his dad who worked as a letterpress com-
positor. Typography, the expression of
words, is a very powerful, creative and social
tool as words are the expression of ideas
and thoughts. Therefore, it can be seen as a
different communication system through
creating visual stimulus and engagement
with the reader, audience or consumer.
When Frost worked at Pentagram London
they only had four fonts they could choose
from which were Helvetica, Franklin Gothic,
Garamond and Bodoni, but although it was a
limited ‘palette’ they were all very proud of
it. Times have changed and today there are
millions of fonts to choose from and a great
variety to express design: “We spend our
childhood learning how to spell and read.
And then our lives and eyes are hit by typog-
raphers and designers.”
71 >
At present Frost is also appointed as the cre-
ative director of Woolworths, South Africa
where he works closely with other design
companies. One of his first major challenges
was to be the ‘caretaker’ and manage the
different applications of the new brand
identity during the recent transition phase
from the old to the new. According to Vince
it can become important for such a trusted
brand to change their identity, as the com-
pany should always “remain relevant and
front-of-mind with its customers”. One
might wonder what the risks are when such
a trusted brand decides to go all the way
and whether the new would add value to an
already valued company. But according to
him “it’s a competitive changing environ-
ment where innovations and designs need
to be constantly developed to meet the de-
mand and improve our lifestyles. Wool-
worths needs to always be modern. The
danger with any brand is that, in time, it can
appear to become complacent and dated,
with the effect of not appealing to its cus-
tomers or younger new potential consum-
ers. Woolworths is a company that seriously
values design and quality like I have never
experienced before. It’s very much a leader
in the world by being determined to be dif-
ferent and make a difference in everything
it does. To stay different you need to con-
stantly change,” Frost explains.
When he was asked to comment on whether
South Africa has the correct ingredients to
be a global role player in fields of design he
seemed puzzled by the question and asked
why people think that life, work or design
might be better elsewhere? Or why should
it be important to design in a specific ‘South
EDUCATION
72 >
African’ way? “One should rather focus on
where you are and do good work. We are all
different, be yourself and stand tall.”
While there is still a common misconception
that design is simply a frivolous industry, in
reality it can be a major role player in as-
pects of innovation, job creation and intel-
lectual property that will contribute to eco-
nomic prosperity of any country. Frost
admits that at first he didn’t quite under-
stand what design was, until he was about
18 years old. Although he was aware of the
world of design it did not mean that he un-
derstood the process behind the projects
and how the things he experienced came
about. He refers to the world’s image of de-
sign as “fashion or home ‘make- over’ chan-
nels”. According to him people need to be
educated to the fact that design is every-
where and anything can be seen as a form of
design, whether referring to an accountant
designing a better financial system or a chef
designing a tastier meal. He therefore pre-
fers the word “create” to the word “design”.
Currently designers are often seen as prob-
lem solvers, people who strive to find a solu-
tion for every obstacle and one can expect
nothing than the same positive attitude
from Frost, as he believes that design can be
used in so many ways to fix problems and
have a role to play in all communities.
Whether you are living in a first world, de-
veloping or third world country one should
strive to “think big for even small problems
and believe that anything is possible.”
Today we experience a sense of a global
style, which Frost is very excited about. One
can no longer clearly distinguish between
one countries approach from another’s. In
the past designers seemed to be much more
secretive about their ideas, but today it is
certainly customary for most designers to
communicate openly about their projects
and ideas. Frost believes that this type of
collaboration and sharing is of great value
for the development of unique ideas and for
individual development as it is vital to learn
from each other.
When asked if he had any advice for young
graphic designers the reply was simple,
“have fun, listen, explore, question, learn
and make”. Being passionate about what
you are doing and going about life in a posi-
tive way is the key elements to his success.
It seems that there are no definite rules or
guidelines to becoming a great designer ex-
cept for hard work and perseverance and to
do and explore whatever feels natural to
you, “and if you fail...try, try again” he con-
cludes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Besides being a qualified scuba diver, Marlé
van Zyl also achieved a Degree in Drama and
English Studies at the University of Stellen-
bosch. She enjoys writing about anything
that is informative and can add value; as
well as current news, no matter the field. <
 73 >

TOP: Refreshing strategy of Sydney Airport’s

airline marketing collateral, 2010. Sydney, as a hub,
offers something that most other cities in the
world can’t – its unique outdoor lifestyle. This
brochure needed to use the city itself as a selling
tool for the airport. Frost* wanted to realise the
idea of the true Sydney visually and reflect its
famously cosmopolitan, confident and easy-going
personality in the design philosophy, engaging the
reader with an exciting sense of vibrancy.

LEFT: Cover of Zembla Magazine, Issue No. 5, 2004.

RIGHT: Book cover of Some Trains in America.

EDUCATION
Inspirational Innovation
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76 >
SUMMER OLYMPICS 2016:
RIO’S BRAND SCULPTURE
GETS THE THUMBS-UP
By Jennie Fourie
Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach was abuzz
on New Year’s Eve when a million people saw
the launch of Rio Summer Olympics 2016’s
brand identity. Developed by the agency Tátil,
a Brazilian company specialising in strategic
consultancy, brand building and management,
the brand Rio 2016 breaks new ground with
its sculptural form. The brand mixes volume
and form, light and shade. It has a front and a
back, and can be viewed from multiple angles.
According to Beth Lula, manager of the Brand-
ing Department of Rio 2016 Organising
Committee, Tátil entered the process of
designing the logo along with 138 other
competitors. By the end of several qualification
stages, the proposals submitted by the eight
remaining agencies were evaluated by a
multidisciplinary evaluation commission,
composed of 12 professionals enjoying both
national and international market recogni-
tion for their experience in brand design and
approval. The team finally made their decision
in Tátil’s favour.
The logo was the result of a co-creative and
collaborative process that lasted almost
two months generating more than 50 options
up for consideration and producing hundreds
of renderings. The design process brought
together multidisciplinary teams from the
agency’s offices in Rio and São Paulo. The
 77 >

Guanabara Bay panorama. Photo by Anatoly Terentiev.

brand Rio 2016, the designers believe, epitomis-

es the Olympic spirit and its athletes, as well
as the nature, feelings and aspirations of Rio
de Janeiro and Brazil. Tátil says that the logo is
based on four concepts of contagious energy,
harmonious diversity, exuberant nature, and The colour choices for the official Summer
the Olympic spirit. Olympics 2016 logo are based on the
Brazilian environment as well as the character
of it's people. "Yellow symbolises the sun and
Supporters raved at this colourful, multidimen-
our warm, vivacious and happy nature. Blue
sional masterpiece, while hard line critics imme- expresses the fluidity of the water that
diately started scanning for a scandal. Critics surrounds us, and our easygoing way of life.
soon found something to hook onto – alleged Green represents our forests and hope, a
positive vision that inspires us to go even
copying. However, this was soon rejected by the
further," explains Tátil's creative team.
creators of the Rio identity who proved that
similarities with the logo of the Telluride Founda-
tion in Colorado were vaguely coincidental.

EDUCATION
78 >
Fred Gelli, Tátil’s partner and creative director
told the GloboEsporte.com that the agency
did extensive research to guarantee the de-
sign was unique. "For some reason, we missed
that one," Gelli said, when he acknowledged
the similarity with the foundation logo. "The
brand is radically different because it is tri-
dimensional," Gelli said. On the other hand,
could the foundation’s logo also have ele-
ments of the logo of the Rio Carnival of 2004
(the similarities are glaring and an obvious
The logos of Sydney 2000 and Vancouver 2010
both attracted controversy due to 'appropriation'
of symbols originating from ancient indigenous
cultures.
The original bidding logo vs the official logo
for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Te redesigned
logo attracted much criticism from the design
community, the citizens of London and other
quarters, spawning a plethora of love/hate blog
posts and polls which were further fueled
when the development costs became public.
copy of the Rio Carnival logo) and what simi-
larities were there to be found with Henri
Matisse’s painting, The Dance that was paint-
ed in 1910? The plagiarism claims, in this
instance, were somewhat of a long shot.
Controversy’s the name of
the game
Olympic branding programmes are notori-
ously prone to controversy. Since the incep-
tion of the modern Olympic Games at the
turn of the previous century there has not
only been fierce competition on the sports
fields and in the water, but life-and-death
contests have also been fought about who
would be hosting the event that is presented
every four years. But the battle doesn’t stop
once a host city has been appointed. Then
follows the race of who would get the prize
contract of designing the host city’s logo or
emblem.
Cities invest massive resources to host these
prestigious events and they call upon their
most talented designers to come up with
an emblem that would not only embody
what the games are all about, but also
what the host city wants to show the world
when it comes to its geography, it philoso-
phy and its essence.
Barring the mutters of copying when the Rio
logo was unveiled, the general verdict has
been positive. In a newspaper poll conducted
in Brazil more that 70% of respondents liked
the logo. This figure is in stark contrast with
the 80% of respondents who gave the Lon-
don 2012 Olympic Games logo the thumbs-
down in a BBC poll conducted in 2007.
 79 >

Shown here are the logos for the final bidding cities for the 2016 Summer Olympics including
that of Rio which drew much praise. "The Sugar Loaf in the shape of a heart represents the
Brazilians' indisputable passion and vibration for sports. The exclamation point replacing the
numeral 1 in the writing 'Rio 20!6' symbolises Brazil's heightened expectations with the chance
of hosting the event," said Ana Soter, designer of the Rio bid logo. It is standard practice for
winning cities to change their logo after the initial bidding process. The new official logo for Rio
2016 drew much inspiration from the original bidding logo.

Respondents did not rate this controversial
logo as gold, silver or bronze, but just about
across the board gave it a wooden spoon.
Comments buzzing over the Internet de-
scribed the problematic emblem as a
smash. Someone commented that it looked
as if the logo had been dropped on the floor
and it broke. And as if this wasn’t enough, a
segment of the animated footage promot-
ing the 2012 London Games had to be re-
moved from the organisers’ website, as it
could apparently cause epileptic fits.
Other recent controversial sports logos have
included the logo of the Vancouver Winter
Olympics 2010. The logo depicts an inukshuk,
a symbol used by the Inuit people of Canada's
arctic regions. For centuries the Inuit have
stacked rocks, sometimes into human forms,
to create guideposts for travellers. The de-
signers saw the logo as an "eternal expres-
sion of the hospitality of a nation that warmly
welcomes the people of the world with open
arms every day." But some people felt that
the symbol did not reflect the native art and
culture of the Vancouver region and the rest
of British Columbia, such as totem poles. One
comment from an Inuit elder summed it up
when he asked whether the logo depicted
Pac Man or Frankenstein.
Other controversial logos include that of
the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, mainly
because of a complicated and drawn-out
process calling for submissions. The logo
included a boomerang to depict aboriginal
culture, but many critics thought this inclu-
sion to be forced.
The fact remains – it’s a highly complex proc-
ess to design a sports emblem or logo. Not
only does the design team have to depict
the spirit of the event and the location,
they also have to take cognisance of the
subtexts involved and how the logo would
be received internally, as well as by a broader
audience that, in many cases, include most
of the nations of the world.

EDUCATION
80 >

Official logos of Summer and Winter Olympic Games since 1924

 81 >

Images courtesy of
IOC/Olympic Museum
Collections.

EDUCATION
82 >
In recent years, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008
seem to have done it right, with the design
teams behind the branding programmes re-
ceiving more acclaim for a job well done than
criticism. Even the harshest critics could find
little fault with these, which were beauti-
fully executed in their rollout.
But back to Rio
Advertising specialist, Washington Olivetto
describes the Rio 2016 brand as having “graph-
ic harmony and continuous movement needed
in the practice of all sports”. It can be still or
in 3D, with angles suggesting infinity. Design-
er Ricardo Leite also waxed lyrical about the
logo which he describes as “a sculpture or
jewellery that gains new angles as it turns”.
A logo of an international sporting event
should reflect the country in which the event
will be held. One of the premier design ele-
ments that can be used to this end is colour.
Previous logos that used colour (or the lack
of it) to great effect have been the starkly
beautiful black-and-white op-arty logo of the
Summer Olympics 1968, hosted by Mexico
and vivid blue of the Athens Olympics 2004
that brings to mind the Aegean Sea in all its
sparkling splendour. Barcelona’s logo for the
Summer Olympics 1992, on the other hand,
used a vivid palette of red, orange and blue
resonating with the rings of the Olympics
emblem.
In the case of the Rio logo colour is an embed-
ded theme. The theme is carried out by three
human figures in green, blue and orange (again
reflecting the Olympics’ rings) holding hands
and in a dancing mode. The shape of the logo
is formed by the space between the dancing
figures and resembles one of Rio’s most mag-
nificent landmarks, Sugarloaf Mountain. The
vertical shape between green and orange
and the horizontal shape between green,
orange and blue, both make up the shape of
the Sugarloaf. This landmark comes to life and
gains a three-dimensional perspective, with
volume and cut-outs. Contours create the to-
pography of the city in our imagination. A
brand-sculpture, infinite, that gains textures
and shapes, transforming it into an object.
As one commentator said: “The final logo of
the Summer Olympics 2016 is in complete
affirmation with the culture and colours of
Rio de Janeiro, the host city and the spirit of
Olympics Games.”
We can go with that. All that remains is to see
how the brand will be rolled out. If the success
of the logo is anything to go by, this will in-
deed be a celebration of what can be achieved
by design.
In conversation with the
Tátil design team
What was the initial brief and how did
their original interpretation change as
the project developed?
"The Olympic Games Committee’s original
brand evaluation briefing included the fol-
lowing:
• To reflect the local culture having a uni-
versal understanding, in line with Olympic
values;
 83 >

Although initially presented in two-dimensions, the logo

was conceived as a three-dimensional form as these models
illustrate. Tátil's creative team describes it as "a sculptural
brand for a sculptural city". © Tátil.

EDUCATION
84 >

The development process of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics logo

First drafts Initial logo study Attempt to make New study of the Original draft of
with carioca's with visual the logo more logo's shape, the final logo.
topography reference to organic and fluid. emphasising the
references and human figures three human
volumetric and the shape of figures by making
studies. the Sugarloaf them more robust.
Mountain. In addition, the
first volumetric
study was made
with plastic dough.
 85 >

New draft Study on the Study to include Three-dimensional The final logo.
attempting to logo's expression other shapes of volumetric study
make the logo lines. Rio's topography made from the
more organic. to the logo's final logo's shape.
curves.

EDUCATION
86 >

• To avoid local stereotypes;

• To be innovative and to inspire and thrill
a diversified public;
• To transform the city and the country’s
image in synergy with the transformation
moment of the Olympic movement."

How did this project differ from other

branding projects that that the company
had developed in the past?

"The method was the same used in others

This brand matrix plots the values that Rio
2016 logo aims to represent. © Tátil.
brand creations. We used our tool 'BranDi-
rection' to create the four inspiration pillars:
Olympic spirit, harmonious diversity, exuber-
ant nature and contagious energy. The differ-
ence is that the brand was born from a co-
creative process of collaboration that lasted
almost two months. Our staff immersed
themselves in the Olympic world, in the

A process consisting of extensive research, brainstorming and co-creation guided Tátil's

multidisciplinary creative team throughout the development of the Rio 2016 logo. More than 40
people, including strategists, designers and editors, participated in the process. © Tátil.

relation of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro and the
Olympic spirit, working together on the two
main themes: transformation and passion."
What were some of the challenges and
the solutions the design team faced?
"We followed and accomplished all the proce-
dures and strict requirements set by the Rio
2016 Organising Committee. Internally we
took serious precautions to insure the brand
remained unpublished and unique until its
official launch. We were very happy and proud
of the final results, especially because the
brand was approved by members of the judg-
ing committee and its members from IOC,
BOC, federal, state and local government,
marketing consultants that worked in the
Beijing and Athens Olympic Games, and de-
sign agencies’ representatives."
Animated 3D sequence of the Rio 2016 logo by Super Uber. See more about the making of the logo here.
87 >
About the author
Jennie Fourie has roamed the South African
media landscape for the past 25+ years. At
present she is a freelance copywriter, jour-
nalist and media consultant with a special
interest in innovation and design. Industrial
journalism is a passion and she has been co-
organiser of the corporate publication com-
petition of the SA Publication Forum for the
past ten years. She has been a judge in a
variety of publication competitions, both
locally and abroad. Jennie holds a Masters
degree in Journalism. <
EDUCATION
88 >

Scenes from the original The sound of music movie.


THE SOUND OF MUSIC
By Fatima Cassim
It has been over 30 years since its release,
but The Sound of Music is probably one of the
most memorable movie musicals of all time.
The opening sequence, in particular, is a splen-
did piece of film-making. The viewer is pre-
sented with aerial views of the snow-capped
Alps surrounding Salzburg, before zooming
into a lush field where we are introduced to
Maria, played by Julie Andrews. The cinema-
tography needs no further elaboration be-
cause by now I am sure that you want to break
into song, acknowledging that, indeed, “the
hills are alive with the sound of music.” Now,
imagine the scene without the chirping birds
and the adventurous singing spirit of the nun-
turned-governess .... (Silence).
“No sound?” you may ask. Yes, it is very diffi-
cult to separate the sound from this scene
and much of the success of this film is due
to the design of sound. In most creative
productions, such as films and commercials
for example, sound is not treated as a step-
ping stone for the creative family but it’s
rather more like a governess that tugs at your
heartstrings. Sound design plays a pivotal
role in conveying meaning and is used to
strengthen and support moving images. It
creates a mood and helps to simulate a
more real experience for the viewer. Owing
to the increasingly audio-visual nature of
contemporary culture, sound design has
matured into a vital discipline and is now a
89 >
sought-after profession with numerous ap-
plications and possibilities.
HEAR, HEAR
By definition, sound design ranges from de-
signing, recording and manipulating sounds
to serve a specific purpose and create mean-
ing for a variety of productions ranging from
the more traditional applications such as thea-
tre and film to television, computer games
and even live performances. Sound design
encompasses both music and sound effects
and varies according to the medium and
context for which it is created.
The purpose of sound is to set a tone and
create the correct ambience for a produc-
tion or product. Ultimately, the success of the
sound, together with the other visual ele-
ments is to ensure that viewers are enter-
tained and/or immersed and to encourage
them to suspend their disbelief. This implies
that sound designers need to reference
previously created sounds, such as previously
recorded songs and sound effects but they
also need create new sounds. In light of this, a
sound designer plays a creative role in com-
posing and editing different sounds.
This role and purpose of sound design is per-
haps mostly known within the context of
EDUCATION
90 >

the film industry. Even during the silent era,

when the marriage between synchronous
sound and image was not possible, silent movies
were often accompanied by live musicians and
sometimes sound effects were also made by the
projectionist. Although there was experimen-

Corporate campaign, titled Let’s reach for the sun, created by Adelphoi Music for the Aditya Birla Group. Click here to see the commercial.
tation with sound film technology during the
silent era, 1929 marked the turning point in
film when sound became standard in Holly-
wood. Many directors began experimenting
with the creative potential of sound and began
incorporating this into their work. Alfred Hitch-
cock’s Blackmail and William Wellman’s China-
town Nights are early examples of the success-
ful use of creative sound design. Sound also
facilitated the growth of different film gen-
res, such as musicals. This transition was slow-
er in other countries such as China and Japan,
mainly due to economic reasons, but they
soon followed suit.

The 1950s was another important decade for the

development and progression of sound design
since in Hollywood, sound design began to in-
fluence theatre productions. Following from
this, the 1980s and 1990s also saw rapid growth
in sound design with the introduction of musical
instrument digital interface (MIDI) and digital
technology playing a key role. Since then con-
tinual advances in digital technology have in-
fluenced sound design to such an extent that it
is now applied to new areas of media including
television, commercials as well as the Internet
and computer games.

New software continues to be developed with

unlimited possibilities and applications and as
a result, sound designers today are dependent
on being at the forefront of technology. A good
grasp of the various sound and picture plat-
forms, such as Final Cut Pro, makes it easier
 91 >

EDUCATION
92 >
for sound designers to interface with the
different media in which sound is necessary.
Owing to the wider application of sound
today, sound designers need to liaise with
many different designers, hence making
the profession collaborative in nature.
MAKING (SOUND)WAVES
At present, sound design is an expanding and
diverse area both as an academic discipline
and as a career path. The demand in sound
design for various media has been the driv-
ing force behind the success of a number
of sound design companies within an inter-
national as well as a local context. Two compa-
nies which bear testimony to this are Mile-
stone Studios and Adelphoi Music, local and
international companies respectively.
Milestone Studios is Cape Town-based and
has a long tradition of excellence in all aspects
of sound design. Murray Anderson started
Milestone studios in 1987 to record demo
songs for musicians such as Robin Auld, Lesley
Rae Dowling, Robbie Jansen, Louis Ribeiro
and many others. Since inception, the studio
has grown in size from a single room in Wood-
stock to a state-of-the-art studio in 2007,
designed by ex-South African architect Ivan
Kadey, now based in Los Angeles. The new
studio complex boasts vintage analogue and
state of the art digital sound equipment
and offers a full range of audio services in-
cluding original music recording, audio pro-
duction and post-production for commer-
cials as well as film scoring.
The staff of Milestone Studios has enjoyed
great success in their careers. Two noteworthy
sound designers are founder Murray Ander-
son and Warrick Sony, who joined the com-
pany in 2001. The two are currently in a crea-
tive partnership doing commercials, film
scores and music for theatre. In 2005, Ander-
son and Sony won Best Music Gemini Award,
one of Canada’s highest accolades, for their
creative collaboration composing the music
for Madiba: The Life and Times of Nelson Man-
Viral campaign for the launch of Sony’s 3D World. See this magnificent 3D display here.
dela. According to Anderson, other recog-
nisable work that the studio has done includes
music/jingles for many television advertise-
ments like the Klipdrift Met Eish series, re-
cording African stars like Yvonne Chaka Chaka,
HHP and Baaba Maal, and international art-
ists like Annie Lennox and Queen. View the
company’s portfolio, which spans over 20
years at www.milestones.co.za
A younger but nonetheless extremely suc-
cessful production company specialising in
music and sound design is Adelphoi Music.
The company, currently with studios in London
and Berlin, originally started out in 1993 and
has a huge amount of experience in the music
and sound design industry. Adelphoi Music
caters for a wide variety of global clients in
the advertising and media industries, creat-
ing innovative audio for commercials, digital,
television, film and network branding.
According to the company, “with 13 full-time
staff and a large network of highly talented
freelancers, Adelphoi Music Ltd has the best
professional team to satisfy any music or
sound requirements, no matter how diverse
the brief. Recognition of Adelphoi's work
includes industry awards such as Emmy, Clio,
D&AD, New York Festivals, Midsummer, BTAA,
LIAA, ADC, Aerial, Kinsale Shark and Promax.”

LOOK AND LISTEN
The following three recent examples of sound
design in advertising, by Adelphoi Music, il-
lustrate the power of sound.
93 >
The Aditya Birla Group is a multinational
corporation with its headquarters in India.
From being present in eight countries, the
group has expanded and now has operations
in 25 countries. According to Dr Pragnya Ram
(executive president Aditya Birla Group:
Corporate Communications) the diversity
and ethnicity that the Group represents is
EDUCATION
94 >
very large and that is what they wanted to
represent with their third corporate cam-
paign, titled Let’s reach for the sun. Working
again with Mumbai-based design and com-
munications specialist, Vyas Giannetti Crea-
tive (VGC), The Aditya Birla Group’s brief was
to capture the fact that despite the diversity
of the Group, they are one team with one
voice. Consequently, Preeti Vyas, CEO of VGC
says that the company used music as a meta-
phor to bring to life the essence of the brief.
Mathias Zentner, graphic designer turned
director, was called on to lend his expertise
to the motion graphics and Aldelphoi Music
was responsible for the sound. The arresting
visuals would not have had the same impact
were it not supported by the spellbinding
musical orchestra produced especially for
this advertisement. It is a fact that the mar-
riage between the audio and the visual in
this example is what drives its success.
In 2009, Anomaly was appointed as Sony
Electronics’ key strategic and creative partner.
For the launch of Sony’s 3D World, Anomaly
created a viral campaign comprising of a se-
ries of advertisements that were filmed in 3D
but then aired in 2D. The result was a blurred,
double exposed sort of image. In the adver-
tisement, viewers are encouraged not to
adjust their TV sets and the advertisement
concludes with the following pay-off line:
“Maybe it's time to get a 3D TV.” The adver-
tisement first aired on in three European
countries during the final of the Champi-
ons League in Madrid. This event was also
marked with a unique outdoor projection on a
building in the capital's Plaza Santa Ana.
For this projection, Adelphoi Music created
an intense sound design. In particular, the
pinball section simulates the arcade game
in an unbelievable way. In the context of an
open space such as the Plaza, the sound must
have created an electric ambience with the
ringing clicks and other synthesised sounds,
lending itself to the entertainment quality
and ultimately to the success of the out-
door campaign.
Skandia, an investment company, spon-
sored the UK sailing team for the Olympic
Games. For this event, Skandia selected
London-based, independent creative agency,
Television commercial for the Skandia. Click here to see the commercial.
St Lukes to create an advertisement to lever-
age their sponsorship in the run up to the
Olympics, bringing to life the brand’s unique
perspective. The resulting design includes
gripping footage of Skandia Team GBR cou-
pled with an equally gripping sound design
produced by Adelphoi Music. The intention
of the agency was to demonstrate the team’s
brilliant sailing prowess through careful
planning and calculation, which is in keeping
with Skandia’s work ethic of applying a me-
ticulous approach to investment to help
their client’s achieve their financial goals. See
this gripping commercial and experience the
UK sailing team for yourself by clicking here.
In all three examples the sound is used to
strengthen the visual language and provides
a compositional structure for the final prod-
ucts. Sound design forms an integral com-
ponent of the creative unit and just like The
Sound of Music reminded viewers about the
importance of family and the universality
of music. The three examples also highlight
the central role of sound in contemporary
visual communication design.

So, if you are Sixteen Going on Seventeen and sound
and music are a few of your Favourite things why not
consider sound design as a future career option?
About the author
Fatima Cassim holds a Masters degree in Information
Design and is a full-time lecturer at the Department
95 >
of Visual Arts at the University of Pretoria. Her re-
search focuses on the culture of design in the current
creative economy and she is particularly interested in
the strategic role of design within this changing
environment. <
EDUCATION
98 >

© Nacása & Partners


CAPSULATION
FOR 9 HOURS
The first capsule hotel is believed
to have opened in Osaka, Japan
in 1979. Originally designed as a
layover sleeping space for busi-
ness people, capsule hotels have
become the low-cost solution to
Japan’s exorbitant accommoda-
tion rates. Capsule hotels are re-
garded as transit spaces and they
are located close to central busi-
ness districts, are low-cost and
their small tubular sleeping pods
are most often rented to busi-
ness people who want to catch up
on a few hours of sleep.
9h is a new capsule hotel located
in Kyoto, Japan. The name refers
to the nine hours that on-the-
move users generally require for
showering, sleeping and relax-
ing. 9h is groundbreaking in its
approach towards these three
principal functions. The design
focuses on maximising the expe-
rience of showering, sleeping and
relaxing. This new breed of cap-
sule hotel shirks the kitsch and
claustrophobic associations of
stereotypical capsule hotels and
is wholly capable of competing
with luxury accommodation.
Fumie Shibata, president of Design
Studio S, first joined the 9h project
as a product designer. She is re-
sponsible for the design of the
sleeping capsules and all of the
branded amenities. Her design
philosophy is that spaces and
products only become worth-
while when they are useful to
society. As her involvement and
level of responsibility increased,
she was appointed general crea-
tive director of the 9h project.
Shibata spent three years on re-
search and product develop-
ment and convinced her client to
invest in a new concept that re-
defines what a capsule hotel is
and can be. Part of her research
involved staying at a capsule ho-
tel which enabled her to identify
existing problems. Capsule ho-
tels often have cheap and kitsch
associations and viewed as a last
99 >
By Sarah Stewart
resort as most users would rather
prefer to stay in a standard hotel
if they could afford to do so.
The concept
As an experienced product design-
er, Shibata believes that consum-
ers make decisions based on their
needs. Most standard hotels offer
varied services that often include
entertainment, catering and spas
but always place most emphasis
on the rooms that guests retire
to. While most hotels might offer
entertainment and leisure facili-
ties, 9h offers optimised sleep
as its unique selling proposition.
The 9h capsule hotel questions
the stereotypical view of a hotel.
Instead of restricting you to your
room, 9h becomes an extension
of the cityscape where people
share communal spaces. 9h has
attuned itself to the needs of
those who have a hectic urban life-
style, catering for those whose
EDUCATION
100 >
lives revolve around work or to
tourists travelling alone. 9h be-
comes a dependable infrastruc-
ture that users will choose be-
cause it suits their lifestyle.
The design
What distinguishes 9h from its
predecessors is its seamless in-
tegration of functionality and
clean modern aesthetic. In order
to change the capsule hotels’ type-
casting as cheap accommodation,
it was critically important that the
branding of 9h was repositioned
as a ‘reasonable place to stay’.
Shibata directed graphic designer
Masaaki Hiromuro and interior
designer Takaaki Nakamura to
design a clear visual identity that
reflects the keywords ‘seamless
connection’ and ‘signs with inlay’
as conceptual guidelines. The
graphics are an integral part of
the design. It’s completely inte-
grated with the interior and form
a visual language that is able to
guide and inform users of direc-
tions and instructions without the
user being dependent on written
words.
This visual language is visible in
the wayfinding system that is ap-
plied on floor and wall surfaces
which signal capsule numbers,
directions to the reception desk,
lockers, etc., ensuring that guests
automatically know where to go.
This integrated system reduces
language confusion.
The branding of the 9h acts as a
unifying element that creates a
visual language of black and
white, clean lines and geometric
shapes. The cohesive visual lan-
guage is also seen in the brand-
ed, duel function 9h slipper bag
which provides storage for slip-
pers as well as acting as an infor-
mation manual to guests. Fur-
thermore, individual sachets of
shampoo and soap replace typi-
cal large communal dispensers
that are often found in capsule
hotels and bottled water, tooth-
brushes and signature night robes
 101 >

OPPOSITE PAGE: Views of the reception area

showing the strikingly simple wayfinding system
which assists guests in navigating their way
throughout the hotel. © 9h.

THIS PAGE: Each sleeping capsule is fitted with

Panasonic’s advanced system for good sleeping
with computerised control lighting that will wake
you up with artificial light according to the time
the user sets. © 9h.

are amongst the other branded
amenities.
9h is situated in a long and narrow
nine-storey building and divided
into ‘Gentleman Only’ and ‘Ladies
Only’ floors accommodating 125
capsules in total. In a capsule hotel
where individuals share ablu-
tions with other members of the
same sex and travel the distance
from bathroom to sleeping pod,
privacy is a major consideration.
For this reason, men and woman
have separate lifts, bathrooms
and lounge areas.
As a core consideration, Shibata’s
design focused on maximising the
space by keeping all passages to
one side of the building that feed
off onto different guest facilities.
The Ladies Only facilities include
a lounge floor, a floor with show-
ers, washrooms and lockers and
two floors of sleeping capsules.
The Gentleman Only floors have
similar facilities but no private
lounge as men are expected to
use the public lounge.
With sleep being the priority at
9h, particular attention has been
paid to the design of the sleeping
capsules. Manufactured of fibre-
reinforced plastic, the capsules
are slightly rounded and organic
in shape. Top and bottom rows of
sleeping capsules are positioned
in a hive configuration. Each
capsule is fitted with Panasonic’s
advanced system for good sleep-
ing with computerised control
lighting that will wake you up
with artificial light according to
the time the user sets. This re-
moves the user’s need to inter-
act with an audible alarm which
would disturb other users. Spe-
cialised ergonomic pillows and
four-star quality bed linen improve
the user’s sleep experience. The
facilities available at the 9h are
appropriate for a nine-hour stay
but users are also allowed to
check in for up to 17 hours.

EDUCATION
102 >
9h provides its patrons with various amenities such as bottled water,
fresh towels, slippers, night robes and basic toiletries. © 9h.
Final thoughts
Fumie Shibata’s advice to aspir-
ing designers is to be aware of
what is going on around them
every day. She does her best to
use natural resources and her
aim is to design products that
can be utilised for an extended
period of time.
She says that: “Design is not al-
mighty, but many things can be
improved through design. De-
sign gives us multiple points of
view, which may make it possible
for us to find a breakthrough on
various kinds of contradictory
events and ideas around us.”
A capsule hotel definitely ques-
tions what an individual actually
needs within a living quarter. In
the past Western users have
been sceptical of capsule hotels,
considering personal privacy to
be an essential need. With 9h re-
defining the individual’s percep-
tion on the capsule hotel con-
cept, there has been much
speculation over whether this
new breed of capsule hotels will
be well received by Japan’s West-
ern counteracts. Is the West ready
for the capsule hotel? Why not?
We vote yes.
About the author
Sarah Stewart is a BTech Interior
Design graduate from Cape Penin-
sula University of Technology who
is passionate about user-centric
design that fosters social behav-
iour within communal spaces. She
believes that everything is a me-
dium and is continually amazed at
the power design has to posi-
tively affect people and change
their preconceived ideas. <
 103 >

The stunningly simple wayfinding system assists guests in

navigating their way throughout the 9h capsule hotel with
limited use of writing. © 9h.

EDUCATION
104 >

TRANSIT CASES:
Chairs from Mexico
By Jimena Acosta

TOP: Installation views of Transit Cases: Chairs

from Mexico exhibition. Visit the site here.
BOTTOM: Butaque by Clara Porset, 1950.

The exhibition Transit Cases: Chairs from
Mexico, curated by designers Emiliano Godoy,
Renata Fenton and myself, Jimena Acosta,
aimed to show contemporary Mexican design
to a European audience, which has had little
contact with Mexico and its contemporary
culture.
For decades Mexican culture, unfortunately,
has been represented internationally by a
handful of modern painters such as Diego
Rivera and Frida Kahlo, or by archaeology ex-
hibitions featuring pre-Hispanic artefacts.
These images have constructed stereotypes
about Mexico that do not help to create a
cultural context that nowadays produces
functional and beautiful objects.
Our curatorial team used the national repre-
sentation model as a way of presenting the
present of Mexican design. The exhibition in-
cludes six overarching themes that bind the
pieces together: Design for everyone, By the
105 >
sea, Spaces for conversation, Playful attitudes,
Design for the few and Time for leisure.
Design for everyone is about all the demo-
cratic design efforts such as the Arrullo Chair
by Oscar Hagerman. His easy and inexpen-
sive design enables any Mexican carpenter to
build this chair and reproduce it as many times
as he pleases. By the sea puts together pieces
that were used in tropical conditions such as
the Acapulco Chair, and the Compadre. Spaces
for conversation is about the chairs that were
made to sit on and talk for a while in coffee
shops and restaurants. Playful attitudes refers
to the shapes that challenge the concept of
a chair such as the Criollo by Edgar Orlaineta.
Design for the few is based on those exam-
ples design as one of a kind and limited edi-
tions such as Mecedora M by Colectivo NEL.
The show was curated for the Mexican Minis-
try of Foreign Affairs and between 2009 and
2010 functioned as a ‘cultural ambassador’
EDUCATION
106 >

BELOW: Silla para el Eco by Mathias Goeritz

and Daniel Mont, 1952-3.

LEFT: Acapulco, designer unknown, 1960.

CENTRE: Arrullo by Óscar Hagerman, 1968.

RIGHT: IA by Bernando Gómez Pimienta, 1999.

in six European cities – Madrid, Berlin, Dublin,

Eindhoven, Brussels and Copenhagen. As
the curatorial team we are proud that con-
temporary Mexican design had an audience
and that we are part of a bigger effort to
make Mexican design visible in an interna-
tional arena.

We selected the chair as the subject matter

because this piece of furniture can efficiently
and graciously tell a history of contemporary
design and the materials, forms and colours
that integrates it. The curatorial team made
an effort to link the recent production to a
few modern predecessors that were also

included in the exhibition, as well as two
vernacular pieces that have been used by
everyone for decades such as the Acapulco
Chair and the Equipal. We also included de-
signers that do not live in Mexico City such
as Mauricio Lara (Guadalajara), Mumo De-
sign (Guadalajara) and Marilies Gelens
(Oaxaca). Other designers included in Tran-
sit Cases: Chairs from Mexico are: Adriana
Domínguez. Yessica Escalera, Héctor Esrawe,
Ezequiel Farca, Héctor Galván, José García
Torres, Emiliano Godoy, Mathias Goeritz,
Ernesto Gómez Gallardo, Bernando Gómez
Pimienta, Óscar Hagerman, Cecilia León de la
Barra, Daniel Mont, Liliana Ovalle, Abraham
107 >
Peyret, Clara Porset, Luis René Quintero,
Dení Reye, Kenya Rodríguez and Karla
Vázquez.
From the beginning Transit cases was planned
as a travelling exhibition, so the installation
and general idea would have to adapt to
different venues. Since we included valua-
ble historical pieces such the Butaque by
Clara Porset, we thought that the best op-
tion would be to make contemporary re-
productions that could be shipped abroad
without putting the few existing originals
at risk of damage or loss. The task was not
EDUCATION
108 >

simple as it required the permission and

help of the owners, in the case of the Butaque,
the Porset’s estate is taken care of by the
Centro de Investigaciones de Diseño Indus-
trial (CIDI) at Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México. This was an incredible and re-
warding experience and we respected every
detail and curve of the original Butaque,
and subsequently found that the fibre
weaving techniques, traditionally made by
skilled artisans, are sadly disappearing in
Mexico.

TOP: Martes by Marilies Gelens, 2003.

CENTRE: Luna by Dení Reye, 2002.

BOTTOM: Pedazo de Escalera by

Liliana Ovalle, 2003.

RIGHT: Knit chair by Emiliano Godoy,

2004.
 109 >

The exhibition was also accompanied by a

compact educational component entailing
a collection of images that visually explain
the origin of each chair, the ways in which
it is commonly used and some historical
background.

As a curator I’m pleased that many different

audiences saw Transit Cases: Chairs from
Mexico and it is our hope that this vehicle
contributed to building a positive percep-
tion of Mexican culture abroad.

EDUCATION
110 >

TOP: Banca Falcón by Héctor Esrawe, 2004.

BOTTOM: Criollo by Edgar Orlaineta, 2006.
 111 >

LEFT: Chac-seat by Mauricio Lara, 2005.

RIGHT: Stitch Kit by NEL Colectivo, 2005.
BOTTOM: Silla Sam Corona by José García Torres, 2005

About the author

Jimena Acosta Romero (Mexico City, 1972) is an

independent curator focusing on contemporary
art and design. She holds a MA in Curatorial Studies
from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard
College and a BA in Art History from Universidad
Iberoamericana. She has curated shows for mu-
seums and galleries such as the Fondazione San-
dretto Re Rebaudengo in Torino, MUAC in Mexi-
co City or the A+D Gallery in Chicago.

She also writes in magazines such as Arquine, La

Tempestad and Código 06140, and teaches at
Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión in Mexico City. <

Photos by Dante Busquets, courtesy of Godoylab.

EDUCATION
112 >
From a cooking fire lit by Phoeni-
cian traders on a sandy beach, the
fortuitous birth of glass has ben-
efitted and intrigued mankind for
thousands of years. This initially
opaque molten mass was devel-
oped not only as a raw material for
trade, but also formed into prod-
ucts ranging from monetary trad-
ing beads to status objects in the
form of mouth-blown wine cups
serving royalty and generals. Mu-
rals found in Pompeii (79AD) show
the earliest depictions of blown
glass vessels holding fruits and
liquids. Hard and unyielding when
cold, yet soft and malleable when
molten, it is one of the most versa-
tile, difficult and most taken-for-
granted media known to mankind.
These extreme qualities have, how-
ever, intrigued artists and patrons
alike, giving rise to a world of beau-
tiful objects and difficult tech-
niques. The manipulation of glass
as medium showcases a country’s
industrial and cultural development

GLASS, A
FRAGILE
YET GIANT
INDUSTRY
By Retief van Wyk
in the true sense of the word. Glass
has always had the allure of the
fine and fragile but no glass indus-
try is complete without its factory
giants that supply flat sheet glass
windows, bottles, glasses, lamp
shades and automotive wind-
shields. With its humble begin-
nings in the 1870s the South Afri-
can Glass Company was the first to
melt glass in South Africa. Today
this local industrial market is domi-
nated by PFG Building Glass, CON-
SOL for vessel making and smaller
companies like Africa Glass and
Northern Hardware and Glass, to
name but a few. This huge industry
is, however, not the focus of this
article, which rather highlights
the development of the relatively
young artistic glass profession in
South Africa.
The nature of this manmade me-
dium lends itself to various form-
ing techniques ranging from the
inert cold state to the fluid, mol-
ten state. The variable states of
113 >
Glass platter by David Reade ©
molecular disarray in the glass
medium, as it is subjected to rising
temperatures, allow the glass to
obtain various degrees of softness
enabling industrial and domestic
application and of course creative
intervention. For the sake of clarity
I will briefly mention the tech-
niques, starting at the cold inert
state, going up in temperature.
Cutters and polishers manipulate
the cold, hard state that produces
products such as stained glass
EDUCATION
114 >

LEFT: Blown glass works by Guido van Besouw.

CENTRE & RIGHT: Glass artworks by Liz Lacey,

Red Hot Glass.

windows or sculpted forms carved
from either laminated or a solid
hard glass mass. As the glass sof-
tens, round about 610°C, coloured
glass, moulds and fusing kilns
enable the slumping/fusing artist
to produce works serving refined
utilitarian and ornamental artistic
tastes. As the temperature rises
and the glass starts to melt, round
about 850°C (depending on the
type of glass), the very patient kiln
caster carefully observes the glass
flow into the carefully prepared
moulds, made to support the heavy
molten mass. Once filled the mould
is gradually cooled for days, some-
times weeks, depending on the
thickness of the glass piece inside.
Once cold, the process returns to
the cleaning and polishing of the
object. Then there is also glass
flame working that allows glass
makers to manipulate coloured
glass rods, at about 1100°C, into
the most beautiful and intricate
beads and jewellery items. Keep-
ing glass molten at 1200°C allows
one to gather and blow the glass,
either freely or into moulds. This
technique is very popular and
115 >
although equally difficult as any of
the above, it remains a spectator’s
art.
Leading the way
The South African artistic glass
movement was started with a
keen interest in the medium by
Shirley Cloete (1921-2010). She
studied painting at Michaelis
School of Art in the 1960s but soon
started making glass mosaics from
scraps found on rubbish dumps
and in the ocean. Legend has it
that she often dived at Danger
Point to observe the colour of the
ocean to translate it back into her
glass work.
Cloete initiated her glass blowing
career with instruction from An-
ette Meech at the Glasshouse in
London in 1974. She settled on the
Morgenster estate in Franschoek,
where she started a small glass
blowing studio. She was soon
joined by David Reade who, with
his studio knowledge and skilled
craftsmanship acquired on the
EDUCATION
116 >
Glass artworks by Nelius Britz, Cape Glass Studio.
Isle of Wright, helped form what is
known today as the artistic glass
movement in South Africa. Reade
can be hailed as the ‘great helper’
who with his kind and focused
love of the medium helped not
only Shirley Cloete, but also assist-
ed in establishing the only teach-
ing institution focusing on hot
glass techniques in Southern Afri-
ca, the CONSOL Glass House at the
Pretoria Technikon, now known as
Tshwane University of Technology,
in 1995.
The partnership between Cloete
and Reade lasted only a few
months and Reade joined forces
with glass artist Gary Thompson
at Gallery G in Cape Town, produc-
ing glassware and developing an
awareness of glass as a creative
form. Reade, with the help of
Dutch studio glass artist Kea Ver-
weij, started a blowing studio on
her farm in 1986, and eventually
his own studio in Worcester.
Reade is one of a few studio own-
ers who actually blow the glass
himself. Reade’s glass studio
called, The Barn, has recently been
expanded and now has four young
glass blowers producing minor
masterpieces with Reade at the
helm producing the major, if some-
what traditional, masterpieces. I
call these masterpieces, for the
works are technically superb and
usually of a grand scale. A visit to
The Barn studio can be comple-
mented by relaxing at the tea gar-
den after watching the blowers at
work.
Another central character in the
early development of studio glass
was Elizabeth Lacy. Born in Lusaka,
Lacy received glass blowing train-
ing from Reade and subsequently
started Red Hot Glass with her
husband, David Jackson, who man-
ages the enterprise with Lacy. She
also oversees the production team
that consists of young local and
foreign glass blowers. Their skilful
development of her designs have

Glass artworks by Jeannette Unite.
created items ranging from per-
fume bottles, one-off glass sculp-
tural vessels, escalating into mam-
moth installations for casino
environments all over the African
continent. Red Hot studio is situ-
ated on the Siedelberg Wine estate
in Paarl and ensures a rewarding
visual and culinary experience for
tourists visiting the studio, winery
and top class restaurant.
Industrial lampshade producer
Glamosa Glass, formed in 1956,
collaborated with Martli Jansen
van Rensburg to form a contem-
porary glass blowing studio called
Smelt, in Melville, Johannesburg.
The Smelt studio has subsequently
closed down, but the Smelt ide-
ology still continues with designs
by Jansen van Rensburg and fel-
low artist Sielja Vos, being pro-
duced at the Glamosa factory in
Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal.
Henk Nel, a young glass blower
who interned at Red Hot Glass,
has now started his own small
studio at the Backsberg Estate in
Franschoek. Much to the delight
of his visitors, especially holiday
makers, Nel produces traditional
blown studioware and other col-
ourful glass ornaments.
A self-taught glass blower Guido
van Besouw started off as a stained
117 >
glass artist in 1977. In 1996 Van
Besouw upped the temperature
and built his first furnace and
started glass blowing in 1997. To-
day he is a well featured artist in
various public spaces and collec-
tions. His studio is situated in
Kloof, Durban.
Situated in Swaziland, is a medium-
sized glass factory called Ngwenya
Glass that produces on a large
scale. Ngwenya is well known for
its solid glass animal range, wine
glasses and most recently its ta-
bleware for the Boardmans retail
group. Owner Chas Prettyjohn has
over the years developed strong
ties with foreign glass artists and
EDUCATION
118 >
Glass artworks by Sue Meyer.
often invites students and young
designers to collaborate at the
Swaziland furnace, resulting in
fun-filled glass workshops.
The flow and fusing
of glass
Situated at the bottom end of Long
Street in Cape Town is the Cape
Glass Studio and gallery, EDGE.
Owned by ceramicist turned glass
artist, Nelius Britz, EDGE gallery
is the first and only of its kind in
South Africa. The adjacent large,
well-equipped studio is frequently
occupied by collaborators like Sue
Meyer, Abraham le Roux and Tom
van Hove who together with Britz
are responsible for large architec-
tural kiln cast installations sus-
pended from steel cables. The gal-
lery represents local and famed
glass artists from England and
Australia and is a must see for any
serious glass collector. Britz has
18 years of experience and is a
leader in kiln casting glass art.
This difficult and time-consuming
kiln casting technique is one shared
by another ceramicist-turned-glass
artist, Sue Meyer. Meyer is based
in Cape Town and works from her
studio in Fish Hoek. Britz and Mey-
er are considered to be South
African pioneers of kiln casting.
Turning off the temperature com-
pletely one can now look at the
artists who are brave enough to
attempt working the medium in
its hard state.

Glass sculptures by Lothar Böttcher, Obsidian Glass.
Stone cold, in it’s
hard state
One of the most established cold
glass factories must be Universal
Crystal Glass Factory in Krugers-
dorp. Polish father and son duo,
Bronek and Damien Cholewka con-
tinue a tradition initially gained
in Poland and settled here in 1981.
They do anything from masterful
cutting and polishing to slumping
basins and glass furniture. Then
there is also Cape Town-based
Terry Haden who is well known for
his skill at cutting and polishing
as well as producing glass tro-
phies. Back in Gauteng, perhaps
the most artistic and adventur-
ous of this cold working group is
Obsidian Glass, owned by Lothar
Böttcher. He started off at the
Pretoria Technikon, studying glass
and sculpture as subjects, but
eventually moved abroad to focus
on glass cutting at the Hadamar
Glass School in Germany where
he completed his journeyman
course in 1997. On his return to
Pretoria he set up Obsidian stu-
dio, producing solid glass pieces
as trophies and unique works of
119 >
art sought after by collectors and
galleries alike. Visits to the studio
are by appointment only. Böttcher
also teaches part-time at the CON-
SOL Glass House at Tshwane Uni-
versity of Technology, Pretoria.
The ancient art of lead window
making is one of the most well rep-
resented glass techniques of all.
Fanus Boshoff from Pretoria has
run his dalle de verre (thick cast
glass in concrete) and stained
glass studio for two decades. He
operates with three skilled crafts-
men producing a full spectrum
EDUCATION
120 >

Stained glass works by Fanus Boshoff.

Glass jewellery by Lynkx SA.


of liturgical and private designed
stained glass windows with vari-
ous important commissions. Cozy
Lamp Place, also in Pretoria, is run
by Leonie Meyer and is well known
for her floral decorative imagery.
Meyer also offers classes in this
technique.
If you want to learn
more
When it comes to classes and train-
ing in glass forming, the options
are few but here are some choices.
The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University situated in Port Eliza-
beth offers stained glass educa-
tion, glass forming and flame work.
This course forms part of their
Fine Arts course and is well-known
for in-depth education in the var-
ious techniques included in the
stained glass art form. Short cours-
es are also available at the Sum-
merstrand campus.
The other two options are both
found in Pretoria. The Tshwane Uni-
versity of Technology (TUT) offers
a degree in Fine Arts, with glass as
medium of choice. The subject
glass is studied in conjunction with
other subjects like painting, sculp-
ture, printmaking or ceramics over
a three-year period. This culmi-
nates in a fourth year, focussing
only on glass, resulting in a BTech,
Fine Arts qualification. The other
121 >
educational alternative could be
the short courses offered at the
Glass Forming Academy (GFA) in
Pretoria. The owner, Marileen van
Wyk, obtained both her BTech
degree Fine Arts (Glass) and MTech
degree Education, at TUT. With
the assistance of her highly skilled
team, she offers bead-making
(flame working), kiln working (fus-
ing and slumping) and also glass
blowing. Although the courses are
non-credit bearing, the level of
instruction is high and studio space
can be rented to continue with
the skills acquired.
Last words
Various leading South African art-
ists like Gordon Froud, Clive van
den Berg, Berco Wilsenach, Jean-
ette Unite, Michaella Janse van
Vuuren and the recently deceased
revered painter, Robert Hodgins,
have tried their hands at glass as
a creative medium.
Glass is versatile, beautiful to be-
hold, difficult to manipulate, in-
triguing to some and seductive
to others. Make a small commit-
ment to yourself and look around
at the various manifestations of
the medium as found in your eve-
ryday life. You will be delighted to
see how often it serves you either
aesthetically or practically. Visit a
studio and see the artist at work,
EDUCATION
122 >

take up a glass hobby or enjoy the

thin glass that holds your wine.
Best of all, recycle! Offer your re-
spect to the earth that gave us this
sand to make glass.

About the author

Retief van Wyk is the subject lead-

er of Glass and Ceramics as of-
fered at the TUT Department of
Fine and Applied Arts, Pretoria.
He is the author of Glass production
in India (1999), Leading Trends in
Studio Glass (2005) and also The
Ceramic Art of Robert Hodgins
(2007). His glass and ceramic works
are in various public and private
collections and his commissions
include clients like Ophra Winfrey,
SASOL, Karel Nel, the Minister of
Finance, CSIR and ATKV to mention
a few. <

All images courtesy of the artists.

Glass artwork by Retief Van Wyk.

EDUCATION
123 >
 124 >

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DESIGNING THE WORLD

An introduction to a sustainable future and the role of industrial design
By Vikki du Preez

Earth images courtesy of NASA Blue Marble project.


F Today we see the word ‘sustainable’ on high-
end retail products, in corporate annual
3 reports, on billboards, in social awareness
E S campaigns and in magazines, but what does it
really mean? And, why is it so important for
industrial design? The Industrial Revolution
p of the 18th and 19th centuries changed the way
7i we viewed and produced products. No longer
were products handmade and scarce. With
the rise of industry and new industrial pro-
p 3 duction methods products could be produced
faster and at a fraction of the cost. No longer
h I were products only functional, they became a
way to physically represent wealth and status.
B ~ Today, nothing has changed. Global and na-
tional brands fight for our attention, encour-
aging us to buy their mobile phones, cars,
clothing and digital cameras, resulting in
unnecessary mass consumption.
Global consumption, a growing world pop-
ulation and the excessive use of fossil fuels
have placed immense pressure on our planet.
Primitive man consumed energy primarily to
find food but modern man consumes energy
for agriculture, transport, technology and
many other purposes. Global warming, natural
resource depletion, rising sea levels and ex-
tinction of fauna and flora are only a few of
the problems that we face today as a result
of consumption patterns.
So, where do we go from here? How do we
start to change how we live and how we
choose products? How do we find the balance
between our actions – as consumers and as
inhabitants of a fragile earth? How does de-
sign, and industrial design specifically, play a
role in finding the balance? Critics and design-
ers themselves have asked these questions
repeatedly.
125 >
Three major phases of growing awareness
have been highlighted in the move to a more
sustainable world. The first phase, which oc-
curred during the 1960s and 1970s, is charac-
terised by a growing awareness and the de-
velopment of organisations, which address
environmental and social problems (Bharma
and Lofthouse, 2007:1). Numerous NGOs
were founded during this period including
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and, in South
Africa, The Endangered Wildlife Trust. During
this phase, people from many different back-
grounds, countries and cultures became
aware of one frightening shared reality: that
the planet, as a giver of life and sustenance,
was in grave danger of being destroyed.
The ideals and views that characterised the
first phase towards a sustainable future were
finally discussed by world leaders at the 1972
United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment (also known as the Stockholm
Conference). The conference focused not only
on our responsibility as a species to protect
the earth, but also on the social responsi-
bilities that we have towards one another.
This conference elevated social and environ-
mental concerns into the realm of govern-
ment and international legislation.
The second phase is characterised by a contin-
ued interest in sustainability at governmental
level during the 1980s. Various catastrophes
such as the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl
and social unrest preceding the fall of the Ber-
lin Wall spurred global debate and a call for
change. The ideas formulated during the first
phase were formalised in numerous envi-
ronmental laws and standards across the
globe, including The Environment (Protection)
Act of 1986, implemented in India, the United
EDUCATION
126 >

Kingdom’s Food and Environment
Protection Act of 1985 and the
South African Environment Con-
servation Act No. 73 of 1989. The
global focus on environmental and
social concerns, which began dur-
ing this phase, developed even
further during the third phase of
awareness at the beginning of
the new millennium (Bharma and
Lofthouse, 2007: 2).
Various wars in Africa, Eastern
Europe, the Middle East and other
regions during the 1990s and
2000s resulted in heightened so-
cial unrest, poverty, inequality and
environmental devastation. At the
same time, lifestyle choices in many
first world countries continued
to contribute to environmental
problems, such as sea, land and air
pollution. Despite the develop-
ment of appropriate legislation, a
growing awareness of the impli-
cations of our actions and the tire-
less efforts of NGOs and concerned
individuals, the environmental and
social problems highlighted in the
1960s are still relevant and press-
ing today.
Overconsumption and a relent-
less appetite for the ‘new’ contrib-
utes to an even more dangerous
modern threat to the earth and
society: the unperturbed consum-
er. Even though we have the ben-
efit of past experience and a mass
of information regarding issues
of sustainability, we simply can-
not imagine a world without our
designer coffees, imported cloth-
ing, fuel and diesel gluttonous
4x4s, new cell phones and exotic
fruit in excessive packaging. The
design, production and disposal
process of the items and prod-
ucts we find so irresistible often
contribute to the environmental
and social problems we are meant
to be addressing if our species
hopes to survive on this planet.
Industrial design, as a profession,
plays a key role in addressing the
impact that product design and
manufacturing have on the envi-
ronment, exploring solutions to
both social and environmental
problems through design and
design thinking.
From the story of
Design for the Real
World, to Manzini
and beyond
Victor Papanek, a designer, edu-
cator, critic and philosopher, fo-
cused his life’s work on investi-
gating questions around socially
and ecologically sensitive design.
In 1971 he published Design for the
Real World, which documents his
views regarding social and envi-
ronmental awareness in design
practices. Papanek advocated re-
sponsible design and caused out-
rage within the industrial design
127 >
community with statements like:
“There are professions more harm-
ful than industrial design, but only
a very few of them” (Papenek,
1985: ix). Papanek did not disap-
prove of industrial design as a dis-
cipline, but commented on the
link between industrial design and
the production of unnecessary
mass consumer products, which
were often not functional and
merely desirable. Although Design
for the Real World was not well
received by all designers at the
time, it did grab the imagination
of a new group of industrial de-
signers who realised the impor-
tance of social and environmen-
tal design considerations. These
designers realised that design
could make a noticeable differ-
ence, and focused on functional
design for third-world regions and
minority groups. Papanek and oth-
er writers of the time form part of
the first stage of moving towards
a more sustainable design ethos
(Bharma and Lofthouse, 2007).
The third stage in the development
of sustainable design practices
transpired during the 1980s and
1990s with the rise of ‘green’ con-
sumerism and sustainable design
considerations. Ezio Manzini is a
key figure in this period, as well as
the Design for Sustainability move-
ment, focussing on both social and
environmental concerns. A fea-
ture in the designs and writing of
EDUCATION
128 >

Manzini is his focus on human beings and an ac-

knowledgment of their indigenous knowledge and
culture. The solution to social problems may not
necessarily be a product or service, but may be an
adapted process or system, which addresses the
needs of the community. The role of the designer
is consequently quite different, requiring the de-
signer, through design thinking, to gain a deeper
understanding and awareness of the situation.
Through this awareness, the designer can identify
the most suitable solution – whatever that solu-
tion may be.

Since the 1990s and 2000s the focus on sustainable

considerations in design practices has become more
pronounced. Many large corporations now actively
develop sustainable practices and publicly state
environmental and social intentions to which the
corporation can be held responsible. SustainAbility,
formed in 1987, is a consultancy that helps the
world’s leading brands create new visions in line
with sustainable trends while, at the same time,
addressing the requirements of good business value.

Jacque Fresco, a designer, innovator and futurist,

often uses the holistic design focus of sustainable
objects and systems in his lectures and writing. His
passion for sustainable practices can be traced
back to the Venus Project, which he started in the
mid 1970s with his partner Roxanne Meadows.
The ultimate goal of the project was to design a
space where mankind, nature and technology
reach a balance and can exist indefinitely in a sus-
tainable manner. The 2006 film, Future by Design,
reflects on the life and work of Fresco and the
impact that his research, design and views on sustain-
ability have had on modern design processes.

On a practical level, many industrial design prod-

ucts today have adopted one or more sustainable
characteristics including the use of indigenous

materials and labour, an exten-
sion of the product life cycle, and
more. Design, in this way, becomes
a functional representation of our
goals regarding a sustainable fu-
ture. There are, however, various
problems facing sustainable prod-
ucts. The one that recurs most is
that these products are often ex-
pensive. It is important to view
any sustainable system or product
within a specified context, and
also, to consider the long-term
consequences of the product.
A South African
perspective
South Africa, and the African con-
tinent as a whole, benefits from
the focus on and development
of sustainable design practices.
Given the high levels of violence,
poverty, unemployment, illitera-
cy and medical requirements in
South Africa, it is imperative that
sustainable systems and prod-
ucts are developed to address
these issues. Through various ini-
tiatives designers have the op-
portunity to make a difference
to the lives of people living on the
African continent. The EcoSan Dry
Sanitation System, designed by
Dave Maartens, Anton Maartens
and Jan Joubert, is a safe ablution
system which requires no water
and the AquaNow Portable Water
Purification System, designed by
Ian Vroom and Carlos de Nobrega,
produces clean drinking water
from polluted water sources. The
design of these products addresses
real world problems through ac-
tual products and design thinking.
Lynedoch Eco Village, and the
Sustainable Institute located with-
in the village, is another example
of a move towards a sustainable
lifestyle in South Africa. Lynedoch
is located in Stellenbosch and, as
an eco village, has three main goals:
to develop a learning precinct at
the centre of a socially and eco-
nomically viable mixed community,
to develop practical ecologically
designed urban systems that can
be implemented in other areas,
and to develop the property into a
financially viable project. The Lyne-
doch Eco Village represents achiev-
able sustainable living for all.
One last idea
We so often hear the phrase, ‘we
only have one earth’ and yet, our
habits as consumers display a
lack of understanding, or complete
disregard, for the finality of the
statement. Our choices, big and
small, impact not only on our fu-
ture but also on the future of
those who come after us. The bal-
ance between a positive prosper-
ous lifestyle and global devasta-
tion is more fragile than many
would like to believe. Through ed-
ucation, new generations of South
129 >
African industrial designers are in-
troduced to the importance of
Design for Sustainability and re-
flect on views of writers such as
Papanek, Manzini and Fresco, to
ensure that future products are not
only desirable, but also contribute
to a better, more sustainable world.
References
Bharma, T. and Lofthouse, V. (2007)
Design for Sustainability: A Practi-
cal Approach. United Kingdom:
Gower Publishing
Papanek, V. (1971) Design for the
Real World. New York: Pantheon
Books
Papaken, V. (1985) Design for the
Real World: Human Ecology and
Social Change. United Kingdom:
Thames and Hudson.
About the author
Vikki du Preez is a multi-disciplinary
lecturer at the Cape Peninsula Uni-
versity of Technology. Her focus
areas include the theory and his-
tory of Industrial Design and Sur-
face Design, as well as the research
and development of learner-cen-
tred design education practices. <
All images courtesy of Jacques Lange
except for top left image on page
126 sourced from http://images.
google.com/hosted/life/ and sustain-
ability model on page 128 sourced
from Wuppertal Institut.
EDUCATION
130 >
THE JURY ADJOURNS
The Design Challenge from INDEX: Design to
Improve Life addresses education-related
issues in the developing world by design.
By Kigge Hvid, CEO
Education is the second of the UN’s eight
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The
target for this MDG is to ensure that by 2015,
children everywhere, boys and girls alike, are
able to complete a full course of primary
schooling. Achieving universal primary edu-
cation means more than just full enrolment.
This MDG also presupposes quality educa-
tion, meaning that all children who regularly
attend school learn basic literacy and numer-
acy skills and complete primary school on time.
Literacy remains among the most neglected
of all education goals, and millions of children
are leaving school before acquiring basic skills.
In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, young
adults with five years of education have a 40%
probability of being illiterate. About 759
million adults lack literacy skills today. Two-
thirds are women.
UNICEF and the Danish-based non-profit or-
ganisation INDEX: Design to Improve Life has
challenged design and business students
from around the world to develop solutions
that can improve educational conditions in
developing countries. The participating stu-
dents have worked for months on solutions
with names such as Soap Shish, Elephant
Walk Desk, Lilly Pad and Wash Wheel.
Recently the design challenge jury adjourned.
Members include prominent design thinkers,
including Nii Commey Botchway, communica-
tion designer & educator; Carlos Vasquez, CFS
Design & Construction, UNICEF; Look White,
CEO, INDEX:; William Fowler, Director, Global
Education, Cisco Systems; Kim Fridbjørg,
Architect MAA, creative director, Built Identity;
Kippy Joseph, associate director, Rockefeller
Foundation; Hanne Bak Pedersen, deputy
director Supply Program, UNICEF Supply;
Elizabeth Scharpf, founder and chief instigat-
ing officer, Sustainable Health Enterprises;
Ana Karinna Sepulveda, alumna global leader-
ship fellow, World Economic Forum; Jack Sim,
founder, World Toilet Organization and Peter
Stebbing, professor Hochschule für Gestal-
tung Schwäbisch Gmünd.
More than 1 000 students from 29 countries
across the globe joined the competition,
which resulted in 115 submitted design so-
lutions. These solutions address four issues
as defined by UNICEF, based on its work in
disaster areas and developing countries.
The first two challenges focus on how to make
a sustainable and comfortable floor for tempo-
rary use in classrooms without furniture and
how waste materials can make environmental
 131 >

Overall winner of the Design Challenge, Teddy

Bag by François Verez and Ane Eguiguren,
Université Technologique the Compiegne (UTC)
and Elisava School of Design (France and Spain).

EDUCATION
132 >

TOP: Akshara Learn As You Play by Sayantani

Dasgupta and Meghma Mitra, Srishti School of Art,
Design and Technology (India).

CENTRE: Elephant Walk Desk by Stephen

Pennington, University of Notre Dame (USA).

BOTTOM: Lily Pad by Shiny Lam and Joey Loi,

Ryerson University (Canada).

friendly and inexpensive school furniture.
These challenges emanate from the chronic
lack of adequate quality education infrastruc-
ture and facilities, particularly school structures
and furniture for students. In many cases,
the traditional classrooms and furniture are
either not available or, when they are available,
are old and dilapidated. Furniture is in short
supply or undersized and students often use
alternative objects such as their books, bags,
bricks, and logs to sit on or even sit on the
bare floor, under trees, or in an open space.
The conditions are uncomfortable and de-
meaning to both students and parents.
The third and fourth challenges focus on
hygiene issues such as avoiding the stigma
of menstruating girls in schools and how to
produce a soap that cannot be stolen or lost,
thus ensuring hygiene in schools, especially
for 'un-pure' girls. Poor environmental condi-
tions in the classroom can make both teaching
and learning difficult and children’s ability
to learn may be affected in several ways by
inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene
conditions. Statistics show that diarrhoeal
diseases, intestinal worms and other debilitat-
ing parasites affect unacceptably high num-
bers of schoolchildren – about 40% of an
estimated 578 million school-age children
are infested with worms.
Schools are described as places with intense
levels of person-to-person contact, as high-
risk environments for children and staff
and are likely to exacerbate children’s par-
ticular susceptibility to environmental
health hazards. The simple practice of wash-
ing one’s hands with soap is among the
most effective and inexpensive ways to
prevent diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia,
133 >
which together account for 3.5 million child
deaths annually.
Topping the general hygiene challenges is
the fact that many girls miss school from the
onset of puberty because they face the em-
barrassment of menstruation at schools
where toilets are unclean, have no doors and
are shared with the boys. Parents also do not
want to send girls to school during menstrua-
tion, sometimes for cultural and religious
reasons, but often because of the lack of run-
ning water, safe sanitation and consumables
such as sanitary pads. For instance, 94% of
girls in Uganda reported problems at school
during menstruation and 61% reported stay-
ing away from school during menstruation.
But in a different world not far away solutions
to challenges like the above are exactly those
that can ensure a child's education and give
them a crucial edge in a future filled with
great challenges. According to UNESCO’s 2010
Education for All Global Monitoring Report
the number of children out of school has
dropped by 33 million worldwide since 1999.
In South and Western Asia the number of
children that are not in school have more than
halved – a reduction of 21 million. But the
latest numbers show that 72 million children
are still out of school and if the trend con-
tinues, 56 million children will still be out of
school in 2015. Improvements are urgently
needed and every small step counts.
The finalists of the challenges, selected by
the jury, were invited to Denmark in February
2011 where they worked with international
and Danish funders, investors and companies
to ensure the realisation and distribution of
their designs.
EDUCATION
134 >
The finalists are:
Akshara Learn As You Play is a fresh perspec-
tive on the traditional alphabet book in the
form of a toy, similar to a jigsaw puzzle, which
helps children assimilate language better
through tactile experience as well as devel-
oping motor skills which are important for
children at a primary school level.
Elephant Walk Desk is a locally manufactured
and sustainable furniture solution, which
targets primary school children to create a
more collaborative and engaging classroom
environment.
Lily Pad is a water lily-shaped mat made of
hemp, which ensures a comfortable and flex-
ible seating option in schools with uneven
floor surfaces. Lily Pad is a contemporary
design that addresses the problem of un-
comfortable learning environments whilst
responding to the natural environment
through the use of sustainable materials.
padBack is a sanitary protection solution
for rural areas. The aim is to ensure that girls
do not drop out of school due to stigma re-
lated to their menstrual cycle. The padBack
is a self-maintaining system and the pads are
made of papyrus and biodegradable non-
woven fabric.
Reach & Match is designed to create an
educational and playful kit that assists the
emotional, communicative and cognitive
development of young children with visual
impairments. It provides children (three to
six years old) with a unique bridge to Braille
literacy. The design provides tactile strategy
and hearing pleasure through sensory ex-
ploration and can build motor development,
special awareness and logical intelligence
through sensory play.
Soap Shish is inspired by an abacus and uses
the colourful and slippery features of soap
and thereby attracting kids to play with it,
whilst at the same time cleaning their hands.
It aims to provide hygiene to schools at all
times, preventing the soap bars from being
removed or melted.
Teddy Bag (the final winner) is a school bag
that turns into a desk. It allows children to
carry all they need to study – in school or at
home. It is made from cardboard making it
light and the simple production process
enables the bag to be produced in develop-
ing countries with ease.
About the author
Kigge Hvid has led the development and
growth of INDEX: Design to Improve Life since
her appointment as founding CEO in 2002.
In leading the Danish government's mandate
to advance the humanist tenets of Danish
design, Kigge is a frequent panelist at the
World Economic Forum's annual meeting in
Davos and is a member of the Forum's Global
Agenda Council on Design. In 2010 she joined
the board of Danish shipping foundation Lau-
ritzen Fonden as well as the internatioal advi-
sory board of the Hong Kong Design Centre. <
Images courtesy of INDEX: and the entrants of
the Design Challenge.
 135 >

TOP: padBack by Cansu Akarsu, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea).
CENTRE: Reach & Match by Lau Shuk Man, Monash University (Australia).
BOTTOM: Soap Shish by Cansu Akarsu, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea).

EDUCATION
136 >
DESIGNING FOR LIFE
By Beth Peterson
Copying the structure of the nano-scales of a
butterfly’s wing has made colourful, non-toxic
paints, fabrics and cosmetics. Photo by Izzy
LeCours, courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.
TOP: The kingfisher's beak is so aerodynamic, the
bird can dive for fish without making waves. Photo
by Flickr photographer wildxplorer, courtesy of The
Biomimicry Institute. BOTTOM: Shinkansen Bullet
Train is based on the shape of the kingfisher's beak.
Photo by Pagemoral.

Imagine we had access to an encyclopaedia
of ten to thirty million sustainable designs that
have stood the test of time for over 3.8 billion
years. These blueprints of sustainable living
could enable us to do all the things that hu-
mans need and want to do, but completely
without the waste and toxicity that is com-
promising our survival. Well, according to
biomimics, we do have this extraordinary de-
sign resource readily available – we only need
to recognise the true and incredible value of
Nature to be able to start learning from it.
Biomimicry is described as both a science
and an art. The word derives from the Greek,
bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning imi-
tation. It is a term that was coined by natural
sciences writer, Janine Benyus in her seminal
work Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature.
Biomimicry proposes that we can find the
answers to all our problems of sustainability
by regarding Nature as our mentor, measure
and model.
All the plants and animals alive on the planet
today know how to live sustainably. They have
innate strategies to feed themselves, har-
ness energy, make materials, store infor-
mation, heal themselves and conduct their
business of living. They do all of this not
only without harming the eco-systems that
sustain them, but they actually enhance
their environments through living and dying.
137 >
In other words, all other species that we share
the planet with, inherently promote life. It all
seems so obvious and begs the question:
How is it possible that throughout thousands
of years of human innovation we have failed
to recognise and draw on Nature’s sustain-
ability expertise? The answer is all about
attitude. Humans have long believed that they
have dominium over the natural world; that
it exists apart from us and solely for our use;
that we are entitled to extract whatever we
like from it and despoil it however we choose.
It is an eco-illiterate view that is bringing us
perilously close to our own extinction.
What underpins biomimicry is a shift to a
much saner and hopeful way of viewing the
world. Our industrialised lifestyles may offer
us delusions of grandeur beyond Nature, but
no human technology has ever changed the
fact that we are inexorably part of Nature,
fully dependent on the Earth and its networks
of interconnected living things. Instead of
looking at what we can take from Nature,
we need to start looking very closely at what
we can learn from it.
Biomimicry is a growing field of designers,
engineers, scientists, developers, researchers
and many others who study Nature’s ideas to
better understand not just what works, but
what survives on the planet. By analysing
Nature’s designs and models and by using
EDUCATION
138 >

an ecological standard to measure the sustain-

ability of human innovations, we can engage
with the genius of life. Throughout the world
people are realising that the more we emu-
late the natural world in every possible way,
the more chance we have to achieve sustain-
able human communities.

This is what inspires biomimics to explore a

host of exciting and inspiring designs for life.
The bumps on the back of a Namib beetle have
motivated the design of water-harvesting
panels in dry areas, eliminating the need to drill
below ground. Self-cleaning paints, textiles
and glass surfaces have been made by mimick-
ing the surface of the lotus leaf, doing away
with the use of toxic detergents. A silent, low
temperature manufacturing process produc-
The microtopography of shark skin inhibits growth of microbes,
es an exceptionally durable, clear glass based
meaning that nothing can attach itself to a shark’ skin. Photo
on the same process an abalone uses for self- by Erik Charlton, courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.
assembly. The flowing spirals of seashells and
ram horns have inspired the design of opti-
mally efficient fan blades and propellers.
Copying the structure of the nano-scales of
a butterfly’s wing has made colourful, non-
toxic paints, fabrics and cosmetics. A vac-
cine exists that does not require costly refrig-
eration because it has been produced by using
the natural process that a resurrection plant
uses to remain in a desiccated state for long
periods. A bacteria-resistant surface coat-
ing based on the structure of a shark skin, was
made possible after it became known that
nothing can attach itself to a shark’ skin.

While there are many examples of biomimicry

in practice, there is even more happening in
research fields. The Land Institute studies prai-
ries with the aim of developing a model of agri-
culture that uses edible perennial grains grown
in polycultures to replace the unsustainable
Blue mussels attach themselves to rocks in harsh conditions
using only natural adhesives. Photo by John Davey, courtesy
of The Biomimicry Institute.
 139 >

'Lightweighting' is commonly found in nature which makes a design strong and light by
optimising geometry and structure. Strategies include hollow parts, ribs, posts, corrugation,
trusses, and gussets. Photo by Jim Champion, courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.

Self-cleaning paints, textiles and glass have been made by mimicking the surface of the lotus
leaf. The microscopic structures on lotus' surface are super-hydrophobic, causing water to roll
off and take particles with it. Photo by Claire Houck, courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.

EDUCATION
140 >
Termites live in extremes: extreme heat during the day and extreme
cold at night. Their mounds are ventilation structures that maintain
temperature, CO2 levels and humidity in the nests below the
ground. Photo by J Brew, courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.
The structure of owl feathers reduces noise. Photo
courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.
The design of Eastgate Centre is
influenced by the passive heating and
cooling structures of termite mounds.
Photo by Mandy Paterson, courtesy of
The Biomimicry Institute.
Humpback whales have bumps on the front of
their fins, allowing them to turn on a dime
underwater. Photo by Christine & David
Schmitt, Courtesy of The Biomimicry Institute.

monocultures of needy annuals that are
currently our staple foods. Researchers
at the University of Arizona are studying
how a leaf captures energy with the aim of
producing a solar cell the size of a mole-
cule. Others are studying the capacities of
the blue mussel to learn how to create a
non-toxic underwater glue. Industrial ecol-
ogists are looking to mature hardwood for-
ests to model a closed-loop economic sys-
tem.
Nature’s store of designs is so tremendous-
ly vast and diverse that it is conceivable that
the solutions to all our design problems al-
ready exist. We just need to know how to
engage with Nature as a teacher. In the
face of our crisis of unsustainability, it is ar-
guable that eco-literacy is an essential 21st
century life skill; and for the designers
who are shaping our world, it is then also
a crucial job skill. Benyus suggests an im-
mersion in Nature and entering into a
“sort of intimacy with Life on Earth”. At the
core of biomimicry training is getting out
141 >
into Nature; exploring, observing and ques-
tioning how life works.
Biomimicry South Africa is a network affili-
ated to Benyus’s Biomimicry Group and
headed up by Claire Janisch. Biomimicry
workshops, training and presentations are
now available. To contact Biomimicry South
Africa, email claire@biomimicry.net and
for more information about biomimicry
visit www.biomimicryinstitute.org. To be-
come part of the global biomimicry net-
work join www.asknature.org
About the author
Beth Peterson is a professional writer with
a special focus on sustainability, human de-
velopment and natural history. She also
provides unique ‘writer-at-the-table’ cre-
ative services – ideas generation, storytell-
ing and strategy for brands and organisa-
tions. <
EDUCATION
Absa Bank Ltd, Reg No 1986/004794/06. Authorised Financial Services Provider. Registered Credit Provider Reg No NCRCP7. The Jupiter Drawing Room 44130
Creativity takes courage.
Just ask Guy du Toit.
Overcoming one’s fears is easier said than done. That’s why we sponsor the
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Visit www.absa.co.za for entry details.

 144 >

LEIMEI JULIA CHIU


In August the SABS Design Institute was in-
A champion for design promotion across boundaries
strumental in bringing Leimei Julia Chiu to
South Africa as the international guest ad-
judicator of the 2010 SABS Design Excellence
Awards. According to Adrienne Viljoen, man-
ager of the SABS Design Institute, the pres-
ence of international adjudicators in the
Design Excellence Award scheme creates
an international benchmark and adds cred-
ibility to the entire process. It also offers an
international perspective on the South African
design industry.
Previous international names that have added
lustre to the Design Excellence Awards adju-
dication panels were Satish Gokhale, award-
winning industrial designer from India (2004),
Marcelo Aflalo, architect and designer from
Brazil (2005), Eric Anderson who taught indus-
trial design at the Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh in the USA (2006) and Lorraine
Justice, director of the School of Design at
the Hong Kong Polytechnic who joined the
judging panel in 2007. Carlos Hinrichsen, past
president of Icsid was the international ad-
judicator in 2009.
Leimei Julia Chiu, by all accounts the most re-
spected and experienced design promoter in
the world, has never been restricted by bound-
aries. She moves easily across disciplines, cul-
tures and geographical borders.
Leimei is currently the executive director of
the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organ-
isation (JIDPO) and a professor in the De-
partment of Visual Communication Design
at Musashino Art University.
145 >
Born in Taiwan, Leimei was raised and edu-
cated in the United States and later in Japan,
offering her a diverse cultural and academic
foundation. This might be the reason why
she has chosen to help designers and de-
sign students to promote their work across
national and cultural barriers. She herself has
traversed disciplines by starting off as a math-
ematician before moving on to become a pro-
moter of design.
Before her current position, Leimei was direc-
tor of the International Design Center Nagoya.
She also worked with major Japanese corpo-
rations, as well as with governments and aca-
demic institutions in over 35 countries across
Europe, North America and the Pan Pacific Rim.
She is an executive board member for the ad-
visory council of METI (the Japanese Ministry
of Economics & Industry) to implement na-
tional design policy in Japan, as well as the
mayor’s advisory council on implementing the
10-year strategic plan (2010-2020) for the
future of the city of Nagoya and strategic
visions for the economic development of the
central Japan region.
A stalwart in professional design associations,
Leimei has become Icograda's first female
president elect. She will preside over this or-
ganisation’s 50th anniversary celebrations in
2013 when she becomes president for the
2011 to 2013 term. Icograda (International
Council of Graphic Design Associations) is the
world body for professional communication
design. It was founded in 1963 and is a volun-
tary assembly of organisations concerned with
graphic design, visual communication, design
management, promotion, education, research
and journalism.
EDUCATION
146 >

From 1997 to 2001, Leimei served as an Icograda

vice-president and executive board member of the
International Council Societies of Industrial Design
(Icsid) from 2007 to 2009. A recipient of the Mainichi
Design Award (jointly with the 2003 Icograda Con-
gress VISUALOUGUE planning team) and Icograda
President’s Award, she has served on numerous
competition juries including Red Dot Design Con-
cept Award, Brno Biennial, Design for Asia Award,
World Design Leadership Award, BIO, Adobe Design
Achievement Awards and the Good Design Award.

The role of design awards in

design promotion

During her visit to South Africa, Leimei spoke at

length about the role of design awards in design
promotion. She was adamant that a discussion about
design awards should reach further than just a con-
versation amongst designers in the design commu-
nity. And she should know, as she currently serves
on the jury of the Good Design Award, Japan's only
overall system for evaluating and promoting design.

The Good Design Awards is a comprehensive pro-

gramme to evaluate and encourage design and is
organised by the Japan Industrial Design Promo-
tion Organisation (JIDPO) of which Leimei is the ex-
ecutive director. This award, commonly known as the
G Mark, has been in place since 1957 when the Japa-
nese government realised that design was essen-
tial for breaking the cycle of poverty that was in
place after Japan’s defeat in WW2. Since then in the
region of 35 000 designs have been awarded the
G Mark.

Click here to read more about the Good Design Awards.


It is interesting to note that the Good De-
sign Awards operates on a screening policy
that is expressed in five words:
– HUMANITY: Inspiration for products and
conceptual embodiments
– HONESTY: Perceptiveness toward contem-
porary society
– INNOVATION: Concepts to pioneer the
future
– AESTHETICS: Imagination for prosperous
lifestyle culture
– ETHICS: Reflecting on society and environ-
ment
Leimei insists that the Good Design Awards
is all about the people who will eventually
use the designs. It boils down to a basic phi-
losophy that design is a humanitarian act put
in the service of the human community.
Leimei believes that the G Mark concept
could work well for South Africa, as it has
never awarded individuals, but rather com-
panies, organisations and institutions that
have excelled in design. With the G Mark
comes many training programmes, semi-
nars and more to encourage entrepreneur-
ship and design and this could also help to
bolster the South African economy, should
such a concept be carried through locally.
Design can be applied to meet the challenges
faced by South Africa at present. Leimei made
the suggestion that design could, for exam-
ple, be applied to redesign education, encom-
passing different disciplines of design like
communication design (for learning mate-
rial), architecture (for school infrastructure)
and more. Design could also be applied to
public services to improve infrastructure.
147 >
Leimei shared the insights on the SABS Design
Excellence Awards process and products.
She was most impressed by the attention
the adjudicators paid to the different entries
and the knowledge they displayed in a variety
of fields. Compared to Japan where great
attention is paid to detail and small elements,
Leimei commented about the sheer size of
many of the entries. She was particularly im-
pressed with the huge treasure of indigenous
knowledge that was applied to award-winning
products and the fact that most of the prod-
ucts were designed to overcome challenges
faced by South African society. So, for ex-
ample, was the award made for a modified
armoured car to her an example of designing
for security where a disadvantageous situa-
tion could be turned into an advantageous
one. The first wholly South African designed
aviation aircraft also elicited positive com-
ments from Leimei. She was impressed by
the expertise and research efforts that were
applied and the fact that collaboration be-
tween disciplines and institutions could lead
to an award-winning product.
Leimei believes that design and design think-
ing can be applied to building a nation, just as
the G Mark did for Japan in the previous cen-
tury. Japan’s Good Design Award was initially
a vehicle for government to work with indus-
tries to show how design thinking could help
business to incorporate new strategies to
become more successful – create jobs, grow
the economy.
It will bode well for South Africa if government
would follow the same strategies here on
the tip of the African continent. <
EDUCATION
148 >

DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA
A new lens on the known world
By Jess Henson

The 2010 FIFA World Cup helped South Africans and their continental
compatriots to wake up and work together to welcome the world
with a vigour not seen before. If your goal is to live and thrive in the
metaphorical global village of 2011, this is the time to focus and find
out about DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA.
 149 >

The multi-media library otherwise known as

www.designingsouthafrica.com holds a host
of light boxes with detailed audio-visual
insights into South African urbanism, design
and development.

2010 was big. We worked hard,
played even harder and joyfully
hosted an event of global propor-
tions that boosted South Africa’s
social, economic and infrastruc-
tural development by leaps and
bounds. Most importantly, we
did this by ourselves. If last year’s
successes are anything to go by,
2011 is going to be even more
amazing. And if we can learn from
it, we can build on it. For that, we
need to focus and put ourselves
centre stage.
Perhaps the most profound achieve-
ment of 2010 was that we have
begun to believe in ourselves in a
global context. We became one
– sharing workloads, sharing lifts
to the fan park, sharing a vision,
celebrating and achieving. It’s a
pretty picture, in retrospect, and it
can serve a greater purpose than
beautifying the mantelpiece of
our national pride.
Planning and strategising for a
new year means looking back and
learning from the previous one.

EDUCATION
150 >

LEFT: Safety and traffic flow are key in any inner city. Thanks to collective vision and a new pedestrian bridge,
crossing Buitengracht Street in Cape Town is now easy, and it comes with a view. Photo by Cape Town Tourism.

CENTRE: Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium is a new icon on the city map and an architectural feat that proves
that the country’s talent is capable of creating and producing first-class products. Photo by Bruce Sutherland
and City of Cape Town.

But how can you confidently step
into the new if you’re not sure what
you’re looking at?
In the wake of the
World Cup
The FIFA 2010 World Cup was ex-
citing and overwhelming – so much
happened so fast. Most of us have
mental snapshots of moving
through the streets with strangers
or monumental stadia filled with
waving arms. There were thou-
sands of related events and new
initiatives, roads being remodelled,
airports revamped and media cam-
paigns redesigning national
identity. It’s not instantly obvious
just when and where, and who and
what were done to make us proud
of our cities and the souls living in
them, of our hard work and hope.
It feels as if we were thrown into a
time machine, and by some miracle,
came out clean, ready and really
happy to be in the present. That
‘miracle’ is called connectivity.
Connectivity means that South
African cities fed into design and
architecture, which fed into a
world event, which fed into the
economy, building the country.
Connectivity brought us first-time
visitors and turned them into
returning friends. A concentrated
portion of these came from South
America.
Connectivity saw Brazil importing
its samba musicians and capoiera
dancers on dedicated cultural ex-
change programmes “to enhance
an awareness of Brazilian culture”
as 2010 Western Cape co-ordinator,
Dr Laurine Platzky stated. They
joined us in the streets, on stages,
in the stadia and behind the scenes.
Connectivity resulted in experts
from all disciplines and fields
pulling together to prepare for
the event, and the country deliv-
ered, on time, to the masses, to
 151 >

Abitare is an international design magazine that responded positively to DESIGNING_

SOUTHAFRICA’s invitation to see for itself that progressive South African urbanism is
on the rise. It explored how ‘African’ our stadia are, with a focus on Johannesburg.
Image by Abitare magazine.

international media and ultimately DESIGNING_SOUTH this comprehensive compendium

to you and me.
Connecting the dots
To continue the connectivity, to
build and work together to do
things better, we need to be able
to see it and to build on these
lessons and benefits. Imagine that
we would have a loop and a link
helping us to understand and think
about where we’ve been, what
we’ve learnt, where we’re going
and how to do so optimally. Imag-
ine DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA.
AFRICA – a meeting
of minds
DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA is a
collaborative exploration of how
design, creativity and architecture
affect cities and society. In a lo-
cal context, DESIGNING_SOUTH
AFRICA is a discovery of South
African urbanism that uses the
2010 FIFA World Cup as a focal
point for these evolving rela-
tionships.
Contained in a multimedia web-
site, travelling exhibition, a book,
and an ongoing forum of experts,
of World Cup-related develop-
ments and design is, in effect, a
lens and a library, an exchange, a
reference guide and a dialogue.
The project uses analysis, critical
commentary, panel discussions,
photography, audio and video to
tell the story of urbanism and de-
sign in South Africa and beyond.
The result is a series of snapshots
of South African design and urban-
ism showcasing expertise, identity,
public transport and spaces, eco-
nomic development and service
delivery.

EDUCATION
152 >
Urban realities and
sustainable solutions
Urbanism – a word referring to
urban character or an urban way
of life – is not just a thought trend;
it’s a worldwide movement. More
than half the world’s population
now lives in an urban centre and
open-platform thinking is neces-
sary to connect the dots.
In keeping with global population
and development trends, South
African urbanisation is on the in-
crease as more and more people
migrate to economic centres to
thrive. The blossoming, colourful,
haphazard sprawl of informal
shantytowns at the entry and
exit of every major city and town
in South Africa is a clear indica-
tion that thorough planning is
necessary as population density
increases.
DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA is tak-
ing notes in the hope that every-
one will get involved in the conver-
sation, from expats to experts,
students to street sweepers. Plan-
ning means looking at the whole
picture. The whole picture involves
the whole world, as the project
origins illustrate.
DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA start-
ed in 2009 when creative and
cultural commentator, Zahira As-
mal, lived and worked in Lisbon.
There she met with a group of de-
sign critics and editors while work-
ing on the ExperimentaDesign
Biennale.
“It was an opportune time to in-
vite the world’s most illustrious
design critics and editors to South
Africa – it being the World Cup. I
was also curious about what urban
and design projects were kicking
off developments, and how the
national government, municipal-
ities, tourism agents, architects
and designers were working to-
gether to ‘Design South Africa’
for the World Cup.
 153 >

LEFT: DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA has contributed to

coverage of South African development with editorial in
the renowned design, interior, fashion, art and lifestyle
magazine, Wallpaper*. Image by Wallpaper* Magazine.

CENTRE: Another guest of DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA,

Icon magazine aptly and cheekily dubbed their June
2010 issue 'The Africa Issue' and investigated Cape
Town’s city's transformation towards the World Cup as
well as featuring fine young architect, Mokena Makeka.
Image by Icon magazine.

RIGHT: Zahira Asmal has developed a framework for

DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA and directs its various
executions; in articles, as a book and travelling
exhibition, in broadcast media and on the web. Photo by
Antonia Steyn.

“I invited the editors to key urban
centres in South Africa to explore
the developments with me, meet
the relevant people, as well as
experience first-hand what they
would report in their respective
publications, with the aim of pub-
lishing a book on the impact of
the 2010 FIFA World Cup on South
African cities.
Contributing to the
dialogue
In the past year, DESIGNING_
SOUTHAFRICA has established
itself as a vehicle for information
exchange, generating dialogue
on the topic of South African de-
sign and urbanism across the
world.
The project’s multimedia documen-
tary platform, www.designing
southafrica.com, features in-depth
panel discussions on nation de-
sign and identity, lessons learned
from the World Cup, and new ur-
banism and World Cup legacies.
Johannesburg was nominated
for the Wallpaper* Design Awards
2011 for 'Best City' due to DESIGN-
ING_SOUTHAFRICA hosting the
prestigious international life-
style magazine in South Africa in
2010. The result: Johannesburg
came third in the Best City cate-
gory.
While still in its initial stages, in
2010, DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA
single-handedly engaged a dia-
logue with the United States,
the United Kingdom, Spain, Bra-
zil, Japan, Germany, Belgium and
China. The project invited and
hosted visitors from international
independent media. The positive
spin-offs included one-on-one
exchanges between media and
field experts, as well as dedicat-
ed urbanism and design-related
articles in nine high-profile, in-
ternational publications cover-
ing transport, architecture, graphic

EDUCATION
154 >
design and brand identity. Nota-
bly, a cover on the November
2010 issue of Wallpaper* maga-
zine. DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA
coverage extended to five conti-
nents in nine languages.
Experts from all areas
A notable World Cup success, Za-
hira notes, is that “design thinking
and applied design work was se-
riously contracted, the result be-
ing a cohesive national expres-
sion that was celebrated by
South Africans and the world.
We want to continue on this tra-
jectory and have sourced experts
to serve on the DESIGNING_
SOUTHAFRICA Advisory Panel.”
The experts making up the panel
include Edgar Pieterse, urbanist
and director for African Centre
for Cities; Mokhena Makeka, an
architect who focuses on sus-
tainability and durability; and
Henning Rasmuss, director of
Points Architects and Urban De-
signers.
”Perhaps this is an opportunity
to create a national council to
advise on all South African crea-
tive executions.”
Onwards, upwards,
outwards – The
DESIGNING_SOUTH
AFRICA directive
In its endeavour to support a wider
interdisciplinary discourse and
tell the story of new spaces, new
identity and new thought in the
wake of the World Cup, DESIGN-
ING_SOUTHAFRICA makes a
point of:
• engaging government, munic-
ipalities, the private sector,
tourism agents, designers, ar-
chitects and educators in the
delivery of efficient service
 155 >

LEFT: Johannesburg city from the sky. The World Cup has
helped South Africa reach a global audience and express
itself in an authentic, natural and newly South African
way. Image by Michael Meyersfeld.

RIGHT: DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA has its sites set on

Brazil as a partner in global information exchange and
the ongoing dialogue of urbanism. São Paulo is its
largest city. Photo by Nelson Kon.

• shifting negative perception
to positive ones, locally and
globally
• highlighting development ini-
tiatives and achievements in
design, architecture, public
transport and public spaces
• granting global access to South
African expertise, and enabling
sharing of expertise between
Brazil and Africa.
The near future sees DESIGNING_
SOUTHAFRICA publish a book
with panellist insights and expert
essays, roving international exhi-
bitions (Durban, London and
Berlin), as well as a focus on Bra-
zil, host of the FIFA 2014 World
Cup and the 2016 Olympics. A
visit to Brazil in January will forge
ties. In addition to sharing knowl-
edge of lessons learnt in the World
Cup, Zahira says that “we have
similar social and developmental
concerns that I would like to ex-
plore with the Brazilians”.
With South Africa now included
in the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia,
India and China) as a developing
nation of increasing power on
the world market, sharing knowl-
edge can be invaluable going
forward.
2011 is already looking good. We
would do well to invest in each
other and ourselves. “Nation build-
ing and development require
collaboration,” concludes Zahira.
“No city is an entity on its own
anymore, especially with com-
munication technology, and the
ease with which people travel.
We have to collaborate and
share information and expertise.
It’s essential.”
About the author
Jess Henson covers the arts, de-
sign and urbanism for print and
pixel with a focus on integration,
education and elevation. <

EDUCATION
156 >
KNITTING
FOR INITIATES
By Maran Coates. Laduma Ngxokolo, a
young South African knitwear designer, has
been named the top new creative talent in
his field by the UK-based Society of Dyers
and Colourists' (SDC) annual International
Design Competition 2010. Laduma’s range
of jerseys titled The colourful world of the
Xhosa tribe was awarded first place at the
prestigious evening ceremony held at the
Clothworkers Hall in London.
The SDC’s annual International Design Com-
petition received 500 entries from 100 terti-
ary institutions representing ten countries
including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India,
Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore,
United Kingdom and South Africa. The com-
petition required that all entries show evi-
dence of colour use as an integral component
of the design process as, well as incorporat-
ing social responsibility. Laduma’s range was
inspired by his culture and heritage but more
specifically, traditional Xhosa beadwork and
food. However, the most fascinating consid-
eration of Laduma’s jerseys is his intended
clients: initiates.
Once the young initiates (amakrwala) rejoin
society, they are required to throw away all
their old clothes that they wore as a boy and
 157 >

then to don new clothes. This uniform of sorts Once young Xhosa initiates rejoin
consists of smart trousers, a blazer or jacket, society, they are required to don
new clothes which commonly
hat and formal shoes. Though there is an el-
consist of smart trousers, a blazer or
ement of individuality about the garment jacket, hat and formal shoes. Photo
selection, the whole body has to be covered by Araminta de Clermont at Joao
for three to six months. Once dressed, the Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, from
young men have to appear and behave as the series A New Beginning.

responsible ‘gentlemen’. Throughout the

country there are various interpretations of
this uniform but often young Xhosa men
dress like Scottish golfers or 19th century
Englishmen, says Lin Sampson in article for
Times Live (Clothes that make the man, 11
April 2010). Laduma’s concern is that this
image or attire represents a British context

EDUCATION
158 >

Presentation
boards of
Laduma Ngxo-
kolo's winning
entry for the
Society of Dyers
and Colourists'
annual Interna-
tional Design
Competition
2010.
 159 >

and has been unquestioned for generations.

For Laduma this required ensemble does not
reflect the initiates’ Xhosa cultural aesthetic
and “is too Western” for his liking.

“With my knitwear collection, I intended to

remind my fellow South Africans where we
come from and how that makes us distinc-
tively different from other parts of the
world. I felt that there is a need to celebrate
my culture in a way that would be relevant
to my society.”

In order to make the garments more rele-

vant to both the initiates and the initiation
practice, Laduma referenced two staple
symbols of Xhosa culture: samp and beans
(umngqusho) and traditional beadwork. La-
duma used the texture of the umngqusho, as
inspiration for the texture of his jerseys,
which are knitted in a blend of kid mohair
and merino wool. Many traditional bead-
work references are used which form a vital
part of ceremonial regalia to signify social
status and is presented or worn for major
rites of passage such as initiation celebra-
tions.

The zigzag pattern, Laduma says, is a symbol

of strength and is very popular in local bead-
work. Laduma used the inspiration of this
zigzag pattern in various contemporary ap-
plications in the sweaters as can be seen in
his mood boards.

Another important point of reference for

Laduma’s inspiration was the role of colour
and its symbolism. Although Laduma says

EDUCATION
160 >

that his initial research gave him little help

in colour symbolism as it was found that of
all the tribal groups in South Africa, the Xho-
sa valued colour symbolism the least. The
most important colour for his jerseys is
ochre, which is traditionally used to dye cot-
ton blankets in various shades of red or rust.
The ochre is extracted from the earth in
various parts of the Eastern Cape and led to
the Xhosa also being referred to as the ‘Red
Blanket People’. An ochre paste is also used
for a period of time on the initiates’ faces
once they re-enter society after their isola-
tion period. This ochre colour is used in vari-
ous ways in all of Laduma’s garments.

Other colours with strong symbolic mean-

ing include white symbolising purity and the
power of spiritual healing, while turquoise is
associated with diviners. Dusty pink and yel-
low have lesser symbolic meaning and is
used as complimentary or contrasting col-
ours for aesthetic appeal.

Laduma’s interest in textiles, he says, start-

ed at a young age when his late mother
taught him how to knit. Laduma had to use
his skills soon after he learnt to knit as he
had to help care for his family’s financial
needs once his mother passed away. He says
of his late mother that she “always taught
me to never be in a comfort zone. So, I al-
ways question the relevance of the work
that I design”. For Laduma the role of the
next generation forms the foundation of his
design philosophy, which is interpreted into

Laduma Ngxokolo's final designs for the The

colourful world of the Xhosa tribe range.

EDUCATION

a question that he constantly poses: “What
relevance can the work that I design have in
the present and the future”?
With this in mind, the quality of the garment
is most important, using premium quality
mohair and merino wool provided by his
sponsors, Cape Wool and Mohair South Africa,
both of whom awarded Laduma bursaries
for his studies.
For Laduma the idea of passing something
on from one generation to another is truly key
to his view on Xhosa culture in a culturally
evolving South Africa. His creative family
have passed their skills and also their
161 >
heritage on to him – and this is his greatest
source of influence. His mother was a seam-
stress, his grandfather an artist and his sis-
ter is a fashion student. Laduma is in a good
position to one day pass something of great
value on to his own emerging generation.
Laduma has just completed his BTech at Nel-
son Mandela Metropolitan University in Port
Elizabeth and is planning to use his winnings
(£1 000 – ZAR10 900) to set up a business
that will make his knitwear designs available
to the world. <
EDUCATION
162 >
Do you ever fast forward during
Time to catch a wake-up call
MOVING IMAGES the ad breaks while watching TV?
Yes?
It’s time to pause and catch a wake-
up call as watch-worthy advertise-
ments, or public service announce-
ments, are making waves on M-Net.
There are more to these advertise-
ments than meets the eye. Unlike
most commercial advertisements
that promote products and serv-
ices, the intention of public service
announcements (PSAs) is to create
awareness about an issue, change
perceptions and encourage action.
It is this call for action that is one
of the aims of M-Net’s various cor-
porate social investment (CSI)
projects. The M-Net Vuka! Awards,
one noteworthy CSI project, was
By Fatima Cassim
introduced in 1999 as a platform
to reward and nurture South Afri-
ca’s filmmaking talent while pro-
viding vital exposure to social
causes and charities”. Vuka!, the
name of the project, means ‘wake
up!’ in Nguni and now in its 11 th
year. The Awards calls on advertis-
ing agencies, budding filmmak-
ers and students to create public
service announcements for wor-
thy social causes as well as non-
governmental organisations and
charities to highlight and address
pressing social issues in South
Africa.
The theme for the 2010 Vuka!
Awards was aptly named Art with
a heart. Almost 200 entries were
received by the deadline in Octo-
ber last year from which 28 final-
ists were selected by a panel of
judges from the film and advertis-
ing industry. The awards scheme
consists of three categories: New-
comer (student), Contender (young
professionals under 28 years of
age) and Professional filmmakers.
The Newcomer category saw a
huge increase in student entries in
2010 with a total of 116 entries,
as opposed to 67 in 2009.
The winning entries were selected
by the final judges across a range
of crafts such as direction, cinema-
tography, concept and script. One
of the judges, Festus Masekwa-
meng, chief creative officer at
MotherRussia, said that the 2010
Vuka! entries addressed a broader
range of social issues than before
and that mainstream issues such
as HIV/Aids, road safety and home-
lessness were tackled: “this time
the approaches were very differ-
ent: more uplifting and less guilt-
tripping”. Winners in all three
categories were acknowledged
at an awards ceremony held at the
Theatre on the Track in Kyalami,
Johannesburg, on 30 November
2010.

The Vuka! Award for Best New-
comer went to the team from the
University of Pretoria for their
innovative animated PSA for the
Jesuit Refugee Service, with its
stirring message of fighting xen-
ophobia by beating ignorance.
Information Design students,
Morné Venter, Amy van Vuuren,
Karen Meyer and Micaela Reeves
were honoured in this and several
other categories on the night for
their excellent PSA. The other cat-
egories for which they received
awards included best animation,
editing, script and soundtrack.
Judge Peter Carr commented that
“a lot of time and effort went into
the making of this film which could
stand its own in the professional
category. This is for me the stand-
ard that I hope more newcomers
will look to in their future pro-
ductions, to craft their work as
well as this.” This sentiment about
the quality of work in the New-
comer category was shared by
judge Masekwameng, who said
that he was “especially impressed
by the quality of thinking from
the Newcomer category”.
One of the student team members
suggested doing a PSA for the
Jesuit Refugee Service and the
team decided to focus their con-
cept on the refugee’s point of
view, instead of the usual South
African’s point of view. According
163 >
to Amy, the group saw merit in the
concept because despite the re-
cent xenophobia attacks in the
country there was little communi-
cation about refugees in particular,
as opposed to the anti-xenophobia
sentiments that are commonly
expressed.
A visit to the Jesuit Refugee
Services’ offices in Braamfontein
proved very worthwhile to the
team when they were given an
opportunity to speak to two young
ladies working for the organisa-
tion. The team listened to a number
of accounts about the plight of
refugees which at first made them
feel unbelievably ignorant to the
suffering of refugees. The team’s
initial meeting altered their per-
ceptions and substantiated their
need to create awareness about
this social issue and also gave
them a lot to go home and ponder
about. Another benefit of the visit
was the fact that the organisa-
tion was extremely excited about
the opportunity which motivat-
ed the students even further.
For the project, the team conduct-
ed research and even interviewed
some high school students who
are refugees. Speaking about their
personal engagement with the
refugees, the team said that “the
EDUCATION
164 >

thing that struck us with these stories
is that all these young, young kids
came to South Africa because they
saw the country as ‘this shining bea-
con of hope’ on the continent. They
thought that they would be taken
care of and be able to live a normal
life. But the reality was very far from
that. These kids live in poverty and
go to school with other children who
don't want them there. They all said
that if they had a choice, they would
not want to be here.”
From their findings it became clear
that for the most part, South Africans
do not understand who refugees are,
why they are here and why they are
allowed to be here. This seemed to be
the main problem and gave the team
a clearer idea of what content to focus
on for their PSA. Consequently, the
team decided that what they needed
was “a non-sentimental, punchy ani-
mation that showcased the facts”
and illustrated the difference between
an illegal immigrant and a refugee.
They kept the execution simple and
the text straightforward. The visual
style incorporates cell animation,
photography and hand drawn type
to keep the communication interest-
ing and fresh. The students worked
The Vuka! Award for Best Newcomer
went to the team from the University
of Pretoria for their innovative animated
PSA for the Jesuit Refugee Service, with
its stirring message of fighting
xenophobia by beating ignorance.
165 >
with Kyle McIntyre to produce the
sound which is an integral component
of the PSA and ties the animation
together beautifully.
When asked about their creative
process and involvement with Jesuit
Refugee Services, the students af-
firmed that by the end of the project,
they had all changed their percep-
tions. One team member even ex-
claimed: “we started as quite a use-
less group to be honest, compassion
wise, only to become a bloody power-
house of refugee-loving strength! If
nothing else, and if no one else, this
project changed the four of us.”
The feedback from the students is
heartfelt and demonstrates the
worth of participating in such a project.
Social innovation and creative collabo-
ration are also key drivers for M-Net’s
corporate social investment so they
continuously strive to improve and
sustain their projects. During the past
two years, M-Net has spent time exam-
ining all aspects of the Vuka! initiative.
Koo Govender, M-Net director of Cor-
porate Marketing & Communications,
promises that “in 2011 the Vukas! will
be a more holistic experience with a
bigger focus on training and develop-
ment opportunities and more viewer
participation”.
All the Vuka! finalists are flighted on
air for a year, beginning January 2011.
For the full list of 2010 winners and
finalists click here. <
EDUCATION
 166 >
LIFESTYLES
VASES
FOR
By Erin-Lee Saunders. With a tangible
current of vibrant creativity floating
through the air, the moment had finally ar-
rived for Carrol Boyes to announce the
three winners of the Metal 2010 New De-
signer Search Competition. The prestigious
event was held at her new store in Canal
Walk offering the ideal setting for the
announcement and to show off the well-
executed prototypes.
This year’s initiative was themed VASE-a-
Lifestyle and 133 aspiring product design-
ers submitted their prototypes with the
hope of winning one of the cash prizes to-
talling R90 000. Only ten finalists had the
opportunity to present their original and
beautifully crafted designs and I suppose
that the decision must have been a rather
tough one.
 167 >

LTR: First prize winner, Urchin is by Carson Smuts.

Second prize winner, Eclipse by Cobus van den Berg.
Third prize winner, Towering Tree-Ou by Chris Bradnum.

I was particularly attracted to the Towering
Tree-Ou, which was designed to display all
parts of a flower, including the stem. The
vase is made up of two cast metal compo-
nents that are repeated three times to
form the vase structure, a glass holder and
a hinging base. I was also attracted to the
fact that the top diameter of the vase can
simply be adjusted via a cable to accommo-
date a variety of thicknesses of the plant
on display. Towering Tree-Ou took the third
prize in the competition and was designed
by Christopher Bradnum who is a practicing
design consultant and head of the Depart-
ment of Industrial Design at the University
of Johannesburg.
Second prize went to Eclipse, an inverted
vase designed by architect, artist and de-
signer, Cobus van den Berg. Eclipse is part

EDUCATION
168 >
of a trilogy of objects collectively titled Lu-
nar. Cobus describes his creation as having
both a functional value and a symbolic
meaning, and cited his particular interest in
sacred geometry, especially the circle, as
the inspiration behind Eclipse, an inverted
vase.
I was truly inspired by the wealth of talent
that this year’s ten finalists exhibited, es-
pecially when I saw heads turning and
watched how faces lit up when the winner
was announced.
Carson Smuts took home first prize and
earned himself R50 000 for his vase called
Urchin. Carson says that he feels highly
honoured to win this prestigious award. A
Bachelor of Architectural Studies graduate
from the University of Cape Town and cur-
rently enrolled in the Masters of Advanced
Architectural Design at Columbia Universi-
ty, New York, Carson explains that he en-
joys working across all scales of design and
feels that when designers from different
disciplines work with and learn from each
other, the results are always enhanced by
the collaboration.
Carson claims that he has not yet had suf-
ficient experience in the product design
industry and sees his win as a great oppor-
tunity to be able to learn from Carrol
Boyes, who is one of the leading product
designers in Africa.
For this project Carson experimented with
resins and 3D prototyping that enabled
him to produce the accuracy and details in
the curvature which he had initially required.
“Coming from an architectural background,
I feel that there should also be a synergy
 169 >

TOP LTR: Brio by Brad Fraser, Echo by

Philip van den Berg and Metropolis by Mohammed Chohan.
BOTTOM LTR: Voupot by Nina Holm, Configuration by Helena
Klawikowski, Loft Vase by Geoffrey Brown,
9T by Raoul de Villiers and Pyramid Vase by Warren Matten.

EDUCATION
170 >

TOP LTR: To Barbara by Oupa

Vusimusi Mokwena, Narcissus
by Phil Oosthuizen, Skeleton
Vase by Jared Cohen, Slice by
Dale Holmes and Morabaraba
by Oupa Vusimusi Mokwena.

LEFT: Fluid by  Albie Spangenberg.

RIGHT: Paradisea by Jeanne

Fourie.
 171 >

between structure and beauty. My intent sustainable business based on the power of
was to create a vase that was structurally design. “I am very excited to see this com-
sound, yet elegant.” petition continuing in the years to come.”

He explains that the brief asked for a design

of a vase that was ‘fresh and functional’. With
the prototype resting on three stems, Urchin
creates a minimal structure and a perfect
balance, while the arrangement of the stems
remains free as well as playful. He says that
“Nature always achieves perfect balance
with minimal structure, where the form ap-
pears elegant, yet seemingly haphazard.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erin-Lee Saunders has a Diploma in Journal-
ism from Varsity College. She currently works
for SABC Radio Broadcasting where she is a
producer and occasional newsreader. <

Carson concludes that Carrol Boyes has

managed to do what many artists and design-
ers fail to do and that is to create a solid and

EDUCATION
172 >

ALL
REIJER VAN DER VLUGT

Reijer studied Multimedia at City Varsity

and continued studies in visual communica-
tion, specialising in art direction at the AAA

STARS
School of Advertising. “I am qualified in any-
thing I put my mind to,” says Reijer.

“Due to the nature of creativity, hours vary

gently”, explains Reijer when asked about

BELOW
his day-to-day schedule. He mentions that
he could work until 2am on one day and ar-
rive at work around 2pm the next day, as
long as the workload is managed according
to a deadline, anything goes. He says it can
By Erin-Lee Saunders. Developing and
be very stressful at times but liberating if
nurturing young talent is essential for fu-
one enjoys it.
ture growth. The Loerie Awards, first held in
1978, is passionate about this aspect and
Generally, Reijer believes in approaching a
initiated the Loeries Young Creatives Award
brief from as many angles as possible. As an
in 2007 which recognises outstanding
art director, he works very closely with his
achievement of talented individuals’ at the
copywriter. Together they would get a brief
beginning of their careers. Individuals under
from a client and think of how they’d inter-
the age of 27 working in brand communica-
pret and express the requirements in the
tion (advertising, communication design or
most creative way. His working process of-
experiential media) submit a portfolio of
ten consists of lots of research, thinking,
their work and the winners receive a Gold
continuous drawing, writing, going for a
Loerie Award, as well as an all-expenses-
brisk walk, trying out the actual product/
paid trip to an international award show.
service, an incredible amount of coffee, ex-
This year saw some new categories being
perimenting, learning what doesn’t work,
introduced which included a section for cre-
the list goes on and on as each brief is
ative professionals. In between the riveting
unique. “The only consistent formula that
sounds, flashing wonders and nail-biting
works for me is: find the truth, say it simply
moments, the most talented were an-
in an interesting or beautiful way.”
nounced.

Reijer says that he experienced a strong

Reijer van der Vlugt, an art director at FoxP2
adrenaline rush coupled with fear and ec-
and Mbuso Ndlovu, an art director/ designer
stasy, followed by a sense of relief and sat-
at Y&R each took home the Loeries Young
isfaction when it was announced that he
Creatives Award and a Gold Loerie. ED> met
had won the Loeries Young Creatives Award.
up with the well-deserving individuals.
“It’s a great feeling to get industry recogni-
tion for hard work.”
 Project: Drive Dry initiative Advertising Agency: FoxP2, Cape Town, South Africa
Creative Directors: Andrew Whitehouse, Justin Gomes
Art Director: Reijer van der Vlugt Copywriter: Justin Osburn
TOP RIGHT: Reijer Van Der Vlugt.
173 >

EDUCATION
174 >

Project: Print campaign fo Master Lock Agency: FoxP2 Creative Directors: Justin Gomes,
Andrew Whitehouse Art Director: Reijer van der Vlugt Copywriter: Justin Osburn

MBUSO NDLOVU

Mbuso also believes that his achievement at

the 2010 Loerie Awards is the absolute high-
light of his young career and he explains
that there’s no greater feeling than being
recognised by the industry as a whole, both
locally and internationally.

He studied Visual Communication and fo-

cused on graphic design and art direction. “I
am very passionate about creativity and
wanted to study something that was related
TOP RIGHT: Mbuso Ndlovu

to the subject, and getting exposure devel-

ops confidence.”

He says that he has been particularly fortu-

nate to have worked for two global agencies
– Saatchi&Saatchi and Y&R – and he high-
lights the opportunities and experience that
 Client: UNICEF Agency: Y&R Johannesburg Chief Creative Officer: Michael Blore
Executive Creative Director: Liam Wielopolski
Copywriter: Ian Franks Copywriter: Sebastian Schneider
Art Directors: Alison Stansfield, Mbuso Ndlovu
175 >

EDUCATION
 176 >

Client: UNICEF Agency: Y&R Johannesburg Chief Creative Officer: Michael Blore
Executive Creative Director: Liam Wielopolski
Copywriter: Ian Franks Copywriter: Sebastian Schneider
Art Directors: Alison Stansfield, Mbuso Ndlovu

he gained while working on many interna-
tional accounts. “It is pretty enlightening to
realise that, as the creator, one can change
and impact on the mindsets of consumers
around the world.” He continues that having
global clients also present its own list of lo-
gistical problems and sometimes these cli-
ents try to direct the brief and delegate
what they think is best for the South African
market. Mbuso says that this approach to
the South African market does not always
work.
According to Mbuso a creative must always
question the brief; understand if the strat-
egy is spot-on for the brand; identify the
target market; identify methods of engage-
ment by its users and see that the concept
is in line with what they are trying to achieve
through any of the creative vehicles. Gener-
ally, this is how Mbuso approaches each brief.
He finds brainstorming useful and surfs the
Internet for inspiration, looking for cool vid-
eos, artworks, design, movies and blogs.
Having fun while you work is a priority for
Mbuso and working in the creative industry
makes this all very possible and accessible:
“Kind of learning while having fun doing so.”
He believes that the UNICEF Child Soldiers
and XBOX Need for Speed are by far the best
projects that he has worked on to date.
These projects have been awarded and rec-
ognised both locally and internationally and
he specifically enjoyed the craft detail that
went into executing each piece.
Mbuso is currently working as a designer/art
director at MetropolitanRepublic, a cross-
platform agency. He particularly loves work-
ing on local accounts such as MTN, SAB,
FNB, Wimpy and Vuzu.tv, to name just a few.
177 >
He has also been working on a couple of big
projects such as repositioning one of SAB’s
major brands. He is very excited to travel
abroad, especially to meet his peers at the
international awards show: “It will be great
to make relevant contacts which could fur-
ther enhance my learning and career!”
2010 STUDENT LOERIE
AWARD WINNERS
Students also did well at the 2010 Loerie
Awards and from 380 entries, 109 were
short-listed as finalists. Two student Gold
Loeries were awarded to Chrizanne van
Breda, Marize Engelbrecht and Shannon
Devy, from AAA School of Advertising Cape
Town, for their National Geographic Calen-
dar and Clayton Swartz and Jessica Crozier,
from AAA School of Advertising Johannes-
burg, for their print advertising campaign
for Leatherman.
Three Craft Gold Loeries were awarded to
Chad Goddard, from Vega, the Brand Com-
munications School Johannesburg, for his
book, Fortywords; Michael Tymbios, from
AAA School of Advertising Cape Town, for
his graphic novel, Onwards!; and Johan
Horn, from AAA School of Advertising Cape
Town, for his publication, 10 Things you should
know about sport.
Other tertiary institutions that received Sil-
ver, Bronze and Craft Certificates were from
North-West University, Vega, the Brand
Communications School, Red and Yellow,
Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Pho-
tography, The Open Window, Greenside De-
sign Center, City Varsity and Tshwane Uni-
versity of Technology. <
EDUCATION
178 >
By Janine Johnston. In most people’s
minds design means veneer, the finishing
process, the cherry on the top. Nothing
could be further from the true meaning of
design. Steve Jobs got it exactly right when
he said: “Design is the fundamental soul of
manmade creation.” When we recognise de-
sign sensibility at the core of our business
– people and environmental development –
only then will we create sustainable success.
Sustainable design entails the theories and
practices that cultivate ecological, economi-
cal and cultural conditions that indefinitely
support human wellbeing. We’re at a stage
where environmental intervention must be-
gin at a product’s conception because even
though the world is filled with remarkable
people, we are still consumers and we’re
consuming at a rapid rate.
Consumption is emotional; purchases are
status symbols and style is transient. The
Journal of Advertising Research published a
study that showed emotions are twice as
important as facts when people make buy-
ing decisions. These are characteristics of
the world’s wealthier 20% who consume
80% of global resources. If the 80% less for-
tunate individuals want to adopt the models
of consumption so widely and powerfully
promoted by contemporary industrial soci-
ety, they will not find the resources to do so:
there is insufficient clean air, water, energy
and land for 6 billion to consume in the
same way as the ’rich‘. This environmental
pressure creates social and political ten-
sions. The ratios 80/20 and 20/80 express
the desperate need for alternative life-
styles, new proposals and designs on how
we can improve our choices and actions so
that these are more sustainable and envi-
ronmentally friendly.
A new design revolution is underway, one
not seen since the Bauhaus movement of
the 1920s: ‘Eco design’ takes the emotional,
ecological and economic factors of our soci-
ety into account. This is design for a sustain-
able future. Innovators and inventors are no
longer waiting for overall change in the sys-
tem – they’re driving the change. Projects
are approached as ’solutions for people‘–
making new products and services accessible

to the widest possible audience with the
least possible negative impact. Efficient de-
sign carefully measures the energy, resourc-
es, costs of production and its influence on
local and global communities.
Sounds like a walk in the park, but in reality,
and particularly in Africa, we are faced with
enormous social and environmental devel-
opmental challenges that push the design
sector from centre stage. Designers practis-
ing sustainable design are challenged even
more than those just doing conventional de-
sign. There’s a lack of education and under-
standing about sustainability in design and
the choice of materials is limited. So, our
creative communities are faced with these
hurdles as well as other common design
challenges, such as costs, short schedules
and meeting client demands.
Management guru, Tom Peters, sees design
as the principal reason for emotional attach-
ment (or detachment) relative to a product
or service or experience. “Design is arguably
the no.1 determinant of whether a product-
service-experience stands out – or does not.
Furthermore, it’s one of those things that
damn few enterprises put – consistently –
on the Front Burner.”
Designers are the catalysts that make a sus-
tainable future possible. Today’s ultimate
design challenge is to create durable prod-
ucts and services that minimise adverse im-
pacts on the environment, while making
everyday life simpler and more pleasant.
179 >
“If there was no design there would be
nothing to do and nothing would progress
or get better. The world would fall apart.” –
Anna, age 11.
Maybe it is time, after all, to put the design
of our future in the youth’s hands.
Enter the Eco Design Initiative, a South Afri-
can non-profit organisation with the objec-
tive to develop opportunities for youth en-
trepreneurship in the field of sustainable
design. By facilitating skills and cultural
sharing amongst youth, the Initiative aims
to raise awareness and understanding about
sustainability and to encourage the adapta-
tion of sustainable design practises.
During 2011 Eco Design Ambassadors from
South Africa and Sweden will participate in
an interactive skills and cultural exchange
which will entail the Fresh Talent Workshop
and the Eco Design Showcase, to be hosted
in Cape Town and the City of Malmö.
Calling for positive action towards our sus-
tainable future, the Initiative calls for No
Kak! This is a vernacular South African way
of expressing one’s intolerance to nonsense
and this campaign implies no waste, no pol-
lution and absolutely no harm.
The Eco Design Initiative debuts in Cape
Town in February 2011. Cape Town is one of
Africa’s most important design hubs. It’s
beautiful setting, pedestrian-friendly city
centre and interesting urban landscape is a
EDUCATION
180 >
magnet for creative people. “We are proud
to be one of the global cities championing
sustainability through various redesigns of
the way we live, work and play and we feel
it is enormously appropriate that we host
the new and exciting Eco Design Initiative.
We truly believe that design can play a ma-
jor role in future-fitting Cape Town for gen-
erations and we feel sure that this initiative
will bring that message home even more
clearly,” says Mariette du Toit-Helmbold,
CEO, Cape Town Tourism.
The Eco Design Showcase will be a spectacu-
lar display of design prototypes, sustainable
concepts and design stories, as portrayed by
young Swedish and South African partici-
pants. The exhibition launches at Iziko Slave
Lodge, Cape Town on 25 February and will
be open to public until 9 March.
Built in 1679 by the Dutch East India Com-
pany to confine the Company’s slaves, the
Slave Lodge is today a museum dedicated to
highlighting histories of slavery and human
rights. Under the umbrella theme From hu-
man wrongs to human rights, and through
permanent and temporary exhibitions, the
museum strives to increase awareness on is-
sues such as human rights, equality, peace
and justice. “Such issues are directly affect-
ed by climate change and the Iziko Slave
Lodge is therefore pleased to host young
designers’ perspectives on possibilities for
our sustainable future,” says Fiona Clayton,
curator, Iziko Slave Lodge.
While the exhibition is running in Cape
Town, the Fresh Talent Workshop will engage
30 eco -inspired designers in an intensive
learning, skills and cultural exchange pro-
gramme which will run from 28 February to
4 March. Twenty South African participants
were selected as finalists in the Eco Design
Competition in 2010, which called for en-
tries from design students and entrepre-
neurs across South Africa. For the past few
months, these ’Fresh Talents’ have been
producing their sustainable design proto-
types to be the feature of the international
Eco Design Showcase. They meet with Eco
Design Ambassadors, Apokalypse Labotek,
Righteous Fashion, Swedish Ninja and Liv
Andersson (from Sweden) and the LIV Green
Design team (South Africa) to be inspired to
innovate with sustainability as the front-of-
mind objective. The Fresh Talent Workshop
programme will also include contributions
from South African design educators and
sustainability champions.
The challenge presented to the participat-
ing designers will be to reinvent the space
of an under-resourced youth centre, using a
supply of waste materials. With the partici-
pating designers’ creativity and ability to in-
novate, waste will be up-cycled to create
products of greater value to better serve
our community. This positive community ac-
tion inspires respect and pride in diversity,
while encouraging the application of good
design to improve the lifestyles of all our
society’s people.

The initiative is included as a case study in
Cape Town’s World Design Capital 2014 bid
book for this prestigious international title.
The Eco Design Initiative’s headline activi-
ties are staged when the city is ’buzzing de-
sign and creativity’, coinciding with the
launch of Cape Town’s bid activities during
Design Indaba 2011. “As much as it is about
positioning our city as a place with great de-
sign capacity, bidding for this title is an im-
portant way for us to hone our ability to use
design thinking in addressing many of the
social challenges we face as a city.”
This impactful meeting in Cape Town will
then proceed to the international leg of the
Eco Design Showcase at Malmöhus, Scandi-
navia’s oldest surviving Renaissance Castle.
Malmö Museum has cooperated with muse-
ums and organisations in South Africa for
many years, with particular focus on issues
related to the democratisation of cultural
heritage, diversity, empowerment and hu-
man rights.
181 >
The winner of the Eco Design Competition
will enjoy a Sustainable Design Tour to Swe-
den to attend the launch of the exhibition in
Malmö on 15 May. The no kak! ingen skit! Eco
Design Showcase will be open to Scandina-
vian audiences until late October.
These exciting activities are the first steps in
the Eco Design Initiative programme to fa-
cilitate more qualified educational exchang-
es between South Africa and Sweden.
Through sharing skills, culture and innova-
tion amongst talented youth, the campaign
aims to further global sustainable develop-
ment objectives.
The Eco Design Initiative is supported and
sponsored by an impressive list of organisa-
tions which include: The Swedish Institute,
Swedish Arts Council, Proudly South African,
Swedish Industrial Design Foundation (SVID),
Malmö Museum, Iziko Museum of Cape
Town and DESIGN>MAGAZINE. <
For more information visit www.nokak.com
EDUCATION
182 >

VEGA SCHOOL OF
BRAND INNOVATION
SHINES
BRIGHTLY
To the rule-breakers and the revo-
lutionaries... To the ones who don't
do conformity, and don't do ordi-
nary... To the ones who want to spin
the world on its head... To those of
you looking for wisdomwithmagic.
When Vega School of Brand Innovation
started ten years ago, few would have pre-
dicted the impact that one tiny renegade
branding school would have on the lives of
hundreds of students and the branding
community. Vega’s aim to inspire a new breed
TOP: Blindside (Afrikaans, English, Zulu), a
series of hard-hitting print advertisements
that convey the essence of the Kick Racism
organisation. Team: Sharleen Hollick,
Brendon Loughrey and Senzo Zulu.
BOTTOM: Flipside, a series of message-based
T-shirts that convey the essence of the Kick
Racism organisation. Translation for Zulu ex-
ecution: Indololwane is the Zulu word for 'el-
bow' which is used as a shibboleth in the con-
text of xenophobia. When challenged, if
someone cannot pronounce the word prop-
erly it is presumed they are a foreigner. Team:
Sharleen Hollick, Brendon Loughrey and Senzo
Zulu.
183 >
of thinkers with the expertise to generate
healthy brand ideas, linking business profit
to adding value to the lives of people has
been realised. Pertinent and purposeful,
their commitment to cultural and social re-
sponsibility comes naturally and is reflected
through context, content and creativity.
Vega’s reputation as a hotbed of creative
talent and a new breed of thinkers has been
further entrenched by the impressive list of
industry accolades received in 2010. One of
Vega’s biggest triumphs was the success at
the Pendoring Awards 2010. Vega Durban
students, Sharleen Hollick and Senzo Zulu,
received two Gold awards for a group effort
for their Blindside print campaign in English,
Afrikaans and Zulu for the NGO, Kick Rac-
ism. Hollick’s execution of the Afrikaans ad-
vertisement in the Blindside campaign also
won the overall Student Award, with
Brendan Loughrey winning gold in the Truly
South African category. A member of the
judging panel commended the “combina-
tion of intensity and subtlety” in the work as
well as its “outstanding synthesis of con-
cept, copy and design”.
Amongst the seven Loerie Awards won by
Vega in 2010 was the Bronze Loerie for the
book cover designs for H.G. Wells’ novels de-
signed by Shaun Mill and tutored by Nicci
Martin. Furthermore, at the 2010 Vuka!
Awards, Vega students won the best con-
cept for their TV commercial MIA, for Miss-
ing Children South Africa, while their Seeds
of Change commercial for Project Heifer
won for best animation.
As part of its endeavours to produce out-
comes-based, integrated and interactive
training, Vega launched the annual Brand
EDUCATION
184 >

Challenge a few years ago. At the end of

each year, clients from industry, corporates,
NGOs and government sectors brief stu-
dents on specific challenges facing their
unique brands. Students from both the stra-
tegic and creative degrees are placed in inte-
grated strategic and brand communication
teams and are then required to do in-depth
research and propose innovative solutions
for these clients and their real-life briefs. In
the past clients such as Discovery, MNet,
Protea Hotels and the Nelson Mandela Chil-
dren’s Fund have briefed students who have
brought fresh thinking and new ideas to
build and sustain their brands.

All records were broken in 2010 with 30

briefs received across the three Vega cam-
puses. Clients included The Sharks, The Fos-
chini Group, Sony, Sappi, The Brand Muse-
um, The Ceres Group, SABC3, Animal Action
and Grant Thornton, to name just a few. In
exchange for the integrated brand and com-
munication campaigns prepared by the stu-
dents over a five-week period, clients make
a contribution to the Vega Bursary Fund
that enables previously disadvantaged stu-
dents to enter the brand communications
industry. Approximately R900 000 was gen-
erated in 2010.

Ten years since its founding, Vega has grown

Book cover designs for H.G. Wells’ novels designed by
Shaun Mill.
from small beginnings and is now part of The
Independent Institute of Education (Pty) Ltd
group and has grown both physically and
philosophically, yet its essence remains un-
changed: constant endeavours to teach, live,
breath and embody the wisdomwithmagic
philosophy. It has grown in stature and now
counts among the top private design educa-
tion institutions in South Africa. <

EDUCATION
 DIPLOMA IN
INTEGRATED BRAND
COMMUNICATIONS

BA DEGREE
IN BRAND BUILDING
& MANAGEMENT

BA HONOURS BA HONOURS
IN BRAND LEADERSHIP CREATIVE BRAND
COMMUNICATIONS

BA DEGREE
CREATIVE BRAND
COMMUNICATIONS

HIGHER
CERTIFICATE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY

JHB (011) 521 4600 ADVANCED

PTA (012) 343 3669 CERTIFICATE
IN PROFESSIONAL
DBN (031) 266 2595 PHOTOGRAPHY
CT (021) 425 7591

Vega The Brand Communications School, is an educational brand of The Independent

Institute of Education (Pty) Ltd which is registered with the Department of Higher
Education and Training as a private further and higher education and training institution
under the Further Education and Training Colleges Act, 2006 (reg. no. 2009/FE07/003,
prov. to 31/12/2014) and the Higher Education Act, 1997 (reg. no. 2007/HE07/002).
120374
 Rich aroma.
Refined taste.

Find your inspiration

188 >

IMAGES
FOR CHANGE:
A SUSTAINABLE
BOND WITH
SPACES AND
PLACES
WE OCCUPY
Liani revealed to ED> how her curious
nature, a handful of disposable cameras
and a group of young people managed
to challenge her role as an architect and
sole creator to move beyond the design
of buildings towards the design of new
creative processes of engagement.

By Liani van der Westhuizen. One would have

thought that five years of notoriously late nights
and hard work at architecture school would have
squashed my curious nature, but with a MArch(Prof)
degree from the University of Pretoria under my
belt and two and a half years of work experience,
I was surprisingly eager to be a student again.
With a scholarship from the Audi Design Founda-
tion and a confirmed place on the Design for De-
velopment MA course at Kingston University in
London, I embarked on further postgraduate
studies in October 2009.
 189 >

Illustration of Cambridge Road Estate.

© Liani van der Westhuizen

EDUCATION
190 >
During the run of my studies in sustainable develop-
ment I became progressively interested in how I
could use the design process as a problem-solving
tool and deploy my skills to empower users to de-
mand more from the places and spaces they occu-
py. My master’s thesis investigated the social im-
pact of the built environment and allowed me to
challenge my role as sole creator and architect by
involving children and young people on a social
housing estate in Kingston (where residents experi-
ence poorer health than in more affluent areas of
the borough), in developing ideas to improve their
environment during a participatory workshop.
Faced with the daunting task to deliver a weeklong
workshop during the summer holiday in a foreign
country with no specialist knowledge on how to en-
gage with children or facilitate a workshop, I was
ready to throw in the towel. But design is considered
a solutions-orientated discipline, and I soon realised
that I could use my design skills to plan a creative
process to assist the participants to firstly explore
Activity: Capture/
Investigate
Equipped with a disposable
camera the participants
were given three days to
visually document the
subjective reality of their
everyday life and
environment before the
next activity took place. An
accompanied ‘instruction
book’ served as a quick
reference of technical
things to remember, and
included a list of emotions
and themes to consider
whilst exploring their
environment.
their environment, then respond and reflect on their
findings, together with an opportunity to visualise
future solutions – all of this through the means of
a camera lens.
Equipped with disposable cameras the young peo-
ple were given three days to visually document
their everyday life and environment before the rest
of the activities took place. An accompanying ‘in-
struction book’ served as a quick reference of tech-
nical things to remember, and included a list of
emotions and themes to consider whilst exploring
their surroundings. Photography was favoured as
medium as it puts less pressure on young people to
be verbally articulate and neither do they need par-
ticularly good drawing skills to express their ideas.
Once developed, the collection of photographs
taken by the participants was used as a resource to
promote critical dia¬logue about positive and nega-
tive issues within their built environment. A series
of activities challenged the young people to voice
 191 >

TOP: Polaroid layout of young people's photographs.

BOTTOM: Collage of young people's photographs.

EDUCATION
192 >

their emotional response to the photographs. The

key themes that emerged from the process were a lack
of green space and opportunities to play. These were
used as ‘informants’ to compile recommendations
for suitable public space interventions on the estate.

The project proved to be a good opportunity to

broaden participation with a group that is usually ex-
cluded from spatial decision-making processes and
put equal weight to young people’s voices as to the
other stakeholders involved. The range of activities
contributed to the participants’ understanding of de-
sign quality and allowed me to assist them in evaluat-
ing their existing spaces and articulate how their
spaces affect their ability to realise their aspirations.
It also encouraged them to demand more from their
Activity: Mad/Glad/Bad/Sad
local spaces.
A collection of photographs, represe
and objects in and around the estate
The process was extremely valuable as it afforded the the young people were challenged t
participants the opportunity to explore their relation- pictures made them feel. They were
ship with their built environment and provided them this by using only four words: mad, b

with new skill sets to further their creativity and self-

expression. In turn, it offered me the chance to em-
ploy my design skills to greater relevance and work
with the young people to develop their own ideas
without predetermining what the outcome might be.

Most importantly, the project marks a shift in my

own professional focus where I aspire to put end us-
ers at the heart of all my future endeavours to en-
sure that the process of designing and building be-
comes a rich learning experience for all involved.

Fingers crossed that it will keep my intellectual curi-

osity acute.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In addition to being an architect, Liani van der West-
huizen has an avid interest in the role of design with-
in education and is involved as a part-time studio
lecturer at the School of Architecture at the Univer-
sity of Cape Town. <
Activity: Alter my ego
Each participant received a copy of a
took earlier on. The task required th
contribute or alter the image, either
 193 >

Activity: Photo-voice
enting different spaces Discussions about the photographs produced during the
e were pinned up, where week, gave the young people the opportunity to pick their
to comment on how these favourite photographs out of the group, as well as the preferred
e however restricted to do picture which they took themselves. The activity did not only
bad, glad or sad. allow them to select their favourite picture

Activity: Draw my estate

a photograph which they This activity used an open play area on the estate as an
hem to positively outdoor classroom, where the young people where given the
r through text or drawing. opportunity to visually propose (through sketches) how the
space could be altered and improved either through
temporary or permanent changes.

EDUCATION
194 >

AUTHENTIC
AFRICAN
STORIES.
THE REAL DEAL
Over the past two years South African media organisation, Africa
Media Online, together with Dutch organisations, World Press
Photo, FreeVoice and lokaalmondiaal, have been running a
project called Twenty Ten: African media on the road to 2010 (and
beyond), training over 120 journalists from 34 African countries
to tell Africa’s story from an African perspective on the run up to
and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Africa Media Online’s man-
aging director, David Larsen, tells the story.

By David Larsen. It was early July 2008. I had just
sent out a blog posting on our Digital Picture
Library Manager blog when I received a phone call
at our offices in Pietermaritzburg from Maarten
Koets, deputy managing director of World Press
Photo. I had been introduced to Maarten via email
some years previously by Shahidul Alam, head of
the Drik photo agency in Dhaka, Bangladesh, while
Maarten was still head of training at World Press
Photo. Since then I had been trying to find some
common ground between us around the training of
African photojournalists. World Press Photo not
only runs the world’s largest annual photojournalism
competition, but has also conducted innovative
training programmes for photojournalists in Africa.
My blog post had been about our up-and-coming
African Photo Entrepreneur Programme (APEP)
that we were about to run in August 2008. Maarten
picked up the phone to say that what we were do-
ing with APEP was exactly in line with a project that
Learners from a high school in Cape Town take in
some of the multimedia productions produced
during the Twenty Ten project at the Twenty Ten
On the Road Exhibition at the Waterfront in Cape
Town. The travelling exhibition was a major output
of the Twenty Ten project and will travel to five
other African countries. Other outputs included a
photo book, content to sell to media around the
world and a documentary film. © David Larsen/
Africa Media Online.
195 >
World Press Photo and another Dutch-based or-
ganisation, FreeVoice, had conceived to empower
African journalists ahead of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup. At last we had found some common ground!
During the next month Maarten, myself and Africa
Media Online’s media manager and owner of Moon-
shine Media, Dominique le Roux mapped the pa-
rameters of that common ground, in the midst of
the Cape Town leg of the APEP programme.
By the time we were done, Maarten looked across
the table at Dominique and I, laughed and said:
“When I share this with everyone in Holland people
are going to fall off their chairs. It is so huge!”
What we all recognised was that the 2010 FIFA
World Cup was a massive opportunity, not just for
South Africa, but for all of Africa. What we had
worked out was a plan to make sure that we as
Africans get to tell Africa’s 2010 story from our
A visitor is captivated by the Twenty Ten On the
Road Exhibition at the Waterfront in Cape Town.
© David Larsen/Africa Media Online.
EDUCATION
196 >
perspective. This fitted in with Africa Media Online’s
passion to enable locals to tell Africa’s story.
The plan was to recruit and train over 100 journal-
ists from all over the continent including photo, ra-
dio and text journalists. These would be known as
the All Stars. These journalists would then report on
the lead-up to the event from their home nations
and the content would be distributed to African
and global media markets. Participants, or their em-
ployer media organisations, would get 50% of all
revenue from sales. From these All Stars, a Dream
Team of 18 journalists would be selected to come
to South Africa during the World Cup and report on
the event while other members of the All Stars con-
tinued to report from their home nations.
The partner organisations would work to their
strengths – World Press Photo would train photo-
journalists, FreeVoice would train radio and text
journalists, Africa Media Online would provide the
technological backbone to recruit the journalists,
market and sell the content through its global dis-
tribution network and provide the logistical sup-
port for the Dream Team while in South Africa. An-
other Dutch organisation, lokaalmondiaal, would
represent the content to the Dutch public via the
website www.roadto2010.nl and write a book
about the project, which would be published by the
Topenmusem Press in Amsterdam. Tropenmuseum
would also produce an exhibition about the 2010
FIFA World Cup in South Africa in their main exhibi-
tion hall that would become a major gathering
point for the Dutch public to engage with the event.
All of this, of course, depended on successfully rais-
ing funds. I met Aik Meeuse from FreeVoice in Sep-
tember as he visited South Africa with a 2010-re-
lated Dutch delegation. He was confident that the
Dutch Postcode Lottery would award us the funds.
“It is such a fantastic project,” he said.
He was right. At a glittering award ceremony in Am-
sterdam in February, Twenty Ten: African media on
the road to 2010 (and beyond) was presented with a
cheque for €2.2 million from the Dutch Postcode
Lottery. Soon afterwards the organisations met in
Amsterdam to work out the details and the project
began to take shape.
We built an application system and hundreds of pro-
fessional journalists from all over the continent ap-
plied for the training programme. From September
2009 to February 2010 we ran six training blocks in
Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.
Journalists were trained in radio production, writ-
ing, photojournalism and multimedia. All-in-all over
120 journalists from 34 countries in Africa were
trained. After receiving the training each journalist
had to produce three stories, two while being men-
tored and one on their own.
From the 120 or so All Stars a panel of judges se-
lected the top 18 journalists to become part of the
Dream Team. The Dream Team was invited to come
to South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup to
cover the event. At the same time, in the run-up to
Children from a Cape Town high school visit the Twenty
Ten Exhibition. © David Larsen/Africa Media Online.

the World Cup, All Stars as well as Dream Team
members were commissioned to do stories from
their home countries for which they were paid. Sev-
eral All Stars continued to be commissioned during
the event while the Dream Team was in South Africa
producing work on the ground.
An editorial team guided the journalists in what
they produced and ensured the work was of suffi-
cient standard to be offered to the market. Fea-
tures that were produced were published in news-
papers and websites around Africa and were sold
directly by Africa Media Online’s special project
TOP: Nigerian photographer, Andrew Esiebo, capturing
sound on a playing field in a Lusaka township as part
of a multimedia production. Andrew and other photo-
graphers learnt skills in the production of multimedia
feature stories. © David Larsen/Africa Media Online.
BOTTOM: Photographers from six different African
countries participating in the Ghana workshop together
197 >
website, as well as being distributed to Africa Me-
dia Online’s network of agents around the world.
The content was also used to produce a book, Afri-
ca United, and a travelling exhibition Twenty Ten on
the Road.
Most aspects of the project worked well and in
spite of the usual attrition of journalists who for
one reason or another did not continue with the
process, we certainly saw significant progress in
skills development in a number of journalists, par-
ticularly in the Dream Team. Perhaps the most dis-
appointing aspect of the project was the sales of
with trainers Greg Marinovich (South Africa) and Chris
De Bode (Netherlands). © David Larsen/Twenty Ten.
RIGHT: Danesius Marteh from Liberia captures sounds
of Lagos traffic as part of a production of a radio story
during a Twenty Ten workshop held at the Nigerian
Institute of Journalism in Lagos. © David Larsen/Africa
Media Online.
EDUCATION
198 >
the content. Africa Media Online was driving that
aspect and in spite of significant effort and distri-
bution networks that reached around the globe,
sales of the content were minimal. There were a
number of reasons for this including the glut of
free content that was available to editors at the
time. The fundamental issue, however, was that the
Twenty Ten project produced feature stories – pho-
to, radio, text- and multimedia features. The markets
for features have changed radically in the past few
years and there are now very few places, locally and
internationally, that features can be placed.
With the markets absent there could be no ongoing
production of this kind of content after the project
had run its course which was certainly a desired out-
come of the project. We at Africa Media Online had
Twenty Ten workshop in Ghana. World Press Photo's
Friederiek Biemans discusses a photo story with
South African participant photographer Alexia
Webster. © David Larsen/Twenty Ten.
hoped Twenty Ten would become the kick-start for a
continent-wide features agency that could continue
to tell Africa’s story from an African perspective.
While market realities did not allow this to happen,
there is perhaps a silver lining to this cloud. What the
inability to create a sustainable market for this mate-
rial had done was to bring into sharp focus the in-
creasing reality of the new markets where the pro-
ducers of content are able to interact directly with
the consumers. The mass media mediators in the
middle are being cut out and it is the age of the per-
sonal market. For us at Africa Media Online the Twen-
ty Ten project has pinpointed the need, not just to
equip professional journalists with hard skills in media
production, but also in entrepreneurial skills and an
understanding of markets and ways to access them.
Workshop in Accra, Ghana training African photo-
graphers and text journalists. South African Twenty Ten
photographer, Davina Jogi (centre far side) gets a
different perspective to the local press. Participants
in the project were taught how to create in-depth photo
stories, and not simply capture the obvious. © David
Larsen/Africa Media Online.

To this end the final element of the Twenty Ten
project comes into its own. Africa Media Online is
pulling together a team of international experts to
write an online resource that will be freely available
to photographers all over the continent. Known as
the African Media Entrepreneur Programme
(AMEP) the resource will seek to give photogra-
phers an understanding of the markets for their
work, how to place themselves in those markets,
how to access them and how to deliver quality
products that meet the markets’ needs. We are ex-
pecting that the online resource will operate as the
basis for online mentoring and the running of phys-
ical courses.
Nigerian photographers Adolphus Opara (centre)
and Andrew Esiebo (right) hone in on a Ghanaian
cheerleader at a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying
match between Ghana and Sudan. Ghana won the
match and was the first African team to qualify for
the World Cup. © David Larsen/Africa Media Online.
199 >
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Larsen is managing director of Africa Media
Online. A journalist and photographer by trade,
David graduated from UCT with a BA in social an-
thropology and environmental and geographical
sciences, and also graduated with a DipCS and MCS
from Regent College, Canada. He founded Africa
Media Online in 2000.
David's passion, to see Africans telling Africa's story
to African and global audiences has led him to de-
velop systems for the effective delivery of media
content, develop training that ensures African me-
dia and museum professionals are keeping up with
global trends and standards, and develop markets
for Africa's story. <
Dutch trainer Chris De Bode (centre) and South
African trainer Greg Marinovich (right) discussing a
shoot done by Ethiopian photographer Michael
Tsegaye. The workshops held in six countries
around Africa were focused on the production of
features that had the potential to be sold to
publications and broadcasters. © David Larsen/
Africa Media Online.
EDUCATION
200 >

By Suné Stassen
 201 >

Karen Suskin is a true change agent. Her home 12 years ago. She achieved this with
commitment and passion for design educa- the help of husband Anthony, family and a
tion and her exhaustive search for new and small local workforce.
more integrated ways of doing design have
lead to the development of a creative and Karen explains that Cross-Pollination ad-
innovative teaching practice. A practice dresses change within and outside the de-
shared in Cross-Pollination. “The Cross-Pol- sign studio. Its teaching methods are
lination workshops explore the role of de- aligned with David Sogge who said: “learn-
signer as mediator between culture and na- ing has to move to the heart of practice.”
ture and endeavour to understand nature as
a powerful source to stimulate an organic
type of thinking that is fluid and flexible. A
thinking which enlivens the ability to per-
ceive connections between things – the con-
nection to us, others and that of the envi-
ronment,” she explains.

As an interdisciplinary designer, educator,

multimedia artist, Karen can be found ex-
hibiting her art work at major venues one
day, and on another day mentoring and mo-
tivating aspiring designers to change their
manmade world into one that is more inclu-
sive, collaborative and sustainable.

“Designers, like all citizens, are required to

become agents of change,” she says. But in
most formal institutions “personal develop-
ment is not given the attention it deserves
and this is a critical component of the work
that I do. Cross-Pollination confronts pre-
vailing conventions and urges participants
to find more authentic and integrated ways
in which to arrive at the outcome” explains
Karen.
She has always followed a sustainable path,
long before the rest of us became aware of
the necessity for it. One of her largest crea-
tions was the construction of her straw-bale
So what exactly is Cross-Pollination all
about? “The shift we are experiencing in
design is a response to a complex mix of
some of the negative features of modern
life like over-consumption, depleted natural
resources, alienation from nature and anti-
social behaviour. A manifestation of this
shift is the radical changes taking place in
nature herself – we are being rocked out of
our complacency by global climate change
and ecological catastrophe.

EDUCATION
202 >

The problems we face have been caused in
large measure by the disconnected way in
which we think about, do and relate to the
world. We can no longer afford to view life
through the familiar lens of materialism
alone, but must evolve to a way of thinking
that recognises nature as our teacher. We
must expand our field of vision to encom-
pass the living world as our university. By
returning to nature's genius, we may find
that we can craft interconnected and intel-
ligent design solutions, which benefit both
people and nature” says Karen.
Karen explains that the Cross-Pollination se-
ries of workshops that she presents is really
a response to the above and an invitation to
all who want to explore and develop new
ways of thinking, learning and doing design
in a more connected and intelligent way.
“The challenge is to make space for the
emergence of new insights through devel-
oping our self-knowledge and consequently
expanding and enhancing our engagement
with the world which we inhabit.”
So who exactly is the Cross-Pollination
audience? Cross-Pollination creates a forum
for design educators interested in exploring
better practice to come together to develop
their personal skills as well as a sense of
camaraderie within their field of expertise.
The workshop series is relevant to all design
educators committed to self-study and
building future capacity. “Support is given
for developing new learning systems,
developing partnerships and future networks
in the form of cross-institutional collaboration,
envisioning and re-structuring of a depart-
ment, or developing an institutional working
203 >
group. The other area that Cross-Pollination
focuses on is the emergent design student”
says Karen.
The student programme helps designers un-
derstand that the primary function of de-
sign is not perfecting form. This definition is
far too narrow and completely ignores de-
sign’s vital connection with cultural life and
nature, hence the title of the workshops.
Karen says that design education cannot be
excluded from this mismanagement and
material manipulation. She continues:
“there is enough evidence that we are doing
something wrong. Cross-Pollination creates
a forum in which to learn individually and
collectively, and where the principles of self-
organisation and transformation are ex-
plored.”
Cross-Pollination is part of the Cape Penin-
sula University of Technology’s design pro-
gramme and is presently being offered to
all design institutions across disciplines na-
tionwide. Karen, Haldane Martin, an indus-
trial designer, process art and social facilita-
tor Helen van Zyl and two social development
practitioners Alan Kaplan and Sue Davidoff,
facilitate a week-long residential process.
This takes place bi-annually in a wilderness
area outside Cape Town where students and
professional designers from diverse disci-
plines participate in an extended creative
process, inspired by close observation of na-
ture.
So why is it so important for designers to
become agents of change? The current
ecological crisis and the social dilemma we
are facing call for a different type of action.
EDUCATION
204 >
“Through ecological catastrophe it is clear
that our existing world is unsustainable and
that nature is nudging us towards some sort of
shift which could be that of inner responsibility
and outer sustainability,” says Karen.
“Humanity is crossing a major threshold.
The boundaries that surrounded conscious-
ness centuries ago are no longer fixed, and
it is not only the physical world which im-
plies reality. Instead of sending voyagers to
discover unknown continents, the explora-
tion of inner frontiers is taking place” (Lieve-
goed, 1985:223). According to Karen, this
less travelled and rather uncertain path
summons us as designers to become agents
of change.
It’s moving from an intellectual, convention-
al materialistic outlook that views the hu-
man being as ‘ego system’ to an outlook
that views the human being as ‘ecosystem’
which includes man and nature as mutually
interdependent. “Only then do I believe will
we find a more life-engendering way of do-
ing design in the future.”
How do we do this? This is achievable
through establishing different methods of
teaching. Designers must engage in a learn-
ing journey, which enables them to gain a
grasp on the complexities and the relations
between man and nature and all the deli-
cate nuances between. “It’s a new way of
developing a ‘living thinking’ approach
which is as flexible, agile and adaptable as
Nature herself. This entails accurately and
sensitively ‘reading‘ or observing the con-
necting patterns that make up the dynamics
of life,” says Karen.
In rising to the challenge of change, Karen
says that “design education must address its
present traditional definition of knowledge
and ask: How do we shift educational sys-
tems from traditional knowledge and the
known to being in the knowing and liberate
design from its own ingrained patterns and
entrenched habits? Furthermore, in accept-
ing the less recognised modes of perception
such as intuition, inspiration and imagina-
tion, I believe the design process will unfold in
more organic, conscious and connected ways.”
“Once the designers are equipped with this
knowledge and understanding, it should be-
come second nature for them to develop
their own experiential pathways and align
their personal potential and ability to har-
ness creativity with purpose-filled intention
and innovation.”
As William Blake so beautifully said: “To see
a world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a
wild flower…” suggests the unity of micro-
and macrocosm and establishes the possibil-
ity for designers to experience the world as
an interconnected whole. Our modern way
of living and modes of gathering knowledge
has numbed our ability to mobilise our
thoughts. We need to learn again how to un-
derstand the fine relationships between
things and find new methods to partner
them so that we can create a true overview
of the needs of the world. “Only now we can
truly move towards a human agency that
can positively contribute to meaningful
change,” explains Karen.
“The lawfulness we experience in nature is
a golden thread that runs through the
 205 >

EDUCATION
206 >

Cross-Pollination programme and guides
understanding towards our own individual
purpose and that of humanity. I believe this
is the way to empower designers in leading
design to the heart of a sustainable future.”
The intention of Cross-Pollination is that
each designer finds the courage with which
to cross self-imposed boundaries and dis-
cover a living balance between their holistic
mode of thinking – which includes imagina-
tion, intuition and inspiration and acknowl-
edge these faculties as trusted modes of
cognition – alongside the complementary
analytic and rational mode of thinking. “This
way we can reground our knowing through
lived experience, enabling us to find new
ways of being in the world in the future.
““Now the design process becomes more
conscious and our actions all the more re-
sponsible,” explains Karen.
She says that the six modules included in
the workshops are “sensitively designed to
embrace change and redirect attention
from the object or end product to the proc-
ess, the journey. The designer is cautioned
not to try and fix the design result prema-
turely with a solution, but rather understand
207 >
to their best ability the experiential nature
of each process and create space for a deep
emersion into each project.”
Although the studio space is informal and
the workshops broadly experiential, the
course is highly structured and disciplined.
The creative process will stimulate both per-
sonal and collective dialogue around new
ways of thinking that is in tune with issues
such as social revitalisation, ecological sen-
sitivity and new economical development.
And the difference between the Cross-
Pollination methodology and that of
biomimicry? Karen concludes: “I see Cross-
Pollination as a universal approach to design
that doesn’t only consider the technical
aspects of design challenges, but also the
transformation of the designer and his/her
relationship to society and the environment.
Cross-Pollination shares the values and life
principles subscribed to by biomimicry, and
both are inspired by a vision of a just and
sustainable world. Cross-Pollination is an
integrated approach to design that strives
to avoid creating the problems that require
technical solutions.” <
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
208 >

TOP: Mixed Couple – we see a young

Khoikhoi and Dutch woman holding hands,
except that both are dressed in a hybrid
costume that draws on both Khoikhoin and
Dutch costume history.

TOP CENTRE: Hand on boob.

TOP RIGHT: Threesome – the Sketch

Assembly have set up a composition that
sees a young Dutch couple and a young
Khoikhoin relaxing together around a table.

RIGHT: Hand up Skirt.


SKETCH
ASSEMBLY:
THE MERRY COMPANY
AN EXERCISE IN
COLLABORATIVE
SKETCHING
By Melissa Haiden. At the beginning of
2010 Andrew Putter began his fellowship at
the Gordon Institute for Performing and
Creative Arts (GIPCA) at the University of
Cape Town (UCT). The Sketch Assembly
project subtitled The Merry Company, was
born out of his desire to set up a project
that would straddle his interest in arts edu-
cation, interdisciplinary collaboration and
histories of interracial contact in the Cape.
As his collaborators, Putter selected a group
of 30 young creatives working in the fields
209 >
of photography, communication design, in-
dustrial design, fine art, clothing design,
production design and architecture. The en-
tire project, which spanned four months,
culminated in an exhibition held in the
Michealis Gallery at UCT’s Hiddingh Campus.
Opening on 19 October 2010, the small gal-
lery space was packed to capacity. The
hordes of art aficionados who came expect-
ing to see a typically pristine Putter-style
exhibition would have benefitted from re-
ceiving the brief that the Sketch Assembly
was a visually-based educational project,
not a body of new commercial artworks.
The previous two movements in Putter’s
Hottentots Holland cycle took the form of
sumptuously staged, pristinely styled pho-
tographs inspired by the merging of the lo-
cal contemporary and the local historical.
Sketch Assembly can be seen as the third in-
stallation, and although the outcome was
more a display of the process work rather
than the final products, it clearly communi-
cated what goes on behind the scenes of a
photographic shoot.
EDUCATION
210 >
REMEMBERING OUR
VISUAL DIARIES
Displaying the origins of one’s work is not a
new idea. Anyone who has taken art or de-
sign at school or varsity will be all too famil-
iar with the stipulated visual diary – the
hours of frilly decoration we poured into
that little book in order to bump up our ac-
cumulative assessment mark. Ultimately,
however, the outcome was pretty but con-
trived.
Sketch Assembly served as the sort of visual
diary our educators could only have dreamt
of. The exhibition made public what is usu-
ally the intimate and hidden creative proc-
ess behind an artwork. The underbelly of
creative processes is comprised of diver-
sions, seeming mistakes or small moments
of ‘fluke-ish’ cohesion.
Snuffling amongst the spidering clusters of
sketches and meticulously documented test
shoots taped to the walls, the guests famil-
iar with Putter’s previous works would not
find the product they had come for. The
modest size of the ostensible final products
drew attention away from their identity as
the ‘end-product’, thus amplifying the proc-
ess as the creative work itself. We are being
educated to move away from the old fash-
ioned idea of the emphasis being placed
solely on the finished product. Some people
just didn’t seem to get it. I overheard a guest
telling Putter that she hoped he would fin-
ish the project.
BACK IN TIME – A VIRTUAL
VISIT TO THE WORK SPACE
Working on this project was something
unique and I still recall walking up the
elegant Hiddingh Hall staircase. To your left
was the Sketch Assembly workroom. The
small space was a bustling hub of action.
The collaborators were working away,
slightly under the influence of iTunes,
coffee, rusks and apples. At the time the
walls where covered in progress works;
duplications of source material, preparatory
sketches and photographs from test shoots.
The tables seemed to be an organised chaos
of concertinaed hessian ruffs. Sitting at the
table was a designer piecing together lutes
and Dutch mustjes made from cardboard
cut-outs.
Handmade wigs, painstakingly twisted and
rubbed into dreads from nylon weaves
perched upon polystyrene heads. On the
shelves and windowsills were pots of clay
and mud makeup. On the mantelpiece of
the fireplace were clusters of carefully se-
lected costume jewellery from the UCT’s
Drama Department and other interesting
pieces crafted from baby tortoise shells.”
Then there was Putter’s impressive library
of source material, which he constantly en-
courages the collaborators to consult. Just
off the workroom was the vaulted ceilinged
Hiddingh Hall, which serves as the airy set-
painting and construction studio. Eventually,
when Putter approved the compatibility of
every element, this grand, naturally lit space
was the location of the photographic shoot.
THE WORKS IN PROGRESS AS
PRIMARY FOCUS
Most conventional commercial creations
conceal their origins – they are presented as
products without presenting its history, a
 211 >

TOP LEFT: Work in progress for Mixed couple shoot.

LEFT: One Small Seed magazine cover shoot.
TOP RIGHT: Painters at work.
ABOVE LEFT: Make-up in progress.
ABOVE: RIGHT: One Small Seed magazine cover shoot.

EDUCATION
212 >

RIGHT: Threesome test shoot.

BOTTOM LEFT: Some of the
Sketch Assembly members.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Threesome test collage.

process that has been demolished long be-
fore the final presentation. It’s like when we
see a sculpture on a plinth in an auction
house; the traces of the generative process
such as the working and pre-photographs,
sketches, dirty rags and redrafting have
long-been thrown away or hoarded back
into the artist’s workbox.
The opposite was true for Sketch Assembly.
The Sketch Assembly exhibition was a meta-
phorical workbox. Those who attended the
exhibition could not have missed the con-
versations set up by the intricate physical
documentation of discoveries, diversions
and dead ends. These preparatory tests and
sketches were arguably presented as crea-
tive works in their own right.
THE SUBJECT MATTER AS
SECONDARY FOCUS
The work featured in Sketch Assembly was
strictly based on the hybridisation of two
bodies of source material. The project was
geared towards the self-conscious imitation
of the first body of source: four Dutch ‘merry
company’ prints (popular art in Dutch house-
holds of the 1600s). The second body of source
material consisted of the rare drawings of
the Khoikhoi and San living at the time.
The new images were to be a mischievous
re-imagining of the early interaction be-
tween indigenous Khoikhoi and the Dutch
youth of the Dutch East Indian Company in
the 1600s. The structure of the Dutch Merry
Company images would be translated into
the contemporary format of digital photog-
raphy depicting models of European ethnic-
ity carousing with models of mixed ethnici-
ty. The Khoikhoi and San subjects and
elements would be integrated into the
213 >
Dutch scenes of high society to create hy-
bridisations of the original culturally distinc-
tive and segregated source material. One
clear stipulation was that all the costumes,
props and scenery had to be drawn from the
original bodies of source.
THE COLLABORATIVE ASPECT
Collaboration always connects the partici-
pants and their shared workplace, letting
them explore multiple possibilities through
sharing of ideas and dilemmas they face
along the way through a wider pool of refer-
ences and experience. The collaborators
were constantly showing their work to each
other and testing out the compatibility and
thus they concretised the development of
abstract concepts and thoughts. It was a
valuable experience to have creatives from
so many different disciplines, collaborating
in one space. Experimentation was key and
collaborators were encouraged to work out-
side their comfort zone and field of exper-
tise, sharing their valuable experiences and
skills with the rest of the group.
Joint ownership is always an issue with col-
laborative work, which presents its own
problematic financial implications. In this
case the collaborators were not affected
since Putter ensured that the project was
not geared toward commercial ends. The
fact that Sketch Assembly was not a com-
mercial project was also liberating and in a
way alleviated the pressure of having to
please the audience who were familiar with
Putter’s previous work.
EDUCATION
214 >

TOP LEFT: Hand up skirt

test shoot.
TOP RIGHT: Work in progress
for Threesome shoot.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Work in
progress.

THE EDUCATIONAL ASPECT
OF COLLABORATIVE WORK
“Education must begin with the solution of
the teacher-student contradiction, by recon-
ciling the poles of the contradiction so that
both are simultaneously students and
teachers” (Freire, 1970, p. 72).
Those with an interest in education will have
come across the influential theories of Pau-
lo Freire who challenged the teacher stu-
dent dichotomy and those in the perform-
ing arts will be aware of the collaborative
projects that were facilitated by Augusto
Boal who tested out Freire’s theories. Freire
disagreed with the teacher-student dichot-
omy. This ‘feeder-eater’ relationship has
been spatted and theorised over in the pa-
pers of many philosophers and theorists in-
cluding Rousseau and Dewey. However
Freire’s approach was the most dramatic as
he maintained that the authoritative role of
the teacher should be completely abolished
and replaced by a teacher-student relation-
ship based on the teacher having the same
capacity to learn, as the student has to
teach. The reciprocal relationship between
Putter (as the facilitator) and the 30 collabo-
rators was the backbone of the educational
vein of the Sketch Assembly project.
THE PERFORMATIVE ASPECT
The project’s arguable status as perform-
ance art is another aspect for consideration.
As viewers we somewhat follow a generic
pattern of perception and appreciation. We
perceive the material object, then we evalu-
ate it according to the quality of the experi-
ence we have through engaging with it
(sometimes requiring familiarity with writ-
ten theory). We are interested in how the
physical properties came about, wanting to
215 >
identify the actions of its maker. In other
words we ask ‘What did the creator physi-
cally do to make this happen?’ Sketch Assem-
bly displayed the work (noun) and the work
(adj.).
The focus of appreciation of any creative
performance cannot adequately be articu-
lated in an exhibition of the residue of its
creative process (i.e. photographs, sketches,
etc.) let alone in a magazine article. The best
way would be to let in an unobtrusive audi-
ence during production. The work (verb) of
the collaborators was elemental to the ap-
preciation of Sketch Assembly, so only by ac-
tually witnessing the creators at work, could
the creations be exhibited with utmost in-
tegrity. Ultimately Sketch Assembly articu-
lated that artworks are actually just the ve-
hicles through which creatives articulate a
particular creative statement in carrying out
a performance. The performance (the act of
generation) is the creation. Or less radically,
any creation’s origins are an integral part of
an artwork or appreciation thereof.
The allure of the work was clearly the out-
come of pooled creativity. The project dis-
played the wry humour, discipline, and integ-
rity of the facilitator and the collaborators
and ultimately succeeding in the actualisa-
tion of reams of theoretical writings on crea-
tive process and collaborative education and
execution.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Haiden studied Theatre and Perform-
ance at the University of Cape Town. She is
currently a member of the Siyasanga Theatre
Company at Artscape on the foreshore. <
© All photographs by Paul Ward.
EDUCATION
216 >

Water Jar, Yangshao culture, Neolithic period ca. 5000 - 3000 B.C.

DESIGN
FOR YET
ANOTHER
AGE
By Angelique Kendall. Ceramics is one of
the oldest applied arts disciplines going
back more than 30 000 years, sometime dur-
ing the last Ice Age. During this time people
learnt to fashion objects out of mud and fire
them at high temperatures as a means of
making them more durable. Besides func-
tional ceramics made and used for practical
purposes such as the storage of food, statu-
ettes and figurines of both animals and hu-
mans were also fashioned for ritualistic and
spiritual purposes. By studying the remains
of ceramic shards and intact objects, archae-
ologists have uncovered a spectacularly vast
trove of treasures that tell the story of hu-
man history and the development of civilisa-
tion.
In ancient Mesopotamia one of the earliest
forms of writing – the cuneiform – was in-
scribed upon hundreds of thousands of clay
tablets, documenting the daily lives, eco-
nomic transactions, literature and spiritual
beliefs of the highly advanced Sumerian
217 >
civilisation. The Sumerians are also credited
with perfecting the potter’s wheel and mak-
ing clay bricks, which were used to build
temples and cities.
William Morris, the British artist and writer
who lived in the 18th century, did much to
rekindle interest in the ceramic manufactur-
ing industry. This was the time of the Indus-
trial Revolution, where machines and facto-
ries began mass-producing utility objects
for sale to consumers. Finding much of the
products made in this manner to be dull and
devoid of ‘life’, Morris instigated the Arts
and Craft Movement. Thanks to this move-
ment, we now have designers employed in
manufacturing companies, bringing their
keen artistic eye to visually enhancing prod-
ucts and making them more desirable as
worthy and cherished objects. No doubt
marketers also soon realised the impor-
tance that aesthetic appreciation holds for
consumers.
CLAY AND ITS CONNECTION
TO AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY
Clay also features in certain creation myths
from around the world, including tribes in
Africa. Myth has it that Wongengi, the crea-
tor goddess of the Ijaw people of Nigeria
fashioned dolls from clay and breathed life
into them to create humans, while the chief
god of the Congo’s Bambini people created
people from clay; black clay made black peo-
ple, white clay made whites, and red clay
made the pygmies. A little closer to home,
EDUCATION
218 >
Kgobeane, the son of the high god Kgobe in
the Northern Sotho tradition, sat like a pot-
ter making a vessel, fashioning humans out
of clay.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
AND USES
It is very easy to understand the allure of
clay. In its wet form, clay is a highly pliable
medium that yields willingly under the di-
rection of the creator who manipulates it.
And yet, once it is fired, clay becomes one of
the toughest and most durable materials.
Ceramics has one of the highest melting
temperatures of all materials on earth and
has therefore been used for millennia in di-
verse and innovative ways in art, industry
and science. Today, for instance, it is used to
coat heaters, in exhaust engine compo-
nents, in computer chips and even as a buff-
er and protective layer on space rockets and
trans-terrestrial shuttles.
Of course we are most familiar with the ce-
ramics used as tiles in our homes and the
crockery that holds our drinks and meals.
These can be visually diverse, from the most
basic industrial mass-produced functional
ware used by catering companies and the
like, to quirky and artistic handmade pieces
which speak to the senses and create senti-
mental attachment.
Aesthetic values are important for people at
some innate and intrinsic level, and most
people like to surround themselves with
beautiful things, whether those things are
functional or not. As people’s tastes are so
diverse there is really no limit to the variety
of styles that can be designed.
CERAMICS AS A CAREER
Ceramics offers a diversity of career options.
As it is a process-driven industry, there are
many areas in which to specialise, be it scien-
tific experimentation involving glaze technol-
ogy, or the manufacturing of moulds used in
fabrication. Some are excited by the gather-
ing of and dealing in raw materials, while oth-
ers find the complexities of kiln building and
firing a professional attraction. Still others
may see themselves as a studio potter,
throwing on the wheel and hand building;
whilst others may be more influenced by
contemporary art and decide to use the me-
dium for process work and in concept-driven
artworks.
One thing is for sure: a certain level of tech-
nical skill is required in order to achieve re-
sults. Not only does that mean that those
trained in this discipline possess sought-af-
ter skills, but also that there is the opportu-
nity to continually develop further skills and
technological advancement, which equates
to a high level of job satisfaction and per-
sonal achievement.
Working in ceramic factories, one could ex-
pect the thrill of operating large machinery
and kilns, or work as a designer, exploring
new forms, shapes, colour and pattern
 219 >

TOP LEFT & BOTTOM RIGHT:

A beautiful example of a celadon glaze. Image from The Art
and Craft of Clay – A complete Potters handbook, 4th edition
by Susan and Jan Peterson.

TOP RIGHT: Artist Luo Xiao-Pin with his artwork Times

Square Talks. Image from The Art and Craft of Clay – A
complete Potters handbook, 4th edition by Susan and Jan
Peterson.

BOTTOM LEFT: Some functional ceramics. Image from The

Art and Craft of Clay – A complete Potters handbook, 4th
edition by Susan and Jan Peterson.

EDUCATION
220 >

TOP LEFT: Chinese Longquan Celadon from Zhejiang, Song

Dynasty, 13th century, Musée Guimet in Paris.

TOP RIGHT: Japan's Living National Treasure, Shoji Hamada.

ABOVE: Works by Emily Myers. Image from The Art and Craft of
Clay – A complete Potters handbook, 4th edition by Susan and
Jan Peterson.

RIGHT: Ceramics used in space vehicle. Image from The Art and
Craft of Clay – A complete Potters handbook, 4th edition by
Susan and Jan Peterson.

configurations to pass on to the ground
crew who produces new commercial prod-
ucts.
As a studio potter you would be more self-
directed, working on your own or in a com-
munal studio where you would be involved
in all areas of clay, from its wet form, all the
way to its final glaze firing. Some potters
find it a thrill to gather their own clay and
glaze materials straight from Nature, work-
ing close to the land, whilst for others de-
pend on pottery suppliers who provide the
clay and raw materials needed via retail
sources. Working in retail as a ceramics sup-
plier is also a rewarding career option for
anyone interested in and knowledgeable
about the clay and pigment industry.
... AND OTHER AVENUES
Not everyone may make a full-time career
out of clay. Some may enjoy it as a part-time
hobby/leisure activity, or decide to teach
techniques in workshops or schools. Ceram-
ic classes could take on the form of art ther-
apy – some people will vouch for the calm-
ing qualities of clay. For instance, the
Japanese have for centuries used ceramic-
making as a revered technique for medita-
tion and they love the medium so much that
they even declared one of their best potters,
Shoji Hamada, a living national treasure.
221 >
Ceramics is exciting and challenging as an
art medium too, as it comprises the three-
dimensional sculptural form as well as a
two-dimensional painterly surface. It is pos-
sible to make some exceptionally innova-
tive, conceptual and aesthetic artworks with
clay.
Designers are equally excited by ceramics
for the same reasons, even if they conceptu-
alise functional mass-produced ware. It
would be very exciting to see some new,
fresh ideas for ceramics touching different
spheres of life in future, opening up the
possibilities of what can still be done.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angelique Kendall is a visual artist who lives
in Cape Town. She has some experience in
both making and writing about ceramics as
an art discipline. <
EDUCATION
222 >

As in any successful collaboration, re-

By Suné Stassen
GROWING YOUNG TALENT
fined teamwork and communication skills
are known to be critically important, not
just for effectively communicating one’s
ideas, but also for building honest and trust-
worthy relationships and mutual respect
amongst all participants. It’s also about
sharing great ideas and allowing someone
else to make them even better. In a world of
innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship,
working together as a unit is vital if you
are striving for success.

Every year when the Woolworths Making

the Difference Through Design (MTDTD) pro-
gramme introduces its annual high school
design competition, an energetic buzz
emerges amongst the participating schools
and everyone starts checking their compe-
tition, betting that this year their team will
be the best of the best. Well, 2010 was no
different and while South Africa was already
celebrating the FIFA World Cup, nothing
could stand in the way of the national win-
ners of MTDTD.

Freedom Fighters, as this creative team

from Zwartkops High School in Centurion
likes to call themselves, were over the moon
twice when they took top honours in the
MTDTD national high school design compe-
tition. Introducing ORIGAMI, their new cloth-
ing brand, they have not only designed a new
clothing range, but also its brand identity
and marketing campaign, which included
two commercials for radio and TV. Another
striking component was a photo shoot
showcasing the clothing range, which was
smartly presented in a magazine format.

Their integrated business, identity and
marketing strategy impressed the MTDTD
judges enough to comment that the
team members, Bianca de Beer (17),
Lanthe Louw (17), Mareli Jooste (18)
and Bianca Boshoff (18) “showed ma-
turity, professionalism and creativity
beyond their years”.
223 >
For the Freedom Fighters teamwork
was the essence of their success and
they had regular status meetings dur-
ing which they discussed all aspects of
their campaign: “The meetings were
very important to us because that is
where we brainstormed and shared
ideas.”
EDUCATION
224 >
 225 >

“I have found that one person may have a

great idea but, it takes objective opinions,
planning and uniqueness from everyone to
grow it into a practical, yet creative idea.
One person cannot carry all the innovative
responsibility alone,” says Bianca de Beer.

The team explains that the main task given

to them was to come up with a realistic and
practical design idea and expand it into an
entire campaign. It could either be an event,
awareness campaign or new product. “The
brief contained a lot of fine print which had
to be read carefully – our first reaction: This is
going to be hard work...Okay, let’s do it!”

For them it was easy to get going because

“we all agreed on fashion as the main focus
and after splashing out wild ideas during the
initial brainstorming session, the idea of the
‘Freedom Fighters’, a fashion design com-
pany, was born. We started with loads of
inspiration and passion and new concepts
kept pouring in from everybody. We then
spent an additional day on planning the dy-
namics of the project.”

Once the company’s name was finalised,

the next step was to develop a concept for its
launch range. The team explains: “Origami is
the name of Freedom Fighters’ first clothing
range and the style is simple, calm and nat-
ural. Origami is symbolically connected to
the Japanese paper folding art’s principles
of simplicity and calmness. We also decided
that the overarching consideration of the
Freedom Fighters’ campaign should focus
on a strict environmentally friendly policy,
which is represented by the paper-shaped
origami crane logo. The crane is also a well

EDUCATION
226 >

known symbol of freedom and for us rep-
resents what the company stands for.”
Freedom Fighters followed a pretty impres-
sive and structured design process, starting
with extensive brainstorming that included
a lot of sketches and ideas doodled on pa-
per, careful planning and setting deadlines,
assigning responsibilities, experimenting
with colour, fonts, photos, fabrics and many
ideas. They then made comparisons and
eventually chose the best concept, collect-
ed and bought fabrics to construct the first
garment. They then developed storyboards
for the television and radio commercials
and the layout of a magazine. Finally they
went through an evaluation process that
included individual and team reflections on
the final outcome.
“We believe that we had a good balance be-
tween planning and creating. We also had
open and honest communication through-
out the process. Every team member had a
chance to share her ideas and feelings and
nobody’s opinion was nullified.” For them,
communication skills were vital and the
group quickly realised the importance of re-
flecting and sharing crucial information: “We
also had confidence in each other’s design
skills and creative abilities.”
Yet, everything didn’t go as they had originally
planned, but that’s always part of the real
world design process.
Bianca de Beer who was responsible for
the magazine explains: “We looked at the
six anchor campaign components – logo,
merchandise, prototype, TV ad, radio ad and
print media – and how to incorporate those
227 >
into a magazine format. I spent hours paging
through inspiring magazines to get a good
grip on the look and feel of a professional
layout. For the catalogue, which was our
main focus in the magazine, I experimented
with different solutions and developed op-
tions to share with the group. They then
gave me feedback and the final solution
was a real group effort. The idea for the
catalogue was to give it a relaxed yet pro-
fessional tone. I then focussed on the main
look en feel of the clothing range and used
it as a guide for most of the final solutions.
For Biance Boshoff editing home videos in
the past gave her some experience in filming
the TV commercial but she had to learn a lot
more on the job. “The outcome was based
on a series of experiments that came out well.
Some of the shots that I originally imagined
didn’t work out so well because we didn’t
have professional cameras or lighting.”
She continues: “We listened to a lot of music
for inspiration. It was very important to have
the right audio for the video because we didn’t
have any dialogue and the music would set
the emotional stage for our commercial. I
wrote and visualised the type of scenes we
would use and roughly sketched it. Luckily my
mind works like a movie so the angles and cuts
came easily. I wanted to create a big contrast
between being a prisoner and having freedom.
We used the city, taxi rank and parking lots in
the first part and a wide-open field in the sec-
ond. We used two days for the shoot and a
friend as our actress. Editing took a long time
and I still think I could work on it more. We
were very privileged to have a musician friend
who composed the audio for the video.”
EDUCATION
228 >
And the shoot? “We all had a hand in choosing
the wardrobe for that exciting day but the
weather was a challenge. On the day of the
photo shoot it was cloudy and we were a bit
disappointed. At the end it was the clouds
that added a stunning and dramatic backdrop,
a unique effect that was really perfect!
Shooting the taxi scene while it was raining
was not ideal but eventually added a per-
fect droopy and sombre feel that was a good
fit for our storyline,” says Bianca Boshoff.
Being in matric brought on a different set
of stresses for Mareli and Bianca Boshoff as
studying for their final exams could certainly
not be ignored and late night emailing to
check on progress and little sleep were the
order of every day. Yet, that is part and parcel
of what careers in the creative industries
require.
Bianca Boshoff hopes to follow a career in
design while Mareli wants to study dramatic
 229 >

arts and be an actress. For now, Lanthe has

her sights set on coaching trampoline over-
seas and Bianca de Beer who is in Grade 11,
is considering becoming an architect.

One thing is certain; these girls have cer-

tainly set the bar very high! <

EDUCATION
230 >

RECOMMENDED
READING
DESIGN>MAGAZINE No. 18

World Architecture Festival honours

the best of the best by Jacques Lange

For three days in early November the world’s

architecture aficionados waited in suspense
as the World Architecture Festival (WAF) un-
hurriedly announced the 25 category winners
of its 2010 awards. As in the past two years
since the WAF awards’ inception, the competi-
tion was fierce and the panel of 66 jurors
– comprised of architects, allied professionals,
clients and critics – had the grueling task of
selecting the best of the best from 512 en-
tries and 236 short-listed finalists. READ
MORE HERE >

In conversation with Elmo Swart by

Jennie Fourie

What you see is not what you get. South Afri-

can architect, Elmo Swart, with his quick
smile and easy, engaging manner is much
more than just surface. Spending time with
Swart propels you on an amazing journey of
deep insights, startling views and offers a
fresh take on architecture – and on his other
great love, photography – that keeps you
thinking, mulling, digesting and disseminating
for days afterwards. READ MORE HERE >
 231 >

The deep image by Richard Stone

3-D is here. Better believe it. And if you’re

a designer, now would be a really good time
to start developing an understanding of the
new opportunities made possible by recent
developments in visual media. Of the sens-
es we possess, sight accounts for the bulk
of the stimulus we absorb from the three-
dimensional world. READ MORE HERE >

Brian Steinhobel: Smart industrial

design by Stacey Rowan

Brian Steinhobel is one of Africa’s most pre-

eminent industrial designers of our time.
The element of smart design is crucial to what
Steinhobel delivers as it improves both func-
tional and aesthetic appeal of products.
READ MORE HERE >

DESIGN>MAGAZINE No. 17

Harry Pearce's schizophrenic road by

Zelda Harrison

Harry Pearce is a man that prompts, pokes and

provokes. His work touches many disciplines,
from spatial design and identity to print and
packaging. He has designed for a broad range
of clients and to each he brought his own
brand of intelligence, elegance and wit. READ
MORE HERE >

EDUCATION
232 >

Design, a viable tool for social

innovation? An interview with
William Drenttel by Zelda Harrison

William Drenttel is a communication designer,

publisher and industry leader who works from
the picturesque mountains to the north of
New York City, USA. As a co-founder of Winter-
house, a niche design studio that focuses on
social innovation, online publishing and edu-
cational and cultural institutions. READ
MORE HERE >

Anton Sassenberg: "The original

design guerrilla” by Suné Stassen

Anton Sassenberg is often referred to as

being the most influential and groundbreak-
ing South African magazine designer of the
past two decades. Looking at his life’s work
that represents an impressive and colourful
diversity of publications, we can’t help but
to note his seminal contributions to the brand
repositioning and design. READ MORE
HERE >

What is a Brand worth? by Sasha

Strauss

“As an educator, I am often asked why branding

matters. As a strategic brand development
professional, whose job it is to look clinically
at brands, I often have to determine how and
why brands move us to purchase products that
are non-essential or not even well designed.”
Innovation Protocol’s Sasha Strauss discusses
seven of the many critical aspects that he con-
siders when reviewing the role of branding
in the marketplace. READ MORE HERE >
 233 >

Making sense of strategy and policy

by Jennie Fourie

Most designers from disciplines across the

board have little or no interest in design pro-
motion strategies and policies. Truth be told,
they most probably don’t spend a minute
thinking about these issues while there are
deadlines to meet, plans to be made and
projects to present. It is clear that designers
should start paying attention to regional, na-
tional and international design promotion
activities if they would like to elevate the
status of their profession on the global plat-
form. READ MORE HERE >

Rebranding: A few legal considerations

by Reggie Dlamini

At some point during the life cycle of most

organisations, there will come a time when it
is considered appropriate to change the cor-
porate identity or its flagship brands. There
are a few basic intellectual property consid-
erations which businesses would do well to
keep in mind in the rebranding process. Per-
haps a good starting point is the recognition
that trade marks or brands are a valuable
form of intellectual property. READ MORE
HERE >

EDUCATION
234 >

DESIGN>ART No. 2
Diane Victor by Gordon Froud

Diane Victor is best known for her large-scale

charcoal drawings and etchings depicting
mythical subjects and her social commentary
rooted in the South African situation but made
universal through her skilful technical abilities.
Beyond this, she is also a pioneer of alterna-
tive drawing techniques, constantly reinvent-
ing her media to the amazement of her ap-
preciative audiences. READ MORE HERE >

Deborah Bell: Notions of the self by

Jacques Lange

In the TAXI Art Book series, Deborah Bell’s

work is aptly described “as fundamentally
informed by a personal search for the ‘Self’
and she often draws on spiritual imagery from
a wide range of sources.” In an interview with
DESIGN>ART, Bell shared some insights into
her career as well as her current creative
work. READ MORE HERE >

Two hats, one head by Usha Seejarim

"The phenomenon of dual identity is explored

in my latest body of work titled Mine over
Matter. It involves a deeply personal inves-
tigation of the self and the relationship of
the self to its environment; an understand-
ing of oneself beyond the burden of labels
that we carry. It is an analysis of identity fur-
ther than culture, nationality, gender and
heritage." READ MORE HERE >
 235 >

Re-constructing my journey by Bongi

Bengu

"I have been dealing with the theme of eman-

cipation and freedom since the beginning
of my career as an artist. Not only do I talk
about the freedom to be an artist and to be
able to express one freely, but I also talk
about the freedom to use different materi-
als in my work. Over the years my artwork
has evolved in texture and depth." READ
MORE HERE >

Human gestures make us human by

Judith Mason

"Life has been, for me, a mass of contradictory

and often threatening stimuli, flashing past
at random. My attempts to catch, pin down
and identify some of these are what my work
is about. In the nature of things I don't ex-
plore those which satisfy and delight, al-
though in my old age I am tempted to recall
beloved people, gods and mountains in paint
to remind myself what a pleasure my sliver
of life has been." READ MORE HERE >

How we parcel, package & shelve by

Reshada Crouse

"So called 'creative' people often get tetchy

about being defined, boxed. Why not? I wish
to examine the use of the word 'portrait'
when referring to painting and paintings.
Just for fun." READ MORE HERE >

EDUCATION