The Design Indaba 2012

Cape Town’s Design Indaba is the biggest highlight of the year for young creatives. It gives them an opportunity to showcase their work and ideas on a national scale. It is a time where innovation and creativity take a front seat. The indaba is celebrated by thousands across the country and with the announcement of Cape Town being 2014’s World Design Capital this year’s indaba promised to be bigger and better than ever before.

As a designer I love attending the event and have been an annual attendee since 2007. One might think that each year offers the same old thing, but I will challenge that. If one takes the time to chat to each designer and look at the effort that goes into their ideas and designs, one might find that beauty can be found in the simplest of things. It also gives me an idea of what the current design trends are for the year ahead.

I was very impressed with this year’s Design Indaba. I came across some very interest concepts, and if everything wasn’t so darn expensive I would have definitely splurged on a number of items. Jewellery, product and fashion design were once again the focal elements of the Indaba. Every year I hope for more advertising, more packaging, more printed artwork but I feel that the Design Indaba falls short on these elements. I suppose selling work like that is difficult but it would be great if the Indaba showcased, for example, the best performing campaigns/advertisements in South Africa from the previous year. They will then cater to various design lovers.

I would like to share a couple of my favourite stalls and products. These designs were like none I’ve ever seen before and I applaud the effort that went into each of these concepts:

Anomali is a jewellery design label which was started by Moniek van Zyl and Marlet Strauss. I fell in love with their vintage inspired designs and the craftsmanship that went into each piece. I adored their spoon necklaces:

I really like the African inspired handcrafted elements by High Thorn:

The most innovative product I saw was most definitely the Consol Sonar Jar, it uses solar powered LED lights. Although the light isn’t very bright it creates a beautiful effect and is affordable to purchase:

The most creative stand I saw was created by a designer called Mike van Heerden. The theme of his stand is based around the "Wonder Years". Take a look at his concept (here). I absolutely loved it and spent a long time staring at his stand adoring his intricate craftsmanship:

My favourite architectural design was created by AM ArchitectsInterior. Their display was beautiful, and had a lot of African influences:

This craft piece by Art Magazine South Africa was also rather smart:

I also really loved this hand beaded packaging of the famous South African brands done by Monkey Biz:

Dstv’s indaba campaign was definitely the highlight of the event. It allowed the attendee’s to interact with characters on a huge screen. I really enjoyed taking part in this experience:

As one knows there isn't a party without alcohol, Golsch was there once again with a stunning bar area and an awesome free-bee campaign:

I was also very impressed with Cape Town Tourism’s campaign “You don’t need a holiday, you need Cape Town”:

I had a great deal of fun and I can’t wait to attend the Design Indaba again next year, who knows maybe one day I will also be able to share my design ideas on a large scale like that. I admire the opportunity events like these give to people like us. Never give up, because in the end hard work always pays off.