 |
DESIGNEWS
African Salad
Dressed in a fitting cover of Shweshwe print material, this is one salad that will never wilt - staying fresh on your bookshelf for years to come.
African Salad, subtitled "a portrait of South Africans at home" is more than just an innovative, idiosyncratic recipe book. It's pretty much a cultural map of this country that will find its way into your heart through your stomach. Hand-written recipes from 120 local families accompany astonishing photographs by Stan Engelbrecht. The book was launched at the Design Indaba Expo in February 2006 and is now available through www.africansalad.com.
cUP
Taking caffeine to the next level, Vida e Caffé recently launched a new range of designer takeout cups at the Design Indaba Expo 2006. With a range of delicious designs by some of the industry's hottest names - Rudo Botha of Rex, Peet Pienaar of Daddy Buy Me a Pony, Heather Moore of Heather&Jesse and Trevallyn Hall of Net#work BBDO to name but a few - your regular old cuppa joe has never looked so spruce. The zooty wraparound sleeves are now on sale together with a cup of that excellent coffee, of course, at Vida outlets.
Vespa Vesper
Pray as hard and devotedly as you can, offer up a little creativity, and soon, you may be blessed with the opportunity of scooting around on a Vespa decorated with your own designs. In the 2005 Art Vespa competition aimed at advertising agencies, Brad Schmidt from Gendel Advertising drove off with the grand prize. The campaign invited South Africa's brightest creative minds to design a unique Art Vespa that required participants to download a Vespa photograph and implement their own Art Vespa design. Visit www.vespa.co.za/ArtVespa.htm and watch out for the 2006 leg, er, wheel.
Hand-some
Applying a defibrillator to the chest of Cape Town's often lethargic creative community is a get-up-and-go space with a thought-provoking name: what if the world… The pro-active gallery-cum-community centre recently hosted Illustration Nation, an exhibition of drawings and illustrations by 15 artists including Michael Taylor, Jesse Breytenbach, Simon Villet, Hannah Morris, Lizza Littlewort, and others. Reflecting a current interest in an anti-machine aesthetic, the show had a distinctively hand-made feel thanks to the use of pencil, charcoal, gouache, embroidery, etc.
Says co-owner and ex-New Yorker Justin Rhodes: " I support the hand-made because, for me, art and design are about context and community. Understanding the techniques and relationships that go into creating something give it a special value. Hand-made is about people. I like knowing the stories behind the things that I buy and collect. Hand-made is imperfect and so am I. I can relate to that. Making something by hand creates a special bond between the creator and the created. Hand-made, for me, is about starting in your own backyard, and working and designing with what is around you. This is original and contextual and personal. Do-it-yourself is a quality that I value."
what if the world... makes a continuing effort "to encourage art and design interest among our contemporaries" and puts its money where its mouth is, too. In order to deflate sometimes inflated art world prices and make art and design more accessible to its public, all pieces are priced under R1 000. Sounds like a good place to pick up a bargain. Visit www.whatiftheworld.com.
Juicing up Jozi
In case you had somehow failed to notice its brand-new complexion, Jo'burg City has been in the process of getting a much-needed facelift.
The once-dodgy inner city is currently undergoing a radical re-urbanisation and renewal project that will turn it back into what it was in its heydey - an exciting destination for shoppers, dwellers and tourists - and more.
Along with Newtown and Constitution Hill, The City of Johannesburg has identified the Braamfontein precinct as a vital constituent in the CBD's rebirth. The Johannesburg Development Agency briefed the agency Harwood Kirsten Leigh McCoy (HKLM), which has huge clients like FNB, Nedbank, Discovery, Clicks and the like, to come up with a new identity for Braamfontein that was in keeping with the overall corporate and marketing strategy for the agency.
The optimistic, people-oriented logo was unveiled late last year and reflects, as HKLM puts it, "a destination that is warm, inviting, buzzing, creative - a kaleidoscopic community that has a unique offering, is exciting and fascinating, yet convenient. Emotionally, it is a place where people rise to greatness."
In short, the logo represents a perception shift. It immediately increases awareness of the precinct's new, upwardly mobile thrust. A number of entertainment facilities, events and venues are planned to bring people back into the area.
Blowing Bubbles
Remember Ji Lee's Bubble Project profiled in a recent issue of this magazine? Well, Ji has burst his own analogue bubble by going digital. The Bubble Project has launched an online version in which you can fill in the bubbles yourself and share the bubbled images with your friends via the Internet. Every week the site features someone in the news as the "Bubbled Person of the Week!!!". Now, says Ji, "you no longer have to be the passive recipient of the media's bombardment. This is your chance to become an active participant by freely expressing yourself through the bubbles and sharing them with the rest of the world - and mostly importantly, have loads of fun doing it!" Visit www.thebubbleproject.com.
Provocative Technology
New creative voices from around the world gathered in Melbourne, Australia, from 15 March to 2 April 2006 for The Next Wave Festival, held alongside the Commonwealth Games. South African participants included Mak1one, Faith47, Matt Black, Ralph Borland, Khamissa Collective, Justin Fiske and others.
Justin's controversial Leech (a device used by bikers to "steal" car tyre air) was exhibited as part of a display of subversive design. See www.nextwave.org.au/.
Rooms AND Views
The much sought-after American decorator David Easton will be sharing his views with the SA public in a workshop at the upcoming Rooms on View show in Jo'burg. Inducted into the Interior Design Wall of Fame and recently honoured with the "Lifetime Achievement "award at London's Design and Decoration Awards, he has designed collections for Heredon Furniture Inc, Lee Jofa, Walters Wicker, Beauvais Carpets, wallpaper for Cole & Son Ltd, and lighting for Robert Abbey Inc.
Top drawer!
Heather Moore (35) is one of those annoyingly competent and endlessly creative dynamos who excels at almost anything. How she manages to be an award-winning author, an art director, musician, artist AND a respected illustrator, must no doubt be attributed to a combination of steely determination and that effortless, gift-from-God flair most people wish they had.
Now, she and fellow designer/illustrator Jesse Breytenbach have started the design collaboration Heather&Jesse (profiled in the May issue of House & Leisure magazine). Noticing the rising trend for "handmade things, we decided to market ourselves as 'contemporary crafters', making it clear that we're not doily-making aunties, but design-aware hipsters with the 'church bazaar' switch firmly turned OFF (unless the jumble sale look is hot this season, of course!)" Heather explains wittily.
Most recently, some of Heather's Rockster range of textile designs inspired by San rock paintings were chosen for the Design Indaba Expo 2006 identity and appeared on Expo t-shirts, badges and access tickets.
Using silhouette drawings taken from rock paintings, she repeats them, allowing the viewer to engage with a single image in a new way. Her clear, bright colours move away from the typical browns and ochres and also throw fresh light on the images. "Somehow, my designs seem to have introduced our most ancient artistry to a clear-edged Scandinavian feel that really seems to work." It means that a local historical artifact is lifted from the realm of curio or tourist interest and is given fresh cultural kudos.
Cushions bearing Heather's designs are on sale at Doreen Southwood's store Mememe in Cape Town. Her Rockster range will soon be available through Moyo at Spier. She takes part in the group illustration exhibition DrawingRoom III, which opens at what if the world... in Cape Town on September 1, 2006. See Heather's article on the revival of the hand-made on page 25.
Mamba Mumbo
The fourth Mamba Comix Annual was launched in April and features 100 funny pages by artists like Rico Schacherl (of Madam & Eve fame); Themba Siwela, (creator of Bona magazine's Majimbos); Sifiso Yalo of the Sowetan; and other hyper-talented storytellers. The magazine also contains 12 pages of comix-related news, reviews and interviews, as well as a six-page feature on controversial Durban graffiti. It's available at artSPACE Durban. Call (031) 312 0793.
Urban Native
Designer Heidi Liebenberg of the local jewellery label Urbanative made the cut out of 1 354 entries to be selected as one of 10 finalists in the annual Anglo Gold Ashanti Auditions Riches of Africa ensemble. The prestigious competition carries the theme "Living Textures", and will be exhibited here and abroad after showing at the recent Design Indaba Expo 2006.
Super Model
The award-winning Model Works system designed by Henri Kloss and made by Tivoli Audio is now available in South Africa through TAD. For more info call (011) 802 2199 or visit www.tadsa.co.za.
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
