Rooms on View

Today Rooms on View opened for another exciting year's exhibition. I look forward to reading all about it on their website, and from my friends in South Africa. Jezze posted on her contribution to the South Africa House exhibit, which will be iLunch: a lunch table decorated and set with South African wares (for my American friends, a few of the more anglicised Zulu words used today have an "i" in front, like ilunch, although I am nots sure if this actual word is really used). This is Jezze's contribution... I hope to see more in her etsy shop soon!



One of the exhibitors who has caught my eye is togu'na . Unfortunately, all I can see is their website, which is still being constructed. I look forward to letting you know when I see it up and running. The home page looks really promising, I'm sure their exhibit will be fantastic!



Another exhibitor who caught my eye was Biggie Best. I grew up with Biggie Best selling very flowery stuff... I did have a set of curtains that I LOVED with a calico color background, with tiny ribbons twirling down, and roses in between, I think. I loved them but don't think I could deal with them now :) although I do still love a really pared back girly/country look.

I was really pleased to see what Biggie Best is doing now... I particularly love the French ticking. Ooooh!




I am a bit of a fabric sucker, which I blame on having a quilter for a mother. A good friend just bought me some silk fabric from China: a red cherry blossom! I am so excited... when I have some time off I get to sew with that plus the shwe shwe I got a while back from a great friend, and in a surprise gift from SA. Can't wait.

And a special thanks to my friend Ros for reminding me that Rooms opened today. What would I do without you?

Inspiration from the North

A fellow South African is very busy up North. She lives in Toronto and she designs fun, pretty, delicious stationery and patterns for other things. Her name is Carolyn and you can see more of her lovely things on her blog.





You can find more of her work on other sites:

www.ecojot.com
www.miragepaperco.com

I MUST get my hands on those birds!!

Juicy!

I am loving ijusi, a publication from South African graphic design studio, Orange Juice Design.





iJusi is a play on words. Sometimes English words are "Zulufied" to deal with new concepts... anyway, linguistics aside, this stuff is juicy. Started by OJ design founder, Garth Walker, the publication is printed twice a year, and each issue has its own theme, although the overriding focus is "I am an African..." The issues have views, images, interviews, wild design. I love it. It's really just good ol' design running riot, no frills, no hesitations. I wish I had me a good ol' fashioned hard copy. But the web will do for now. Take a few moments and take a stroll... you can go to the spaza shop* and look at old issues. Truly a feast for the eyes. The highlight, of course, will be the gemsbok with the flame shooting out its butt while the pages load. Enjoy.






PS: Since writing a draft of this post, I emailed and got a response from Garth. Seems the only way to get a copy of the magazine is to go to their office and pick one up. Hmm. I wonder which one of my family members I will dispatch on that mission?


*a spaza shop is an informal business, usually in urban areas... the "Seven-Eleven" of informal settlements.

Indaba: A Project

Brand the Beloved Country: A play on the title of Cry, the Beloved Country, and a project for a few ad agencies to rebrand South Africa... show it in all its glory. Well, how does one represent an entire nation? A nation as diverse, talented, be-oo-tiful, and dazzling as South Africa?

Ask Switch Design...



Two Tone...






and HKLM.

Indaba: A Conference

A while back I mentioned Design Indaba* and that I would one day explain who they are... for those uninitiated, Design Indaba is a collaberation of creative types in South Africa. Associated with it is a magazine, a conference, and lots of other interesting projects. And the motivation behind it? According to Ravi Naidoo, the founder of Design Indaba, after ten years of democratic rule, South Africa has become a hotbed of creative activity: "The story is this: when cultures and people that were forcibly separated under apartheid come together, it’s like a tectonic shift. Sparks are flying."

The conference is held every year, and everyone gets together to talk about design, see design, listen to talks about design... sounds like fun to me. I haven't yet been, and although I've heard mixed reviews, it is very much on my to-do list. Besides international speakers like Jasper Morrison, Tobias Frere-Jones, Neville Brody, Brian Eno and the like, local trail-blazers are also featured. Ones I wish I had seen are Zapiro (South African cartoonist) and Maira Koutsoudakis. Many of these speakers hold workshops and pass on their knowledge.

The Expo is a showcase of SA design that runs alongside the conference. Craft, fashion, jewellry, graphic design, film, new media, publishing, product design, decor and more are displayed for visitors (are you tired yet?)






Throughout the year, while everyone waits on tenderhooks for the next Indaba, a magazine is published. It is one of my favourite web reads... I get to catch up on design issues in South Africa, but also the rest of the world, whether it has to do with music, film, graphic design, art, whatever!





The folks at Design Indaba don't seem to sleep, because besides all this, they launch projects that explore South African design. I quite enjoyed a previous project, Brand the Beloved Country, where agencies were invited to submit a brand campaign for the country. No easy feat, but the results were quite inspiring! I'll share those with you tomorrow.

In the meantime, treat yourself to an interesting podcast. This is Ravi Naidoo, chatting about the Indaba. Sorry about the sound, Ravi talks fast and it's sometimes difficult to hear what he says.

*Indaba is Zulu, and means "issue" or "subject".