Design in Cape Town

Great design requires fresh, open, responsive thinking and doing: in other words, creativity. Creativity in design feeds innovation, and innovation drives progress. Innovation is key to our economic development.

Cape Town is positioning itself as a city of innovation, inspiration and creativity.

Design in Cape Town is becoming a financially thriving industry, and developing an enabling environment for design is at the top of our priority list. Creative Cape Town studies have shown that the central city has a high level of entrepreneurship in creative industries, particularly design-led organisations, events and publications. How can this be nurtured? How can our design assets support Cape Town’s repositioning in the global economy? How do we leverage this to improve the economy, create more jobs and address high levels of inequality in the city? How does design help us become a more inclusive city? How do we make design thinking central to our city-making processes? Local creatives speak of the city as a space of inspiration and experimentation – how can this attitude be encouraged?

As a response to these questions, Creative Cape Town has incubated two significant projects to support design in the city, working closely with a range of partners in the design sector, in government and in the academy. Through the first of these, Cape Town’s winning bid for World Design Capital 2014, we are repositioning the city as a global contender in design and educating the city and country about socially responsive design. The development of The Fringe: Cape Town’s Design and Innovation District and our second significant project, is an important step in establishing a dedicated space for design innovation in the region, one that will help stimulate the local economy.

In addition to these projects, Creative Cape Town has worked to promote design by facilitating the establishment of the Cape Town Design Network, helping give those in the sector a voice. We helped attract The Loerie Awards, South Africa’s premier annual advertising and communications awards ceremony, to the city from 2009 until 2014. Linked to The Loerie Awards weekend and as a legacy project for the World Design Capital bid, we established Creative Week Cape Town as a showcase for creatives in the city. We are a regular supporter of Design Indaba, a flagship industry event both nationally and internationally, and are ardent promoters of design in its many forms.

Finally we work closely with our parent body the Cape Town Partnership to ensure that the city is designed around the key needs of its people. We want to ensure Cape Town’s vibrancy by building on a set of key design principles for Liveable Cities. In this respect we care about a dense, inclusive and sustainable city, one in which citizens are mobile and connected. We support the City of Cape Town’s plans for integrated rapid transport (IRT) and its commitment to becoming a smart city.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs

“I’ve been amazed at how often those outside the discipline of design assume that what designers do is decoration. Good design is problem solving.” – Jeffrey Veen

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” – Charles Mingus

“When people talk about innovation in this decade, they really mean design.” – Bruce Nussbaum

The Fringe: Cape Town’s Design and Innovation District

As part of its work to promote design in Cape Town, Creative Cape Town is project managing the development of The Fringe: Cape Town’s Design and Innovation District – previously known as the East City Design Initiative. The design and informatics hub in Cape Town’s east city was conceptualised in 2007 when a range of [...]

Liveable Cities

It is a fact well known that the creative design of a city creates an environment conducive to creative thinking and living. If all of your street-facing property is entrances to parking lots, your city is dead. Put shops and cafés and galleries at street level and your city opens up. Make it easy for people to catch public transport or to walk and they’ll naturally network and connect.

The Design Sector in Cape Town

In a research study completed in early 2009, Creative Cape Town found that of 1000 creative entities mapped in the central city, half are design oriented. These businesses are creating buildings, fashion, jewelery, furniture, advertising and ICT innovations, among other things. It can be argued that the large film and publishing sectors also make use of, showcase and influence design.

Cape Town for World Design Capital 2014

Every two years, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design selects a World Design Capital.

5 Comments On "Design in Cape Town"

  1. [...] Design in the Central City [...]

  2. sebolelo
    October 4th, 2012

    Iim inspired by the creative minded of the people of SA with thework they doing to improve the South Africa.#word up

  3. david hendricks
    January 6th, 2013

    I’m a cabinet maker looking for more and better
    Opportunities and would appreciate it if I could be
    Informed of any up coming projects my cell 0717259749
    I work on a professional level and take my work very seriously

  4. Alan
    January 9th, 2013

    Thanks for your question. I would suggest that you contact the Western Cape Furniture Initiative as they are a specialised professional body who can advise on how you can grow your business and how to market your skills. Check their website for more information: http://www.capefurniture.za.org/

  5. anthony mclaughlin
    February 12th, 2013

    Ok, I have another product “swirling” in my head ! Designed products in the past that worked, some did not work. Life.

    Now what do I do with this design I believe in ! How do I work with this platform ?

    Even before seeing this site, our family talked about moving into the City after feeling the vibe on recent visits and we committed to do so once our second son finished his Matric here in the S/Subs !

    The City most certainly gives off inspiration

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