Creative Cape Town

Aah,  February. If you love more than people (and even if you just love people), February is not only Valentine’s month, it’s design month. Design Indaba month, to be exact. From 23 – 27 February 2011, Design Indaba offers the creative industries’ opportunity to showcase, exchange knowledge and share inspiration.

The expo, conference and magazine covers curated content in the areas of advertising, architecture, craft, décor, film, fashion, graphic design, interior design, jewellery, new media, publishing, product design and visual media.

The highly successful conference has sold out year after year, and now, in its twelfth year, featuring some famous and fine faces.

Charlie Todd, founder of Improv Everywhere, is perhaps best known for his No Pants Subway Ride , the video of which received over 150 million online views.

DiébédoFrancis Kéré is an architect from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. His precepts are climatic adaptation, low building costs and self building: “The community needs to be educated on how to monitor the climatic circumstances and to use local materials. Only people who take part in the building process can maintain and spread the word about these architectural projects.” he told Design Indaba.

Robert Wong was born Chinese, grew up Dutch, was Canadian, and is now American. He was once an accountant, and is now the graphic designer leading a team of visual brand communicators at Google Creative Lab, an enviable position if there ever was one. A multiple design award winner, he stands as a testimony to the liberating process of giving up your day job for your art (and making it work).

Kiran Bir Sethi is many things, “a designer who became a teacher, a principal who grew into an education reformer and subsequently morphed into a social entrepreneur.” Her first school, Riverside School (Ahmedabad, India founded 2001) is viewed by some as “a laboratory to prototype design processes that enable “exceptional” teaching and “transformative” student participation.”The curriculum develops year by year, and students give reports to their teachers. Thumbs up to applying the precepts of design to education! Listen to her talk about design thinking and design education.

Despite most arts festivals taking funding cuts, Design Indaba continues to promote the hope that creativity will contribute significantly to a radical shift in South African economy. “As such, Design Indaba is a celebration of design in a country iconic of the triumph of human spirit. Proof that even the most intractable problems can be neutralised by the will of people, resurgent South Africa is a beacon to the world. Design Indaba typifies this optimism and can-do spirit. Starting from the basis of how design can help solve the problems of an emerging country, it takes the view that a better future can be designed.”

Don’t let them do it without you. Check out the busy Facebook fan page for all sorts of titbits and leads, or sign up for their weekly newsletter.

And remember that even if you can’t be at CTICC for the conference, it is broadcast via simulcast to Johannesburg as well.