Creative Cape Town

2BOP

CCT: 2BOP? Explain the name?

Anthony: Our company is called 2BOP, named after slang for a 20 cent coin. You used to use 20 cent coins to play arcade games at the corner shops back in the day. Nowadays it’s more like a 5 bop.

CCT: What product or service do you offer?

Anthony: We’re a clothing or “streetwear” label influenced by video game and arcade game and corner shop culture. We used to focus mainly on prints but we’re slowly moving into creating other garments and accessories.

CCT: Which field does your product or service fall under?

Anthony: Fashion design

CCT: Name a challenge you have faced, and how you solved it.

Anthony: A challenge was establishing a new brand in a sceptical market. We overcame it by growing organically and consistently sticking to the core of what we want 2BOP to be, delivering fresh collections year after year and staying passionate about what drives and inspires the brand.

CCT: What or who inspires you?

Anthony: The fact that you still get arcade games at corner stores and just the general Cape Flats attitude, being streetwise and not taking ourselves too seriously.

CCT: If resources like time, money and materials were unlimited, what would you create next?

Anthony: If resources were unlimited we’d create entire cut-and-sew collections to our exact specifications. Design our own sneaker line. Perhaps also move into designing actual games as opposed to just being inspired by them.

CCT: Where would you like to see your work or company in five years’ time?

Anthony: We’d like to see 2BOP sold around the world and throughout the continent. We just started distributing in Australia so yes, getting into more territories as well as expanding on the product and accessory range.

CCT: A creative capital is a city that encourages economic well-being through creating a more liveable, just and sustainable environment. What do you think Cape Town needs more (or less) of to become a true creative capital?

Anthony: I think Cape Town needs a district with subsidised studio space for creatives. It would naturally encourage collaboration between individuals if they worked from the same area. The creative industry would also have to become more inclusive, more diverse and more visible as an option for young people who don’t have access to the city centre.

CCT: The Fringe is being developed as a design and informatics hub to become “the premier African environment for design, media and ICT innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship”. Does this appeal to you?

Anthony: We don’t actively show support yet but would like to know how we can. We could do a blog post about it …

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CARINE NGUZ

CCT: Carinisme? Explain the name?

Carine: My work name, Carinisme. Story: my name Carine + ism. I really liked this idea in my last year of college and stuck with it.

CCT: What product or service do you offer?

Carine: Graphic design services:logo; corporate identity; print, packaging,web and publication design, illustration, idea generation. And I’m a consultant at times.

CCT: How is your work influenced by living in Cape Town?

Carine: It’s where most of my clients are from and where I studied design. The majority of my projects are related toCape Town. I’m influenced by the demand and the seasons.

CCT: Name a challenge you have faced, and how you solved it.

Carine: Turning a well-intentioned but disorganised NGO case study word document into a colourful, functional, beautifully crafted manual they now use around the world to train participants and empower people.

CCT: What or who inspires you?

Carine: Many things inspire me; it’s really hard to say! It can be very simple like a colour, music, or another design.

CCT: If resources like time, money and materials were unlimited, what would you create next? Why?

Carine: All I can tell you is that it would be connected to Africa and the youth. It would be an international project designed to shed light on aspects of African youth most of the world refuses to see. Something other than what is gathered from news headlines, something as objective as possible that documents what’s going on today.

CCT: Where would you like to see your work or company in five years’ time?

Carine: Collaborations and interesting projects: I’d like to manage extensive design and branding projects with the company of talented professionals. I’d like to lecture or teach, on occasion. In Africa specifically, I’d like to get into the printing industry.

CCT: A creative capital is a city that encourages economic well-being through creating a more liveable, just and sustainable environment. What do you think Cape Town needs more (or less) of to become a true creative capital?

Carine: I think Cape Town needs more variety. I know there is greatdiversity in theory but I just find that not all voices and cultures are actively represented in the field of graphic design.Secondly, I think international design conferences and related events held in Cape Town should be more affordable for locals. The price should decrease as the sponsors add up. It just makes total sense.

CCT: The Fringe is being developed as a design and informatics hub to become “the premier African environment for design, media and ICT innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship”. Does this appeal to you?

Carine: Yes, it does!!

CCT: How do you show support for World Design Capital 2014 bid? (If you haven’t heard of it yet, this is a project to put Cape Town on the global map as a design capital, and you can read about it at Creative Cape Town or click through to the site)

Carine: Facebook like

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g-mo Footwear

CCT: g-mo? Explain the name.

Grandt: g-mo stands for Grandt Mason Originals.

CCT: What product or service do you offer?

Grandt: Animal-friendly footwear.

CCT: Which field does your product or service fall under

Grandt: Design, fashion design

CCT: How is your work influenced by living in Cape Town?

Grandt: I would say the biggest influence directly attributed to Cape Town is the people. Every person I have contact with, from my personal interactions with friends to the brief eye contact I have with someone while walking the streets of the CBD. Each of these interactions affects me. Some sap my energy while others recharge me but all influence my approach to everyday life and filter down through to my designs. It sounds deep but it’s really just life, and my life offers me thousands of moments to interact on a weekly basis.

Nature plays a huge role too as it clears my mind and replenishes my energy. People don’t realise how much energy it takes to design something. The brain is a hungry beast and it needs loads of fuel. I acquire this fuel from nature as often as I can.

Another benefit of living in Cape Town is the diversity of people it attracts from all over the world. I have a store at the Old Biscuit Mill in the design section of the Neighbourgoods Market. This platform provides me with the opportunity to test new designs and gauge response from hundreds of people every week. The majority of our sales are actually to foreigners who understand and appreciate what we are doing.

CCT: Name a challenge you have faced and how you solved it.

Grandt: Our production setup has probably been one of our biggest challenges. People have no idea about the processes involved in making a pair of shoes. We have about three tons of machinery and employ five people to manufacture our product. Footwear needs to be comfortable, durable and look good. Our product is completely different to other footwear on the market. Early production was a nightmare as most manufacturers are clueless when it comes to working with fabrics. It took us a while but we are finally in control of our own production and have a solid factory setup enabling us to manufacture footwear of very high standards.

CCT: What or who inspires you?

Grandt: g-mo started as a mission to manufacture leather-free footwear. Upholding this ethos and persevering with this mission inspires me to constantly work harder and push my personal boundaries. My sister is also a huge inspiration and an integral part of g-mo. She joined me in 2003 and has been an amazing asset. I run all the women’s design by her and only put them into production once she has fitted them and tested the product. She manages the majority of the production and is in charge of finding all the different fabrics and putting the different combinations together.

CCT: If resources like time, money and materials were unlimited, what would you create next? Why?

Grandt: I have a concept in mind which will change footwear as we know it, making the entire industry far more sustainable. I can’t say too much about it but with the right resources and enough capital I would focus solely on this goal.

CCT: Where would you like to see your work or company in five years’ time.

Grandt: We have just started to export to Canada and the USA and are looking at options in Europe. In five years from now I expect g-mo/Grandt Mason Originals to be a global brand with the resources to influence the industry and steer it towards a friendlier approach to footwear manufacturing. I also project that the local market will take to the brand in a big way once they hear of the waves we are making internationally.

CCT: A creative capital is a city that encourages economic well-being through creating a more liveable, just and sustainable environment. What do you think Cape Town needs more (or less) of to become a true Creative Capital?

Grandt: Cape Town has a wealth of creativity but a very “safe” local consumer base with limited spending power. In order for a creative capital to be sustainable, “creative” need to make money. Cape Town could do with a few more well-curated permanent platforms for designers to showcase their products. These platforms need to be marketed correctly, attracting the international tourists that visit each year while still appealing to Capetonians. The ideal would be a centralised hub housing designers from a wide variety of disciplines. This hub should allow for the interaction of established designers with up-and-coming designers. It should offer a central “designer mall” showcasing the products of the businesses involved. This hub needs a strong identity and needs to be marketed to the local and international market.

CCT: The Fringe is being developed as a design and informatics hub to become “the premier African environment for design, media and ICT innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship”. Does this appeal to you?

Grandt: It does appeal to me but I am concerned how it will affect rental prices. The Fringe will bring development and upgrades to infrastructure in the designated area but this will push property prices up. Businesses in informatics and businesses involved in design disciplines do not function on the same business models. Businesses involved in informatics are far safer and stable while design, especially innovative design, carries a greater risk as far as cash flow is concerned. Informatics in South Africa is also far more established in comparison to design. We have amazing designers conceptualising innovative products but how many of these products actually go into production? If this concept really works, which I think it will, designers will be in a different situation ten years from now. Placing these two industries side by side is a great idea but the one can afford a much higher rental and is far more stable than the other. For this to work developers need to consider this. An option is for the city to step in and subsidise designated hubs for the businesses involved for a period of time. These hubs need to be carefully curated to ensure the correct symbiosis between the various design disciplines and the informatics industry.

CCT:How do you show support for World Design Capital 2014 bid?

Grandt: g-mo headquarters is currently based on 18 Roeland Street, a building we have called the Roeland Hub, which sits on the outskirts of The Fringe.The Roeland Hub houses a collective of designers, photographers, filmmakers and artists who have been here for four years. We would like to form part of the design group that moves into The Fringe. I am coordinating this effort as well as looking for designers and creatives from other disciplines to form part of this group. Designers can contact me on g@g-mo.co.za for more information.

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