Nando’s Hot Young Designer’s Light Goes Global

WORDS Amelia Brown

Tulsha Booysen’s CanBeam light shines in a major design installation in Nando’s Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

In response to the brief for the Nando’s Hot Young Designer Talent Search in 2015, then schoolgirl Tulsha designed the CanBeam light: an upcycled interpretation of traditional African beadwork using colourful cooldrink cans. Now, 6 800 cans form part of the striking installation in a US branch of the beloved peri-peri chicken chain.

In addition to travelling to Chicago for the installation of the mega-version of the CanBeam light, 2017 also saw Tulsha collaborate with another Nando’s Hot Young Designer finalist, Candice Lawrence, on a design installation at the Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival at Constitution Hill.

As a Nando’s Hot Young Designer Talent Search finalist, Tulsha was mentored by Liani Douglas, as well as interior designer Tracy Lee Lynch and lighting designer Conrad Van der Westhuizen, to take her sketch and develop a prototype of the CanBeam.

“[Before] I thought design was about products,” says Tulsha, “but after meeting and collaborating with strong, creative and beautiful minds, such as Aria Design agency in Chicago, with whom I collaborated to create the large-scale CanBeam; Liani Douglas, who mentored me during and after Nando’s Hot Young Designer Competition; and Tracy Lee Lynch, who opened the design door and has helped me grow immensely as a designer, I have come to learn that design is about creating a life that is better for everyone. It has been a truly life-changing journey.”

Follow Tulsha on Instagram.

The CanBeam can be seen at Nando’s Michigan Avenue in Chicago and, locally, at Nando’s Sea Point and Nando’s Tokai.