Seeing, making, doing

WORDS Lisa Johnston

We meet the brains behind the compellingly Afro-Scandinavian MOS pop-up shop at 70 Juta Street, Braamfontein. Make sure to get there by Thursday 20 December 2012!

Take three street-smart and savvy women, set them loose with power tools and enthusiastic imaginations, and you’re guaranteed to see some pretty impressive design as a result. Antonia Morgado, Olivia Morgado and Victoria Wilson are the dynamic trio behind Makers of Stuff (MOS), whose products are currently on display at their pop-up shop at 70 Juta Street, Braamfontein until the end of October.

The three – who have collaborated on various commercial projects – started MOS as a means to explore and break out of the pigeonhole of creative corporate work.

“We didn’t want to do keep doing the same stuff, we wanted to expand our ideas and by working together our inspiration was gathering energy. We started MOS because we wanted to invest in something that was fun and shifted our thinking about how we create and make,” says Antonia.

The rationale for featuring MOS products in a pop-up space is not only to expose and sell the work –that ranges from lights to prints and hand-crafted furniture – but also to get feedback about what people want. Ideally, they say, they’d like to have pop-ups in different parts of Gauteng to see what appeals to people from different parts of the province.  

“As designers and artists we tend to work in isolation and get stuck in a bubble. [With the pop-ups] we’re testing the waters to see what works and what doesn’t. So far the feedback we’ve gotten has been really good,” says Antonia. “We’re open to people’s suggestions, we want people to come in and say ‘Cant I have that in another colour, or a different wood?’ We’re constantly running things past each other to find alternatives.”

Victoria continues: “There’s so much great design in South African, but until recently you just didn’t see it out there in the consumer market. We also wanted to show it’s not just Cape Town where design is cool and happening. We’ve all travelled a lot and been exposed to international design and would see something and think: ‘Why can’t I do that, why can’t I make this something that is part of my everyday life?’ Scandinavian design such as Ikea has shown that you can have great design that is affordable, but why should we have to import it?”

“We really just want to see what people want and take the impersonal out of design and get inspiration from the people we talk to. If we can make something that you want to display in your house, that’s enough for me,” concludes Antonia.

The first phase of the MOS products online shop is live at www.mosproducts.co.za, email hello@mosproducts.co.za, cell Antonia 078 676 7518, Olivia 083 402 3510, Victoria 082 324 5547