Nespresso and the Swedish bicyle and lifestyle brand Vélosophy turn recycled aluminium coffee capsules into sustainably stylish bicycles.

Created for conscious-living coffee lovers, the limited C edition Vélosophy Re:Cycle bikes are made from recycled aluminium Nespresso capsules. Aluminium can be remelted and reused to give waste a second life and, in this instance, showcase the potential of recycling discarded coffee pods.

In a nod to Nespresso’s Arpeggio coffee, the Swedish bicycle and lifestyle brand reimagined its classic model in 1 000 bright purple units. The bike boasts a capsule-shaped bell and cup-holder, which gives cyclists the gap to enjoy beverages on the go.

Vélosophy’s CEO and founder Jimmy Östholm says, “We created Vélosophy with a clear purpose: to have a positive impact on the world. This purpose drives everything we do, from our promise to give a bike to a schoolgirl for every Vélosophy we sell, to producing our stylish city bikes from recycled aluminium. I see in Nespresso a strong commitment to sustainability, which is why this has been the dream partnership.”

“We are proud to have co-created a bike that takes on the future. It is beautifully designed, responsibly sourced and sustainably produced.”

Re:Cycle bikes are available exclusively online from Vélosophy for R21 930 (exchange-rate dependent and excluding shipping).

For more information, visit velosophy.cc.

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1. Megaliths in the Bath House Ruins by teamLab

Art collective teamLab’s new exhibition on Japan’s Kyushu island features a mesmerising new artwork situated within Mifuneyama Rakuen Park’s bath house ruins. A program renders artworks onto a series of “megaliths” in real time, which once seen, will never be visible again.

Images via teamlab.art

2. The World’s Biggest Bike Garage

The Dutch city of Utrecht has opened the world’s biggest bike garage, designed by Ector Hoogstad Architecten in collaboration with Sant & Co firm and Royal Haskoning DHV. The multi-level underground space can accommodate 13 500 bicycles.

Image credit: Petra Appelhof via ectorhoogstad.com

3. Recycled Plant Pots

POTR pots, developed by engineers Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, are self-watering flatpack origami-inspired plant pots made from 100% recyclable materials. Better yet, these designs claim to be 100 times more carbon efficient than regular pots.

Images courtesy of POTR

4. Netting Portraits by Benjamin Shine

Multidisciplinary artist and designer Benjamin Shine creates unbelievable portraits using tulle fabric. For Benjamin, his work focuses on the concept of “energy, impermanence and the relationship between the spiritual and the superficial”.

Images via thisiscolossal.com

5. Jason Anderson’s Pixelated Landscapes

Artist Jason Anderson, who used to restore stained glass, uses pale pastel oil paint to create abstract cityscapes, each with its own focal point. “I am fascinated by colour and work with a strong palette to create deep impasto effects with the paint,” says Jason on his website.

Images via jasonandersonartist.co.uk

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Sometimes those who peak early (think head prefects) achieve less later on in life, for whatever reason. Gabriel Ally, a former junior mayor of Johannesburg and recipient of the Allan Gray Fellowship does not fall into that category. He had a vision for a simple vehicle that could assist informal waste pickers to transport their cargoes easily and safely.

There are over 120 000 informal recyclers in South Africa that live from hand to mouth. Gabriel’s goal is to assist as many of these men and women as possible. The first GezaJozi prototype led to two more, and eventually the vehicle had transformed from a bicycle with a trailer to an electrically assisted cargo tricycle – now known as the GezaJozi e-trike.

The beauty of it is its simplicity. “We give our e-trikes to waste pickers for free and we fund the e-trikes with advertising revenue from corporate and public sponsors,” explains Gabriel.

“The vehicles are housed at a central location. The pickers collect them in the morning and travel along a predetermined route. We monitor their travels with a GPS tracking system and report these findings to our sponsors so that they can quantify a return on their advertising investment.

“The vehicles are returned at the end of the day so that they can be repaired and the pickers take home 100 percent of the waste revenue they collect. GezaJozi is a win-win-win – for the waste pickers, for private and public companies, and for society.”

Future projects include designing an electric tricycle that serves as a mobile spaza shop for aspiring entrepreneurs. And there’s another initiative in the pipeline.”I’m passionate about water scarcity in South Africa,” says Gabriel.”So I’m developing an agricultural irrigation product that reduces water wastage in the production of food.”

Recycling… business… water-wise initiatives… can someone make Gabriel Ally the senior mayor of Johannesburg, please?

This article was originally featured in IMAGINE. Find out more about GezaJozi at gezajozi.co.za.

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An architecturally inspired bicycle prototype, an energy replacement battery pack, an old abandoned house converted into something special and vivid food art are just some of the top VISI picks of the week series – week 15.

1. New Bicycle Prototype

Inspired by architecture, this bicycle frame is part of an ongoing project for manufacturer AERO. “I think it’s a great example of functional design,” says online editor Lindi Brownell Meiring.

Image credit:  dezeen.com

2. Lisa Waud’s Flower House

Content producer Michaela Stehr loves how this abandoned home has been transformed into a whimsical and magical place, with the help of 4 000 flowers.

Image credit: boredpanda.com

3. Tesla Home Battery

Features editor Tracy Greenwood believes that during the current loadshedding situation in South Africa, this nifty tool could be the solution to keeping us out of the dark.

Image credit: teslamotors.com

4. Aston Martin and Valentino v12 Vanquish Volante

“It is always great to see luxury brands collaborating to create something interesting,” says editor-in-chief Sumien Brink.

Image credit: designboom.com

5. Lernert and Sander Cubes

Editor-at-large Malibongwe Tyilo loves the way in which these artists present different types of food. “So precise!”

Image credit: lernertandsander.com

Browse more like VISI picks of the week series – week 15 on picks of the week 349.

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Africa’s first international design fair, Guild runs until Sunday 9 March in Cape Town. Make sure to get down there and be part of history in the making. For one thing, there’s the most desirable bicycle in South Africa on show.

The Vicious Cycle is no ordinary single-gear bike, certainly not the sort popular with city hipsters, although we’re pretty sure any self-respecting hipster would give their inked left leg to call one of these their own. After all, there are only 10.

This beauty is a collaboration between Duncan MacIntyre and Anton Dekker, facilitated by Gavin Rooke’s Dutchmann project that connects master craftsmen with contemporary designers and artists (you’ll recall its Delft surfboards and Porsche 911). Although retired, Duncan is regarded as South Africa’s most accomplished frame builder, with his work dating back to the 1970s, including his competitive sport-oriented Gemini brand. Anton is a specialist in producing bespoke components for brands such as Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari.

The Vicious Cycle is hand-built, using a frame designed by Duncan, which was used by track cyclist Malcolm Cochrane in the Track Cycling World Championships in Australia in 2009. After being stripped, coppered and lacquered, the frame was rebuilt using a range of classic and contemporary parts, including components from well-known quality brands such as 3T, Campagnolo, Vredenstein, Cinelli and Brooks. 

Round, but maybe not so bad-tempered after all.

R47 500, dutchmann.co.za

Think bike in 2014

Cape Town Bicycle Map. These nifty maps of Cape Town and the Winelands show urban cycling routes, bicycle parking, lanes and other commuter info. There’s even a mobile app, capetownbicyclemap.co.za

Active Mobility. This World Design Capital 2014 project is a collaboration between several organisations encouraging us to jump on our bicycles and cocreate a green city. 9 March to 16 May, wdccapetown2014.com

The 37th Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour. Although entries have closed, you can still join a charity ride or replace a rider. For the rest, find a pretty perching spot and cheer from the sidelines. 9 March, cycletour.co.za

The World Naked Bike Ride Cape Town. A day before the Argus, this annual ride encourages participants to be “as bare as you dare” in the name of environmental issues. 8 March, wnbrcapetown.weebly.com

Bicycle portraits: We asked Sean O’Toole, Phillipa Green, Anthea Moys, Isabeau Joubert, Justin Fiske, Gareth O’Brien, Aidan Bennets, Luke Pedersen and James Lennard what they love about two-wheeling. Read what they had to say here.

The Vicious Cycle is featured in VISI’s WILD DESIGN issue, now on shelves.

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It’s difficult to imagine a more inspiring and endearing young couple than Luke Pedersen and his wife Jen. Their renovated Scandi-Victorian home in Woodstock, Cape Town, is a true labour of love. The result of their shared vision is an oasis of contemporary comfort befitting a designer and an artist.

Having lived in Woodstock for most of his adult life, Luke Pedersen always knew that he wanted to drop anchor in the suburb. From an investment point of view it made sense – Woodstock still retains pockets of affordable property in the midst of its meteoric return to glory – but it was a yearning to live in an area that “felt like home” that ultimately catalysed his decision.

The higgledy nexus of backstreets in the immediate vicinity undoubtedly retain the essence of the “real”  Woodstock. Sure, the tagged walls could use a lick of paint, and here and there crystalline remnants of backseat windows sparkle at the curb, but women on foot still sell toffee apples on sunny days, and children while away the afternoons with bicycles and soccer balls. “I live here because I love the area for what it is,” Luke maintains.

A mere shot-put away from the gaatjie cacophony on Sir Lowry Road, double-glazed windows nullify the din entirely. The rhythmic clinking of a teaspoon stirring tea provides the only sonic ambience as we sit across the table (a Pedersen + Lennard original, of course) and discuss the mammoth undertaking involved in remodelling their home. “Remodelling” is perhaps an understatement: there is barely a square centimetre between (and including) the ceiling and the floor that doesn’t bear the thumbprint of its inspired inhabitants.

First came the lists. Before they began, Luke and Jen each jotted down their ten priorities for the renovation, after which they compared their ideals and settled on a shared manifesto. Having spent two years in Sweden where Luke completed a Master’s degree in design, the Pedersens were inspired by the Scandinavian penchant for converted barns. They certainly achieved the sense of vertical space and wooden cladding that typifies the rustic aesthetic but agreed it was important to retain a sense of the vernacular, exemplified by a handful of original fixtures including the fireplace and teak front door. Jen’s compulsion for collecting beautiful objects completed the look, infusing the minimalist space with personality and evidence of a shared history.

Built in an era before “light”, “spaciousness” and “flow” had entered the architect’s lexicon, the original home was a warren of dim, poky rooms. Phase one thus entailed a massive structural redesign. The couple recalls afternoons sitting in the empty living room, charting the sun’s trajectory in order to best position the skylight. Drawing on the expertise of associates in the know, Luke and a revolving cast of workers wielded sledgehammers, hacksaws, power drills and wheelbarrows. The sweat from his brow is literally baked into the concrete floors.

Every weekend ushered in a new project: the staircase, the bookshelves, the kitchen counters, the bicycle rack, the dining-room table, the plunge pool… virtually every aspect of their home was discussed, designed and executed accordingly. As one half of the design studio Pedersen + Lennard, Luke was able to put his professional skills to good use. Interestingly, the ideas flowed in both directions as many of the materials and methodologies meted out on this personal project have subsequently been incorporated into some of the coveted items in the Pedersen + Lennard showroom.

Before I depart, Luke points out with pride the number “11” on the exterior wall, cut from the same wood that adorns the deck he built, emblazoned on the wall he painted, beside a steel letterbox he designed. It was last weekend’s project, along with raising the threshold and priming the soil for a tiny front lawn. He spends a few minutes elucidating the thought process behind the decision: the font, the kerning, the wood, the varnish. I marvel at the depth of consideration for something that might seem quite trivial to most of us. Those two slender numerals represent far more than a reference for the postman. They encapsulate the essence of the Pedersen household.

Read about Luke’s love of cycling here and more about Pedersen + Lennard here.

Pedersen + Lennard 021 447 2020, pedersenlennard.co.za

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With two-wheel fever peaking this weekend in the Mother City – it’s the Cape Argus on Sunday and the World Naked Bike Ride on Saturday, not to mention the Active Mobility World Design Capital initiative from 9 March to 16 May – we asked some of our favourite designers and artists about their cyclemania. Read below for what Sean O’Toole, Phillipa Green, Anthea Moys, Isabeau Joubert, Justin Fiske, Gareth O’Brien, Aidan Bennets, Luke Pedersen and James Lennard have to say.

Luke Pedersen and James Lennard, pedersenlennard.co.za

Both industrial designers, Luke Pedersen and James Lennard are daily commuters, navigating back roads on their short rides to their office in the Woodstock Exchange. “We prefer the danger of the gangster streets to the danger of the traffic along Main Road!” They also use their bikes to get to meetings in town and to their Barrack Street shop. “It’s a nice break and way faster than driving a car,” says Luke, who’s been donning a helmet since becoming a father (look inside his beautiful Scandi-Victorian home here). “I got hit by a car once and the helmet definitely helped!” James, who is an avid mountain biker, only recently got a commuter bike. “It’s a red single speed and probably the tallest commuter bike in Cape Town.” Because of his height, he had to have the bike custom built. Luke’s bike is and old blue Hansom that he had restored. “I was inspired to find a bike built in South Africa and found this one in Parow. I fell in love with it when I saw it.” Luke has a large collection of bikes, owing to the fact that he used to import container-loads of bicycles for resale in South Africa. “I’ve had hundreds of bikes, but I didn’t horde. Besides the commuter, I have an old Flying Dutchman that’s mostly used for film shoots, a bike with a kid seat, a tandem…” James’ fleet consists of two mountain bikes and his new commuter. They’re both convinced that besides the danger of traffic, there’s nothing bad about cycling. “It keeps you fit and frees your mind.”

Sean O’Toole

“Cycling is mobile yoga,” quips journalist, art critic and writer Sean O’Toole, who cycles daily for recreation and every so often to commute to work. Sean is the owner of six bikes (two racers, a custom street bike and a mountain bike) and an endless supply of riveting cycling stories. “I had a gun pulled on me when cycling through Charleston, caught a seven foot giant stealing my Mongoose in New York, ripped my face open from a fall on Kloof Street, had my front wheel come off on a MTB ride at Hartebeespoort Dam, cycled through a snow blizzard to see a day of the Giro Italia (that had been cancelled, unbeknownst to O’Fool on his bike), pedaled halfway up Mount Fuji, stared at my brother Ryan’s bum for six days cycling through the Scottish highlands. I can continue…” His Mongoose MTB, the oldest bike in his collection, was bought with a bonus cheque in 1993 and has since travelled to the UK, the US, Japan and Italy. “It is still my most comfortable bike and has most of its original parts.” A recent convert to the questionable joys of cycling in Lycra (which up until 2008 he swore he’d never wear), Sean’s favourite place to cycle is still the Swartberg Pass. “It’s free and better than any of the expensive paid MTB races. Extreme Zen.” 

Phillipa Green, philippagreen.com

Jewellery designer Philippa Green was introduced to commuter cycling while living in London. “I used to cycle to work and back and that was really great. The city changed for me when I started cycling – it seemed much more pleasant. I used to love cycling home late at night – even sometimes a little tipsy. People are a lot more bike-aware there.” These days she rides her Giant fold-up bicycle around Cape Town on errands and to the Long Street Pool. “The bike was a gift from my boyfriend and I’ve had it for about a year now. I cycle every other day in the week. I don’t ride to work because I have a dog and I live up a steep hill. I’m not very bike-knowledgeable, but I like the Giant. Its tires are a little too thin for ramping up pavements – which I sometimes do – so I’ve punctured them a few times.” Her best cycling experience so far? “I’m new to this game and haven’t ventured too far, but cycling the Moonlight Mass has probably been the best. Cycling along the promenade at night with the cool sea breeze and all the people… It really is a great event and it just feels lovely to be able to cycle around the city at night in a pack.” 

Isabeau Joubert, isabeaujoubert.com

About a year ago, designer and yarnbomber Isabeau Joubert took the plunge and put her car in storage to see how long she could cope without it. “I regularly walk, ride my fold-up bicycle and take the myCiti bus. I ride a fold-up tern bicycle and I absolutely love it – it’s very easy to take it with me into buildings, or fold it to put on the bus, or in a taxi or friend’s car. My nickname for my bike is Sterretjie (the Afrikaans word for a tern, which is a type of bird) and she’s got a real gutsy little spirit and a slightly crooked kickstand. She just glides around anything in the road and city.” Isabeau had to learn how to ride when she received the bike as a gift from her boyfriend two years ago. “I’ve had to transport quite a lot of wool from Woodstock to Gardens a few times this year – it basically means hanging big plastic shopping bags stuffed with brightly coloured wool all around me and the handlebars – quite the awkward load! I’ve also had to take a pair of Springbok horns around town on the bike once, t’was fun. The best thing about cycling is not looking for parking and feeling super relaxed. The worst thing is getting caught in bad weather like wind or rain, but that makes getting home so much more rewarding. It’s funny and scary and awesome all rolled into one. Every single trip!” 

Justin Fiske, justinfiske.com

“I’ve got a small moth-eaten collection of bikes that probably class as a disorder of sorts,” laughs artist Justin Fiske. “I suppose technically my collection has been as big as eight at times, but bikes come and go, as does the capacity to ride, store and maintain them. In my life I’d take a stab at 20 in total. Currently I’m in remission at about four plus bits and pieces.” Justin has been riding since childhood, in his own words, “always and all over”. Among his cycling feats, he recounts carrying a bike on a bike, transporting a Kombi’s engine truss on a recumbent bicycle (a bike ridden while lying flat on your back), and landing in a motorbike courier’s lap in central London (and living to tell the tale). He regularly takes his daughter Wren to school on his recumbent bike. “Sometimes she wears her sunglasses, which is hysterical… and given the choice she always chooses the bike.” While he is able to wax lyrical about the joys of cycling, Justin is just as vocal on the downside: “The worst part about cycling, I suppose, is ‘non-cycling’. You cycle next to that everywhere you go here. I’ve been judged, disrespected, humiliated, attacked, made angry, made angry and made angry. I suppose I’m ok with being an outlaw or an outsider, particularly if it might be because you’re a touch ahead of the game. But generally cycling has been a crazy-useful tool for fulfilment.” 

Gareth O’Brien, velobrien.com 

“I once rode home from Camps Bay at sunset on a balmy autumn evening. My route took me past a synagogue in Sea Point. There were young Jewish men joking about outside and I could hear a beautiful hymn coming from inside and it struck me that it was so similar to my Christian church. I rode on through town and out through District Six where I stopped above the city at dusk to listen to a muezzin reciting his call to prayer. It was just spectacular. My first thought was ‘What other city on earth offers such a beautiful and diverse experience?’ and that was quickly followed up by the thought that I wouldn’t have had that experience if it weren’t for the bicycle.” Leather bicycle accessory designer Gareth O’Brien cycles every day. “I prefer it to driving,” he says. “My daily commuter is a single-speed straight handlebar road bike but I have a fleet of bikes on rotation depending on the situation.” The single speed is a 1986 Peugeot Le Mans road bike frame that he found among a pile of old frames at a second-hand bicycle shop in Plumstead. “It was the right size, but in a bad state. It looked perfect to me. I had it powder-coated in a dark grey colour. All the other parts on the bike were collected or inherited from various bikes, shops or Gumtree ads. It has vintage Campagnolo Record hubs and a very short repurposed stainless steel shop-fitting pipe as a handlebar. It’s also dressed up with Velobrien custom-made red leather grips and a saddle. It was the first bicycle I built myself and is therefore very special to me.”

Aidan Bennetts, aidanbennetts.co.za

“A bicycle is a machine in its purest form, using your own strength to propel you forward. It is the direct transfer of energy into movement,” says TV-celeb and designer Aidan Bennetts, who still makes use of his car to get to town, but uses his bike once in the city to get to all his meetings. “It is a single-speed bike with back-pedal brakes, custom built by Woodstock Cycleworks. It is minimal and clean: matte black with a gold chain. I wanted an old-feel frame, so I hunted and searched the internet until I found the perfect old French frame. I had it restored and epoxy-coated.” Aidan has had the bike for two and a half years. After an accident a year and a half ago, he now rides with a helmet. “There are risks involved. You have really got to be aware of the traffic on the road.” Aidan has gotten to know his bike’s quirks by now. “When you brake fast with the back pedal brake system, the bike spins to the right, so I try to stay aware of my surroundings and to anticipate braking.” He loved cycling as a child and remembers his first bike, an old-school yellow BMX in the mid 1980s. “The simplicity of riding only dawns on you later. Push. Pedal. Go! I like the slipstream effect, the wind rushing past me, the ease of movement.” 

Anthea Moys, antheamoys.com

While artist Anthea Moys doesn’t cycle for transport or recreation, cycling has formed part of her artistic practice, which involves performance in public space, on at least two occasions. In 2006, she rode the 94.7 Cycle Challenge – on a stationary exercise bike! “The performance provoked reactions ranging from encouraging cheers, to shouts of ‘fucking loser!’ This interruption was an attempt to open up a space of play in a highly structured event. For me, play is free movement within the constraints of a structure, and it feeds off that structure to create its own rules.” More recently, Anthea did a performance in Geneva, Switzerland, where she raced against a team of seven cyclists. The performance forms part of her ongoing project entitled “Anthea Moys vs The World” where she goes to a city and challenges the city’s teams to a series of contests. “I did indoor cycling for two months to prepare for the performance and it was one of the most terrifying and challenging things I have ever done!” 

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With the last week of the 100th Tour de France upon us, and our very own Daryl Impey becoming the first South African to wear the yellow jersey, we have good reason to overlook cycling’s lycra-fashion faux pas and get into these cool bicycling illustrations. Designed by French illustrators Roman Bourdieux and Thomas Pomarelle, Cyclemon depicts the weird and wonderful personalities of cyclists and the bikes they choose to ride. Which one are you? If you can’t identify with one, you may have a problem rants VISI’s Debbie Loots.

Listen, if you don’t own a bicycle by now, you may have a problem. You’re not in with the in-crowd, you’re not hipster and if that’s not all: your cycling friends, who are cool and green, grow beards and push those damn bicycle pedals, even up the steepest of city hills, may find your urban car parking problems boring.

And, the worst is, now the lot may think you don’t have a personality. Because, you see, when they jokingly jostle each other about their various Cyclemon alter egos, they may turn to you, quiet little you and frown. They suddenly don’t know you, can’t place you! Are you a cougar, a warrior, a grand pa (God forbid!), a baby doll, a gangsta, a freestyler? Maybe a weirdo, or a fake? Geez, it’s better than nothing! Then they just look away, shake their heads. And sigh.

So, if this is you, quiet little you, get up, get out there, get on a bike and be someone!

Cyclist, faker or couch potato, you can order screenprints on the Cyclemon website cyclemon.com.

Cyclemon from Thomas Pom on Vimeo.

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A South African custom-bicycle designer? Creating carbon-fibre two-wheelers based on the client’s biometrics and taste, as well as input from a sports science engineer, Cape-based Calvin Botha is proof that our design industry is raring to go.  

Who are you? 

A true romantic and eternal optimist; passionate about life, design, bicycles and cycling.

What do you do? 

I’m a freelance industrial designer, specialising in bicycle frame and cycling product design, as well as technical maintenance of bicycles.

How did this happen? 

I finished studying industrial design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2011. In 2012, I opened my own bicycle workshop and used its profits as seed capital to design and make two carbon-fibre bicycle frames. Using the shop and frames as portfolio pieces, I applied at various bike companies. I was eventually approached by Trek, one of the biggest bicycle manufacturers in the world. The rest, as they say, is history.

What makes your bikes special?

Every customised racing bike is as unique as the rider who commissions it. The geometry of the frame is tailored to the most efficient biometric position and the feel of the bike is fine-tuned to bring out the rider’s individual strengths. Once a final shape is chosen, the frame’s foam core is hand-crafted to exact specifications. When the core passes the final inspection, that’s when the magic is applied in the form of epoxy-reinforced T700 carbon fibre. Eight layers and six weeks later, what emerges is a functional work of art dying to shred the trails

coroflot.com/calvinbotha

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Tell us about the brief and design process behind the unique trophies you designed for this year’s Cape Argus Cycle Tour.

The client approached Carrol Boyes (who sponsored the trophies) with some specific requests – they had something figurative in mind with cyclists, the flora and fauna en route, and so on. I worked with laser-cut stainless steel because it’s light, it has a kind of machine aesthetic that I thought tied in well with bicycle materials, and one can use laser-cutting in such an illustrative way. 

The trophies consist of three layers of steel: The front two show the cyclists circuiting while the back plate  depicts mountain silhouettes en route as well as stylised, sprocket-like king proteas. The trophies are quite big too, about 60cm high. I hope they become emblematic of the event, in the way the iconic Giro d’Italia and Tour de France trophies have of their respective events.

Did you ride the Argus?

No… My grand ambition is just being able to cycle to the nearest café, on a cute bicycle with a basket, preferably while looking like Audrey Hepburn. If I ride something with two wheels, I prefer there to be an engine attached!

Do you have any predictions for local design trends in 2013?

I think some of the trend forecasting boils down to a self-fulfilling prophecy, so I’ll settle for 1970s-inspired fibre art meets Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal in the hope that it will catch on. 

Trends I wish would go away: Fake lime-washed beach-house paraphernalia and endless variations of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” meme.

Who are your favourite South African designers? Where do you draw your inspiration?

I don’t really know how my inspiration works. It seems to be something like this: My skills + techniques and materials I’m aware of + rebellion and humour x totally random catalyst ÷ practicality and resources.

Local designers that often make me go “I wish I’d made that!” are Haldane Martin, Lyall Sprong and Dokter & Misses.

Do you have a design mantra?

If it doesn’t make me smile, then it isn’t working. Lopsided smiles and evil grins are acceptable.

Where are you from, and what is your background?

I’m from Cape Town. I studied jewellery design, which was a great technical training and it it teached me a lot of discipline, but I was drawn to sculpture, industrial design and other fields. I’ve had all sorts of jobs, including working at a florist and a foundry.

What do you get up to when you’re not in a studio?

I garden – I like growing herbs and trying to concoct herbal goop in the kitchen, read, draw, tinker with my motorbike, watch too much TV…

Where is your favourite lunch/coffee/hang-out spot in the city?

Rose Corner Café in Bokaap for very early morning koeksisters (breakfast of champions!) and Olympia Café in Kalk Bay for everything else.

Find Holly’s designs on her Facebook page or carrolboyes.com

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