The winners of the 2019 100% Design South Africa Awards have been announced, including this year’s South African Designer of the Year.

The event, held from 7 – 11 August 2019 alongside Decorex Joburg, showcases a selection of top local designers across a variety of disciplines, from textiles and furniture to homeware and lighting.

The winners were chosen by an independent judging panel, including VISI Deputy Editor Annemarie Meintjes, Creative Director Tracy Lynch, architect Nisha van der Hoven, interior designer Tristan du Plessis, Ntombenhle Shezi of Kaya FM and Malibongwe Tyilo of Maverick Life.

The award for South African Designer of the Year was jointly awarded to Thabisa Mjo of Mash. T Design Studio and Mpho Vackier of The Urbanative.

South African Designers of the Year: Thabisa Mjo of Mash. T Design Studio and Mpho Vackier of The Urbanative, with 100% Design South Africa’s Creative Director Cathy O’ Clery.

Here, in no particular order, are the seven category winners:

Best Furniture Design: Preservation Bench by Houtlander for AHEC

Preservation Bench by Houtlander for AHEC

Best Textile Design: Ronel Jordaan

Best Lighting Design: Memphis Lighting Collection by Wiid Design and Ceramic Matters

Best Surface Design: MAXHOSA wallpaper by Laduma Ngxokolo

MAXHOSA Wallpaper by Laduma Ngxokolo

Best Product Design: Raw Studios for Inhouse

Best of 100% New Talent: Sifiso Shange of Afri-Modern, in collaboration with John Vogel

Best Stand: Wolkberg Casting Studios and Jacobs Collection

For more information, visit 100percentdesign.co.za.

The post Winners: 100% Design South Africa Awards 2019 appeared first on Visi.

Getting back into work mode after a relaxing break? Start your year off on a high note by giving your workspace an update. From stationery and desk accessories to headphones and lunch essentials, we’ve found 12 options for you to browse.

1. 2019 Ultimate Planner R499.99, Typo

2. standup Laptop Stand R192.98, Raw Studios

3. Ampersand Clipboard R340, Prestwich Collection

4. Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Bottle (500 ml) R489, Zoku at Yuppiechef

5. Tower Tablet Rack R399, Yamazaki at Superbalist

6. Metal Scissors R149.99, Typo

7. Beats by Dr Dre EP On-Ear Headphones R2 399, Takealot.com

8. Banana Sticky Notes R159, Mustard at Superbalist

9. The Pen Bag – Spruce R150, Skinny laMinx

10. Moleskine Writing Classic Roller Pen 0.7 R205, Takealot.com

11. Ellipse Duo Lunchbox R379, Mepal at Yuppiechef

12. Manila Folders (5 pack) R99.99, Typo

The post 12 Back-To-Work Buys appeared first on Visi.

As Africa’s largest decor, design and lifestyle exhibition, Decorex never fails to offer visitors anything and everything they might need for a full home revamp, from wallpaper and floor cladding to fridges and kitchen sinks.

The ever-popular Johannesburg segment of the trade show took place at Gallagher Estate Convention Centre from 6 to 10 August 2014.

By far the most impressive aspect of Decorex was this year’s inclusion of 100% Design South Africa, a showcase of inspiring local designers. Just about every stand in this section offered quality design and excellent craftsmanship, but if we have to pick, here are few of our favourites: 

• Street design darling Atang Tshikare demonstrated his disciplined line drawings live, between chatting to visitors and selling some of his smaller prints. The self-styled surface designer and graffiti artist has sky-rocketed into the public eye with his customised sneakers, furniture collaborations and public murals. His work at 100% Design was part of a series for Robin Sprong Wallpaper, a stand that turned out to be a fantastic place to meet other impressive talent.
• It’s here that we came across the work of Debby van der Veer, whose soon-to-be-launched brand Blandat pushes the parameters of drawing and textile design by fusing disparate imagery, such as foliage, flowers and hand grenades, with sensuous textures.
• Long-time favourites Dokter + Misses (in association with VISI) collaborated with Swazi-based Gone Rural and Dauphin HumanDesign Group to create a contemporary workspace design that contrasted sleek, urban lines with organic shapes and textures. RAW also offered interesting design solutions for a fresh and clean office space.
• Bronze Age, meanwhile brought in a strong masculine elements with its brutish figurines and studded bronze bowls.
• Other notables were Meyer von Wielligh with their nature-inspired furniture pieces (which won best furniture design), MUD Studio with its amazing take on texture and surface design and Vogel for its minimalist, flowing organic pieces.

The post Trends: Decorex / 100% Design South Africa 2014 appeared first on Visi.

It’s safe to say that most offices are drab and, let’s be honest, overflowing with brown melamine.

If you think your workspace (be it at home or at the office) is in need of a little TLC, you should probably take a look at the trendy new Offis™ range from Pretoria-based RAW studios.

The range includes open workstations, storage options, cubicles, discussion tables, ottomans and mobile laptop tables.

With its classic and practical aesthetic, we think this collection will refresh a dated home office (or collaborative workarea) in no time.

From 6 – 10 August 2014, you’ll find RAW Studios at Decorex in Joburg.

For more information, visit rawstudios.co.za

The post New Range at RAW Studios appeared first on Visi.

February is here and since 1995 that has meant one thing for South African creatives: Design Indaba. The three-day conference from 26 to 28 February, followed by the three-day expo from 28 February to 2 March are both at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

This year, with all the World Design Capital 2014 celebrations, there’s a few more competitors than usual jostling for our attention that weekend – both Guild Design Fair and Cape Town Art Fair. However, there’s no denying that Design Indaba was the first and what put our city on the world design map to begin with. With that in mind, we’re expecting the monolith to pull all the stops this year. So we say: do all three! It’s not World Design Capital in Cape Town every year, after all. 

As always, founder Ravi Naidoo and his Indaba elves are being very tight-lipped about the Design Indaba Conference line up and of course there’s no programme in sight yet. However, UK architect Thomas Heatherwick (who can forget his Olympic Cauldron or his Seed Cathedral?), Japanese product designer Naoto Fukasawa, US graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister and SA’s design-obsessed novelist Lauren Beukes pretty much seal the deal for us. Lesser known but not lacking in talent are Dutch product designers Scholten & Baijings and Mexican architect Michel Rojkind, not to mention US architect Clive Wilkinson who designed the Google headquarters. 

Yes, three architects make that quite a focus this year. There also seems to be a food emphasis with SA chefs Margo Janse and David Higgs taking to the stage. SA art is also featured prominently with David Goldblatt, Nandipha Mntambo and Zanele Muholi all on the bill. Of course, there’s always that one obscure speaker that no one has ever heard of that just steals the show… Who’s it gonna be this year? 

Maybe this year it won’t be a person, but a satellite event? For the past couple of years, the Design Indaba Film Festival and Music Circuit have been slowly building up momentum. Going quaintly retro, this year the film festival is offering an old-school drive-in-style experience at Maiden’s Cove for the first few nights, before relocating to an open-air cinema at the Cape Town Castle. No info on the music circuit yet, but keep your eyes on our February Social Diary for regular updates. 

How to survive Design Indaba Expo

But, back to the convention centre, where the Design Indaba Expo often gets flack for having too much craft. Believe it or not, however, it’s exactly these intricately handmade smalls that buyers from international chain stores travel across the world for. It’s huge overseas – just here in SA that we feel so over-exposed. Forgive the crafters; be proud that they’re bringing money into the country and creating jobs.

Instead, get the most out of the expo by following our survival guide:

• Whatever you do, don’t go on Friday, especially not in the morning, as there are hordes of school kids, queues that snake out the building around the block and no parking because the conference delegates got there first.
• Start with the Emerging Creatives section – don’t leave it to the end and rush through it. One of Design Indaba’s best-kept secrets is that, time and time again, these young local designers fresh-out-of-school steal the show.
• Every year, the expo presents a centerpiece exhibition and this year its called Africa Is Now, an exciting expose of design from the rest of the continent. We spoke to coordinator Kelly Berman in the new WILD DESIGN issue of VISI.
• Next hit the fashion boutique, which often has end-of-season and show-only prices on distinctive pieces. And, if you’re prepared to risk your must-have number still being there, by Sunday afternoon designers are even ready to start bargaining prices down.
• In fact, Sunday afternoons are completely underrated – the crowds have decreased, prices become negotiable and at 5pm they announce the winner of the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa, which is another must-see exhibition on the floor. You can also vote for your favourite.
• There are a few exhibitors that are reliable frontier-pushers, so do stop by the Western Cape Furniture Initiative with its genuinely original, contemporary wares from local designers, and last year’s Most Creative Stand winners Thingking (who we made a little video about here). We’re also excited about the Walter Battiss homeware range launching and it’s no secret how much we love Wintec’s flatpack rhino table (also featured in the new WILD DESIGN issue of VISI).
• Finally, relax with a cocktail from the Fine Brandy by Design bar, made specially for the event by Peet van Straaten from Raw Studios.
• If then, you still have energy, you can go trawling the smalls stands for that one-of-a-kind objet de arte that everyone else missed and becomes the talking point of your home and wardrobe – don’t you just love those shopping finds?

VISI will be tweeting all three days of the conference, and we also have a stand at the expo where we are giving away two Pierre Cronje chairs (find out how to win them here).

The post Design Indaba still the biggest appeared first on Visi.

So that you haven’t seen-it-all-before, old exhibitors promise new wares and the fair boasts a bevy of new exhibitors. Among these is a curated selection of traditional crafts and high-quality produce from the spectacular Route 62 region in the Western Cape. Once you’ve tasted your way through the port, jam, brandy and olives, make sure to run a hand across the woven blankets from Barrydale Hand Weavers and take a moment to marvel at the recycled chandeliers by the Magpie Collective (some of which hang in the White House!). 

As always, one of the highlights of the design section is the access it offers Joburg shoppers to Cape Town designers such as the organic furniture of Meyer von Wielligh, the hip designs of Dark Horse, the funky accessories of Pichulik, the oh-so-desirable leather ware of Missibaba, the paper magic of Simple Intrigue and the evergreen fabric prints of Skinny Laminx. The Shaw Sisters will represent from Durban, David Krynauw from Mpumalanga and Raw Studios from Pretoria. 

Joburg favourites Mia Widlake, Snapp Design, L’Mad Collection, Goet and Ceramic Factory will also be there. Excitingly Anatomy Design will be launching their new smalls range.

On the food front old favourites such as Richard Bosman and Yswara tea will be back, alongside new exhibitors that include Italy’s pesto champion, Roberto Panizza, as well as Tutto Food Co’s gourmet Jozambique concept. Wine aficionados can enjoy the best from the Cape Winelands with Spier, Meerlust, Newstead and Hermanuspietersfontein as well as new-comer Marvellous Wines.

As sponsors of the fair, Sanlam Investments welcomes these inspirational experts who have honed their skills to create such a rich array of bespoke art and produce. They recognise that building wealth requires as much patience and craftsmanship as required by those who participate in the food, wine and design industries.

Tickets cost R80 (kids under 12 enter free) and are available at the door at Hyde Park Corner and online at www.webtickets.co.za. With so much to see and do. visitors can come back time and again and discover something new each time. What’s more, in a nod to the hipsters, visitors who cycle to the fair will receive 50% discount on the entry price!

For more information www.foodwinedesign.co.za

The post FoodWineDesign this weekend in Jozi appeared first on Visi.

Make your bedroom a sanctuary with this shopping guide. Says KC Greenhouse: “Upholster your old headboard and bed base to give it a fresh look.”

The post Give it a rest appeared first on Visi.

For those of us not born with amazing carpentry skills or aspirations, there are now ways to cheat. DIY for dummies. 

Are you not handy enough to make your own furniture from scratch but still want to feel you have some part in creating the piece you’ve put on display? Flat-pack furniture is just right for you. The Klik birchwood modular shelving and cupboard system by Raw Studios can be adjusted to suit everything from an office to a child’s room; the Dokter and Misses Flexi Desk is a basic unit to which various attachments, including a noticeboard and a drawer, can be added; and the hand-turned oak coat rack by Harry Parr-Young makes great use of under-utilised wall space. 

The post Flat -pack frenzy appeared first on Visi.

Continuing our popular post on funking up your office to enthuse your motivation for work, here’s a second shopping guide to transforming your working space with sleek, functional accessories. Says KC Greenhouse: “A dedicated, organised home study or office will help you work better.”

It’s easy to let your home office or study slide into chaos, but keeping clutter at bay is key to staying focused and organised. Find dedicated files and folders for documents and clippings and label them clearly. Have one consolidated to-do list – either on paper, digitally or as a bulletin board – and eliminate random notes and scribbles cluttering up the space. Ensure you have enough packing space for books and files by putting up a shelving unit or getting a small chest of drawers.

The post Cool office: Part 2 appeared first on Visi.