The Story Behind the Skin

VISI has partnered with connectivity brand rain to showcase and celebrate the new generation of South African creatives. VISI selected 12 designers and artists, and rain commissioned each to create a piece for rain’s new series of 101 skins.

WORDS Steve Smith PHOTOS Craig Ferguson

If you haven’t come across one before, a rain 101 skin is a decorative, interchangeable adhesive cover designed exclusively for rain’s 101 5G smart router. It allows you to customise your router’s look to match the interior decor of your home or office – and thanks to the skins’ modern, easy-to-apply-and-remove material, you can change them as often as you want. For some of our 12 talented young creatives, it was about creating a piece specifically for the device. For others, it was focusing in on elements of an existing piece of furniture or art.

Here’s the story behind each of the 10 skins in the rain | VISI collection. Visit rain.co.za for more info.

Kaylee Higgins, By John; Designer

Being quirky, colourful and joyful defines By John. How did that translate into your rain | VISI skin?

“I wanted the skin to be unapologetically By John, so I went straight for our signature bold pink-and-red stripe. It’s playful, eye-catching and recognisable. If you know By John, you’ll know it’s us before you even see the logo.”

How would you describe your approach to design? What inspires you?

“I just want to have fun! My goal has always been to spread joy through my designs, so I create pieces that I know will make people smile. Life is serious enough, and I think a home should feel happy. I’m inspired by bold colour, unexpected combinations and not being afraid to take risks.” | @byjohn_

Ndivhuho Rasengani; Visual artist and sculptor

What principles guide your work?

“My practice is guided by curiosity, care and a respect for materials. I try to understand what a material naturally wants to do before imposing a form upon it. Movement is central to my process: how bodies travel through spaces; how objects hold memory; how light transforms perception. I want to create work that’s considered and precise, while still leaving space for discovery and interpretation.”

How important is connection in your creative practice?

“Connection is fundamental to my work. I understand making as a conversation between the personal and the collective – between my experiences, the places I have lived, the people I have encountered, and the histories carried through materials and gestures. Heritage is not fixed or purely historical; it is continually reshaped through movement, migration and exchange.” | @r.asengani

Leah Rolando; Photographic artist

Your work explores colour, abstraction and, to a degree, illusion. What inspired the art you used for your rain | VISI skin?

“The skin itself became part of the brief. It’s a square format with an opening at its centre, so the artwork couldn’t be arbitrary; the composition had to hold itself around that area while still feeling intentional. I went back through a recent body of work, looking for a piece where the geometry would sit comfortably within that frame – and this image did. The abstract subject worked with the router’s format rather than fighting it, and its palette of blues, yellows and pinks felt right for rain. In a way, choosing it was its own act of composition: seeing an existing work through the constraints of a completely new surface.” composition: seeing an existing work through the constraints of a completely new surface.” | @leahrolando_art

Zinhle Sithebe; Illustrator

Storytelling is baked into your vibrant, characterful illustrations. What story are you telling through your rain | VISI skin?

“The design is called ‘Hold Space for Your Dreams’. It’s a reminder to practice compassion for yourself – to give yourself permission to slow down, be aware and protect your vision from self-doubt, using intuition to seek the things that spark joy in your life. The hands in the design hold the heart, which represents holding space for yourself and nurturing the things you care about while highlighting inner joy as the goal, represented as a sun motif in the centre of the design. I hope to encourage others to practise mindfulness and be intentional about pouring into themselves positively through imagination and play.” | @zee_feels

Bonolo Chepape, Lulasclan; Designer

Bold colours, patterns and thoughtful storytelling underpin Lulasclan. How did those qualities influence the skin you created for the rain | VISI collection?

“I see homes and personal spaces as a means of self-expression. They act as living archives of pieces, memories and parts of us that tell the story of who we are. With this skin, I created a design that remembers who I am as a visual storyteller, while inviting curiosity for the collector. I chose colour combinations that fit with how colour impacts our lives and influences our feelings. The tones drawn from nature are met with a considered playfulness that energises us and sparks a remembrance of our kindred nature. It’s a design that should complement other objects within an interior, creating a relationship that blends functionality and art, yet still holds a conversation of its own.” | @lulasclan

Nindya Bucktowar & Nikhil Tricam, Studio Kalki; Furniture designers, ceramicists and artists

Studio Kalki balances sculptural form (and oft en ceramics) with craft smanship. How did you translate that approach into a two-dimensional skin design?

“Ceramic surface design affords us the opportunity to create perceived depth through glazes and forms. In the case of the skin design, we took inspiration from our iconic Fynbos patterning, adding deep, translucent glazes to the forms. Each piece was then waterjet-cut and individually glazed, so that the sense of depth is emphasised.”

What ideas or influences sit at the heart of your design practice?

“We try not to be driven by trends or pure aesthetic appeal – rather, we aim for a sense of refi ned, craft ed authenticity and a celebration of the process of making. Our colours, forms and concepts are oft en inspired by natural elements or historical architectural principles, emphasising structural honesty and tactile engagement.” | @studio.kalki

Caitlin Warther & Wendy Dixon, Spectrum Mirror; Designers and artists

Spectrum celebrates luminous colours and alchemical processes. How did you approach creating a skin for this collaboration?

“When rain approached us, we knew pretty quickly that the mirror itself had to lead the design. What we do at Spectrum Mirror is work with gradient chromatic mirror surfaces. Those surfaces are endlessly alive – they shift and catch the light differently depending on the time of day, the angle, who is standing in front of them. The colour lives within the mirror itself, moving through tones as the light changes. So the real puzzle was how to bring any of that quality to a vinyl skin, which is pretty much the opposite of everything we usually work with.

“We went through many ideas that did not quite get there. What eventually clicked was surprisingly direct: we photographed the actual mirror panels and used those images as the design. There’s something we love about that solution – it goes all the way back to the source material. The result is quite simple but bold, which feels very us.” | @spectrummirror

Sipho Khwebula Twala, Khwebula Arts; Furniture designer

Your work celebrates traditional craft through contemporary furniture. How did you bring that philosophy to your rain | VISI skin?

“This piece combines Nigerian and southern African Nguni culture, using ancient Nigerian Nsibidi symbols for journey, and the popular Nguni diamond patterns and shields. It’s about Africans on a journey of discovering that together we can go far. And yes, craftsmanship plays a huge part in my creative process. It’s the heart and soul of my creativity, because when I draw a piece, I’m already building it in my head – and while drawing it, I’m also planning what machinery I’ll use to create a certain joint or pattern. When I design, I don’t just draw; I’m also planning the entire production process in real time. Part of being a good designer is learning and mastering the art of building your own designs.” | @khwebula

Ryan Olivier, Vitalli; Furniture designer

Vitalli’s work is known for its materiality, craftsmanship and sculptural forms. How did that manifest in the piece chosen for the rain | VISI skin?

“We decided to pay homage to pieces that feel most synonymous with the brand. By analysing these alongside our key brand pillars, we began to uncover the direction that would best serve the brief. We wanted to harness a feeling of familiarity while curating curiosity and delight. The challenge was translating that into a 2D format, because Vitalli pieces rely on light, shadow, tactility, form and presence to communicate the depth of the work. To overcome this, we turned to scale and abstraction, playing with form, rhythm and materiality.”

What are the core ideas that underpin your practice?

“Instinctive. Elemental. Authentic. Our pieces are familiar, as though they have always existed and are being rediscovered through an abstract lens. The work is rooted in nature and in an honest approach to materials. We celebrate the character of the materials we use, leaving our pieces unsealed so they gain a natural patina with age. The markings they gather tell the story of their journey through life, making no two the same. We respect the process and a slower, more intentional way of making. We design collectable heirlooms that get passed down through generations, rejecting the throwaway culture.” | @vitalli.design

Amy Rusch; Multidisciplinary artist

How would you describe your artistic language?

“At the moment, materially, I work with waste plastic packets and thread, discarded sails, ropes, rocks and sediment. I’m drawn to materials that might easily be thrown away. Plastic is the material of our time, if I think about time folded upon itself in stratigraphic layers. These materials coalesce into a language that I’ve grown to understand as a sort of vibratory translation process. The works become pieces that feel like ‘sound drawings’ or ‘fields of energy’ – tiny dots and lines of thread repeated to form interconnected surfaces. The thread feels like a tool for drawing, but that drawing isn’t limited to a surface mark – the mark extends through the layered plastic, and the works become sculptural, depending on the resolution you’re looking from.”

What inspired the work that you are using for your rain | VISI skin?

“The piece is titled ‘The wind inscribes – reverberations of a Kalahari thunderstorm, 2024–2025’, and forms part of a larger body of work that’s been guided by the wind. The work itself is inspired by the experience of a thunder and lightning storm in the Kalahari. The stitched work in blue is connected to the marks inscribed into a piece of red sailcloth I flew in the Kalahari storm, filled with dust, lightning, thunder and eventually rain in the dry desert landscape.” | @amy.rusch

Win with rainOne unlimited

Stand a chance to win 12 months of new rainOne unlimited: unlimited 5G home wifi and unlimited mobile with the 101™ 5G smart router and LoopPhone™ free-to-use, all worth R11 940.