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Conference Talks

Watch the full talks from Design Indaba's world-renowned 24-year Conference in this archive of videos going back to 2006.

From our archives: Michael Bierut on how to think like a designer
Conference Talks • Design Indaba Conference 2015 • Duration 00:39:15
Michael Bierut runs us through some of his major projects and the thought processes behind them: a rare opportunity to get into his award-winning mind.
  • Watch
    What is the data behind #MeToo really telling us?
    Design Thinking
    In her research, graduate Ellie Frymire looks beyond the tweets to delve further into what people are really saying.
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Keenan Wyrobek's Zipline Watch
    Keenan Wyrobek on saving lives with drones
    Craft / Creative Economy / Design Activism / Design Thinking / Industrial Design / Product Design
    “Doctors shared with us their torment at losing patients they knew how to save. They knew the treatments. They just didn’t have the supplies.”
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Rodrigo Garcia Gonzales Watch
    Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez on tackling the world’s problems with creativity
    Craft / Creative Economy / Design Activism / Design Thinking / Food Design / Information Design / Product Design
    Gonzalez shares his method to coming up with creative solutions to everyday problems.
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Yuri Suzuki on sound design Watch
    Yuri Suzuki on combining his passion for music and design
    Craft / Creative Economy / Design Thinking / Music & Sound Design
    The Japanese sound designer shares how he finds “order in the noise.”
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • tin&ed Watch
    Tin&Ed on work that fosters togetherness and celebrating the unknown
    Graphic Design & Illustration / Interaction Design / Music & Sound Design
    “The unknown in our practice is the most fertile place, and we love the unknown."
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Pascale Theron on the Design Indaba 2019 stage Watch
    How ostrich feathers are uplifting Oudtshoorn's economy through design
    African Design / Architecture & Interiors / Craft / Creative Economy / Design Activism / Design Thinking / Fashion & Jewellery Design / Industrial Design / Product Design
    Pascale Theron's work looks at breathing life into the vulnerable ostrich farming industry in Oudtshoorn, South Africa.
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Precious Plastics Watch
    Dave Hakkens on tackling the planet's waste
    Creative Economy / Design Activism / Design Thinking / Industrial Design / Product Design
    “When I start something I like to start with a problem.”
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • david droga Watch
    David Droga on why he is still optimistic about advertising
    Creative Economy / Film & Animation
    “Linear and logical people make the world go round, but it’s the creative people who make it worth living in."
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Wanuri Kahiu on stage at Design Indaba Conference 2019 Watch
    Wanuri Kahiu on using film to talk about Africans as joyful and radiant
    Art & Photography / Creative Economy / Film & Animation
    “I realised that there is more images and more stories of joy than there is of remorse,” Kahiu says of her search for African stories of joy.
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Watch
    IKEA ÖVERALLT: In the designers' words
    African Design / Architecture & Interiors / Product Design
    At Design Indaba Conference 2019, the group of African designers share the motivations behind the products they dreamed up and realised.
    Design Indaba Conference 2019
  • Ini Archibong 00:09:45
    Designer Ini Archibong on merging myth and reality to create The Secret Garden
    Craft / Product Design
    The ECAL graduate spoke about overcoming a difficult time, his design process and the importance of fulfilling a higher purpose.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:29:28
    Danish designer Johannes Torpe on the power of design to create universes
    Architecture & Interiors / Craft / Creative Economy / Industrial Design
    “To create a universe around our products we actually have to take it out into the hands of the people who have to use it."
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:29:40
    Zach Lieberman on using human gestures to bring his work to life
    Art & Photography / Information Design / Interaction Design
    The coder and artist speaks on his collaboration with Design Indaba and projects that have stayed close to him.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:26:22
    Graphic designer Natasha Jen poses six questions for design thinkers
    Graphic Design & Illustration
    During her Design Indaba Conference talk she expands on her thinking since declaring: Design Thinking is Bullshit.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:25:55
    Morag Myerscough on transforming spaces with colour and embracing the unknown
    Graphic Design & Illustration
    The London-based designer takes us through her work that’s added colour to hospitals, public spaces and more.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:33:08
    Landscape architect Peter Veenstra on the importance of bringing nature into our cities
    Architecture & Interiors
    Veenstra, of LOLA Landscapes, talks us through three projects including the Dome of Plants, planned for the City of Cape Town.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Design Indaba 2018 00:24:28
    Lonny van Ryswyck on the importance of looking after our diminishing resources as designers
    Design Thinking / Product Design
    In her 2018 Design Indaba Conference talk she takes us through her projects including, A World of Sand, where people donated sand from all over the world.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:23:24
    Martha Cotton on the growth and influence that design has on business
    Design Thinking
    “My clients have started to really look towards the way me and my design colleagues look at the world and solve problems."
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Tony Brook 00:00:00
    Graphic designer extraordinaire, Tony Brook, on his studio’s creative journey
    Graphic Design & Illustration
    The founder of Spin Studio shares his creative wisdom with the Design Indaba audience.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • 00:40:47
    Ensamble Studio on building flexible, stackable spaces and working with nature
    Architecture & Interiors
    "When we look at nature we want to learn from it, we want to build with it."
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Design Indaba Conference 2018 00:40:21
    Edel Rodriguez on childhood, nationalism and a nation on fire
    Art & Photography / Design Activism
    The Cuban-born illustrator was dubbed "America’s Illustrator-In-Chief" by Fast Company.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Alejandro Aravena at Design Indaba 2018 00:53:50
    When a natural disaster occurred in Chile, Alejandro Aravena and his team set out to rebuild the city
    Architecture & Interiors / Urban & Landscape Design
    The architect tackles the reconstruction of a city through public participation.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Shaakira Jassat at Design Indaba Conference 2018 00:08:07
    What a cup of tea teaches us about the value of water
    Architecture & Interiors / Design Activism
    Shaakira Jassat's ThirTEA for One project highlights the hidden footprint in the lifecycle of the products we consume.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Aleksandra Gosiewski at Design Indaba 2018 00:06:54
    The maker of Algiknit talks seaweed fashion and the next stage of biotech
    Fashion & Jewellery Design
    Aleksandra Gosiewski's work touches on sustainable ways to fix the disconnect within the fashion industry.
    Design Indaba Conference 2018
  • Watch
    What is the data behind #MeToo really telling us?
    Design Thinking
    In her research, graduate Ellie Frymire looks beyond the tweets to delve further into what people are really saying.
    Design Indaba Conference 2019

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