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Design Indaba magazine keeps it young

Posted on May 15th 2011

Back in the day youth might have been wasted on the young. But the latest edition of Design Indaba magazine proves otherwise.


There’s probably never been more belief in the abilities of the youth to affect the changes the world so needs, than right now. Increasingly the most inspired ideas, innovations, solutions and thought leadership is coming from the under-35 crowd.

In the Design Indaba Q211 Youth issue we gauge the creative temperature of a generation of pioneers, revolutionaries and out-the-box thinkers.

With the abundance of young creative talent we unearthed in our search for the very best, we found it impossible to select only designer to create the cover of the Youth edition. Fortunately, experimentation is at the heart of creativity so we went with three different covers for the same magazine. The colours used in three designs is the only factor that Laduma Ngxokolo, Adam Hill and Says Who all considered in their designs, with inspiring results.

We eavesdrop on a conversation between Maarten Baas and Christien Meinderstma, where they discuss integrity, success and alternative ambitions. From New York, Amelia Black considers Dror Benshetrit’s analogy of modern dance for aesthetically luxurious design. From luxury to sustainability, in Brazil Fibra Design Sustentál are rethinking the material world and investigating ways of reducing the environmental cost of quality design.

Photographer Paul Ward captures the creative essence of some of the most successful young South African furniture designers and makers in the Made shoot.

Zooming in on creativity closer to home, we look at Shy the Sun’s brand of quirky fantasy and how it’s broken commercial boundaries. Daniel Friedman asks if it is really possible to out hip a hipster, looking at the photography of Sean Metelerkamp, Musa Nxumalo and Chris Saunders.

Art school dropout Zander Blom is rocking the traditional art establishment in South African, while Renée Rossouw and Laduma Ngxokolo are exploring the abstract art of pattern making. And we meet West Coast forager Kobus van der Merwe, who has a unique approach to locavore cuisine.

Emerging from a creative identity crisis, local illustration is more than just a little illustrious. We also chat to Rahle Dusheiko who, with Pixel Project, designs experiences that blur the line between the physical and digital worlds.

Presenting the best of youth culture and creativity: Design Indaba Q211 Youth is on sale. It’s available at selected Exclusive Books, Woolworths and other stockists, or online.

Dror Benshetrit

Since 2002, Dror Benshetrit has developed an interdisciplinary practice specialising in innovative design projects. His approach to design has shown breadth and depth through the completion of projects varying in scale and nature. His portfolio encompasses product design, architecture projects, interior design, graphic design and art direction.

Fibra

Fibra is a sustainable design studio comprising four university peers: Bernardo Ferracioli, Pedro Themoteo, Bruno Temer and Thiago Maia. Together they started out in 2005 at the Business Incubation Unit of the Rio de Janeiro State University Superior School of Industrial Design.

Maarten Baas

Dutch designer Maarten Baas was born in Arnsberg, Germany, in 1978 but moved to The Netherlands in 1979, where he grew up. Upon graduating from high school in 1995 he began his studies at the prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven. Baas designed the candleholder Knuckle, which was taken into production by Pols’ Potten, while he was still studying.

Christien Meindertsma

Christien Meindertsma graduated from the Eindhoven Design Academy in 2003. Exploring products and raw materials in unusually thoughtful ways, her work aims to regain an understanding of processes that have become so distant in industrialisation.

Laduma Ngxokolo

Born in Port Elizabeth in 1986, Laduma Ngxokolo had his first hands-on experience of textile designing in 2003 when he studied at Lawson Brown High School.

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