Quarter 01 / 2002

Tantara! Drum roll… “After a challenging but exhilarating first season, the Design Indaba team is thrilled to bring you issue five and year two of Design Indaba Magazine®!!” drum fade out…

Wow! Who would of thunk it? It’s so exciting to be finding so much creative inspiration right here at home. The world out there is certainly taking notice of South African creative directions – we even picked up some silverware from the Folio Show in New York as well as at the Pica Awards in Jo’burg in our first year. The problem is just finding space in each issue to accommodate all that’s happening in design!

Be that as it may, we press on in our quest to provide you with the freshest, most inspiring content. Just remember we can’t make it work without your input! So mail us with suggestions and, yes, even criticisms.

Did I say something about a drum roll? Fashion Indaba in this issue takes a trip down memory lane to the razzle dazzle of Sophiatown in the 50’s and the look of an era that was captured so beautifully by Drum Magazine and is being given a sexy revamp in the noughties by Johannesburg fashion house Stoned Cherrie. The look is so timeless and so hot, Ms Jackson (yes, Janet) used it as inspiration for her ‘Don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ video. Can anybody say “SA original?”

We’re a bit in love with Johannesburg at the moment actually, visiting it again in Community Indaba and searching for modern perspectives on the city as both a result of and inspiration to visual creativity. We convinced three of South Africa’s top creatives (Rodney Place, Johan van Wyk and Muzi Kuzwayo) to give us their takes on Egoli, place of gold. I believe you’ll think of Joeys differently after reading what they have to say.

In Portfolio, we persuade Mark Farrow to let us take a sneak preview of some of his attention grabbing and award-winning work. The design master will be one of the speakers at the 5th International Design Indaba® on February 27 & 28 and March 1 2002. This event promises to be an even bigger success than before with a line up of design luminaries and commentators that includes Lewis Blackwell (Brand New Thoughts) and Hans Bernhard (Virtual Indaba). Both feature in this issue of Design Indaba® Magazine.

We hope to see you at the 5th International Design Indaba®. For a full line-up of speakers visit www.designindaba.com.

Okay, that will be all for now. Enjoy this issue and best wishes for a creatively inspired 2002 to you all!

Enjoy. - Taweni Gondwe