Design Indaba :: Portal

Design Indaba Trust is a not-for-profit initiative (a Section 21 Company) that is dedicated to design education in South Africa. It spearheads the Design Indaba Workshop Series that is held through the year at the countries leading tertiary institutions. To date it has hosted workshops involving leading international designers at all the major metropoles of South Africa, and is now increasing its scope to include advocacy and public programmes (D-Day or National Design Day is the principal platform).

One of the Design Indaba®'s objectives is to help develop a fresh and unique South African design tradition. There is an incredible opportunity to leverage off of the goodwill generated by the Design Indaba & Expo and run developmental projects in parallel with the flagship event that is held in Cape Town at the end of February.

Our Mission

To help develop a fresh and unique South African design tradition.
To expose our design institutions to the best design educators in the world - to inform the public as to the importance of design to our economy, our culture and way of life.

Our Aim

To present the field of design as a viable vocation and career option.
To help develop South Africa's national design tradition from a grassroots level.
To improve employability of design students by granting them exposure and opportunity.

Why?

To help develop South Africa's national design tradition from a grassroots level.
To improve their employability by granting them exposure and opportunity.
To contribute to the economic upliftment of Cape Town as a whole.

How?

The Trust develops workshop programmes in collaboration with academia and international design educators like Irma Boom and Lucille Tenazas.
These workshops are week long interventions, that focuses on a defined product eg. A magazine was produced by Durban design students, and was distributed at the World Conference against Racism. Beyond design, the workshop attendees follow the full production process to finished product which they can include in their portfolios.
The Trust mobilises the creative industries for resources in terms of materials, time and intellectual capital, and raises fund via the private sector.

Who?

The Trust will be steered by a committee of industry professionals dedicated to development in design.
The Design Indaba Trust is a Cape Town Major Events Company initiative.
The Marketing, Advertising and Design (MAD) fraternities.

Design Indaba Trust
A better future, by design