Part of the Project
From the Series
Artymiss is a design studio that creates bespoke, laser cut stationary. We spoke to founder Pauline Irvine about the design and creation of her stand:
“I wanted to show off the cards individually as little artworks, so it seemed fitting they should each have their own little 'exhibition space', hence the boxes.”
The boxes were also individually lit, so each cut-out cast its own interesting shadow. The side walls of the stand doubled up as storage for the stock.
Irvine recruited her sister and brother-in-law, Catherine Irvine and Nic Coetzer – both architects – to help her in a brainstorming session to come up with ideas for her Expo stand that would serve to show off her paper productions at their best. The stand took an architect Peter Neokorides (of Green Way Interiors) a week to build.
"Pauline designed a comprehensive stand that was not only attractive in its design but it also showcased her products to perfection. The lighting detail, not only for the product but also as decorative lighting, made the stand extremely easy on the eye and allowed the product to stand out," said interior designer Robert Sherwood, who judged the award with fellow curator of Expo's homeware category, Katy Taplin. "We loved the colour of the various display boxes and how it complimented the artworks."
This was Irvine’s fourth Design Indaba Expo; she launched Artymiss in 2012.
“It was my best expo yet. My sales increased by about 40% since last year’s, and I had a lot of new interest from local and international buyers. In general the reactions and feedback from people was overwhelmingly positive. I’m so happy to win the award! I feel very honoured to have won, and I'm so excited to have won a free stand for next year!”
Artymiss is based in a studio in central Cape Town and the products are sold in various outlets around the city.