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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.
  • Dana Arnett 00:42:16
    Dana Arnett on the difference between good and bad design
    Creative Economy
    Dana Arnett talks about how designers emotionally and intellectually identify with the work they create.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Deborah Szebeko 00:16:24
    Deborah Szebeko on tackling social issues with creativity
    Design Thinking
    Deborah Szebeko looks at some of the ways that creativity can be used to tackle social issues.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Luke Pearson 00:16:07
    Luke Pearson on innovation, big or small
    Design Thinking / Product Design
    Innovation can be big or small, but for Luke Pearson design is about simplifying the world around us.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • David Kester 00:17:14
    David Kester on how design can nudge social behaviour
    Design Thinking
    David Kester talks about how design can be applied to positively nudge social behaviour, save time and lives, and boost the economy.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Michael Wolff 00:32:45
    Michael Wolff on keeping ideas disposable
    Graphic Design & Illustration
    Exercise your idea-creating capacity by throwing away good ideas. Michael Wolff explains how this works.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • 00:05:17
    Carla Fernandez: how heritage translates into fashion
    Design Thinking / Fashion & Jewellery Design
    With her Taller Flora label, Mexican fashion designer Carla Fernandez incorporates elements of her country’s heritage into the garments she designs.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Lowry Stokes Sims 00:20:35
    Lowery Stokes Sims on the Global Africa Project
    African Design / Art & Photography / Craft / Design Thinking
    Lowery Stokes Sims tells of the Global Africa Project, which unpacks the notion of a "global Africa" and its meaning in terms of art, design and craft.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Fibra at Design Indaba 2011 00:16:49
    Fibra: Design as a tool to change perspectives
    Design Activism / Design Thinking / Product Design
    Fibra are using design as a tool to change perceptions and ultimately change the world.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Improv Everywhere 00:38:16
    Charlie Todd on Improv Everywhere
    Interaction Design
    Founder of Improv Everywhere, Charlie Todd, talks about creating scenes of joy and chaos in public places to make people smile.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Lindsay Kinkade 00:07:16
    Lindsay Kinkade on combining art, design and public policy
    Art & Photography / Information Design / Urban & Landscape Design
    Lindsay Kinkade talks about using open-source methodology to make public policy, particularly the American healthcare system, more understandable.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Alberto Alessi 00:35:03
    Alberto Alessi: the godfather of Italian design
    Product Design
    Poetry and art meet function in Alessi’s extensive range of consumer products. Alberto Alessi shares the story.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Dirk van der Kooij 00:08:53
    Dirk van der Kooij on 3D printing and recycling
    Industrial Design / Product Design
    Dirk van der Kooij taught a robot to make comfortable chairs using 3D printing techniques and recycled plastic from discarded fridges.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Jens Martin Skibsted 00:32:06
    Jens Martin Skibsted on the evolution of bicycle design
    Design Thinking / Product Design / Urban & Landscape Design
    Jens Martin Skibsted has been “shouting cars out of the city” for a long time.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Pedro Reyes 00:19:42
    Pedro Reyes on making cities better
    Architecture & Interiors / Design Activism / Urban & Landscape Design
    Pedro Reyes tells of his “Palas por Pistolas” project that saw weapons being voluntarily turned in and transformed into garden shovels.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Laduma Ngxokolo 00:07:41
    Laduma Ngxokolo on his Xhosa fashion line
    Fashion & Jewellery Design
    Laduma Ngxokolo incorporates traditional Xhosa beadwork designs into his range of wool and mohair garments for men.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Karin Fong 2011 00:44:08
    Karin Fong designs title sequences
    Film & Animation
    In her entertaining talk Karen Fong shows how designing title sequences for films is about making transitions from the everyday to the fantastical.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Kiran Bir Sethi 2011 00:22:53
    Kiran Bir Sethi does it for the kids
    Design Activism / Design Thinking
    Feel it, imagine it, do it and then share it. That’s what Kiran Bir Sethi is urging children to do to make the world a better place.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Dror Benshetrit 2011 00:36:13
    Dror Benshetrit on collaboration, reinvention and transformation in cross-disciplinary design
    Industrial Design
    Dror Benshetrit launched his QuaDror structural support system at Design Indaba 2011.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Robert Wong 2011 00:46:51
    Robert Wong: How Google is adding humanity to technology
    Creative Economy / Interaction Design
    Robert Wong shows how Google is positively impacting people’s lives by adding humanity to technology.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Mark Shuttleworth on the benefits of open-source 00:37:37
    Mark Shuttleworth on the benefits of open-source
    Creative Economy / Interaction Design
    South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth talks about the Ubuntu Project, a free, open-source Linux-based operating system.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Francis Kéré at Design Indaba 2011 00:32:02
    Francis Kéré: African architecture should stop copying the West
    Architecture & Interiors / Design Activism
    African architecture should stop copying the West, engage the real needs of the people and regard the environment, says Diébédo Francis Kéré.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011
  • Troika on things that are tangible 00:35:02
    Troika on things that are tangible
    Interaction Design
    Design trio Troika talk about artefacts that are never purely functional and bringing things from the real world into the virtual world.
    Design Indaba Conference 2010
  • Martha Stewart on the endless possibilities of glitter 00:47:56
    Martha Stewart on the endless possibilities of glitter
    Craft
    The handmade and the homemade are two of the most important features of the work that Martha Stewart does, across a range of platforms and in various mediums.
    Design Indaba Conference 2010
  • The Blackheart Gang 00:17:39
    The Blackheart Gang: animation and the Tale of How
    Film & Animation / Graphic Design & Illustration
    Animators The Blackheart Gang talk about their diverse creative influences and the commercial value of animation.
    Design Indaba Conference 2010
  • Dana Arnett 00:42:16
    Dana Arnett on the difference between good and bad design
    Creative Economy
    Dana Arnett talks about how designers emotionally and intellectually identify with the work they create.
    Design Indaba Conference 2011

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