Overview of #dayone of DIXIV (Design Indaba XIV)

The last week of February has become synonymous on the global calendar as being the time when the world's design evangelists foregather at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), for the conference known internationally as Design Indaba. Lessons, many, various and thematic were presented yesterday, Wednesday, 23 February 2011, by both the established legends of the design world and those in the making. View twitterfall

OUT OF THE STRONG CAME FORTH SWEETNESS_Tate & Lyle

Falling squarely into the former category is Michael Wolff with, among many others, examples such as the VW blue disc, Audi's four rings, the P&O shipping lines flag and the One & Only hotel group logo as his claims to legendary status. He describes corporate identity as helping 'organisations express themselves in their own particular way, for the benefit of anyone they're involved with'.

Under this definition there can be no conformity of approach. He uses the ironic example of Tate & Lyle Golden syrup which, to this day, depicts the carcass of a dead lion surrounded by flies on its label! Try getting that through your review board.
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IF THE WHEEL WAS INVENTED 8000 YEARS AGO, WHY DID THEY ONLY PUT THEM ON SUITCASES 30 YEARS AGO?_Michael Wolff

Of all Wolff's vast body of work, it is photographic essays for Oxford University and Pyjom which offer most contemporary relevance. A Russian lending bank, run by women and aimed at people with few resources, communicates powerful branding messages by depicting ordinary Russian people and cultures in their communications. This seems all the more courageous an approach in a world of blue bank, green bank, red bank and the pervasive idealised "wallpaper" imagery most people have come to expect from their financial institutions.

"Photography is a wonderful medium," says Wolff simply. Having seen his work, I would wager that a revival of the art of powerful, emotive photography – unseen for a long time in our local communication campaigns – would be a welcome revival.

TRANSLATE A COMPANY'S EMOTIONAL CORE VIA DESIGN_Dana Arnett

Emotion is emerging as one of the key themes at the 2011 Indaba, I guess as an antidote to, well you know, everything. In this regard, the audience yesterday loved the presentation by Chicago-based Dana Arnett, who has the privilege of being custodian of two very great American brands - Harley-Davidson and IBM!

Harley is, of course, a brand which inspires an emotional response at a glance – whether fear, envy, nostalgia or a feeling of freedom. All imagery, ads, annual reports, retail dealership design inspire good old-fashioned, toe-curling emotion.

Neutrality is no longer an option in how your design is received.

And who among us has not worshipped at the altar of American graphic designer extraordinaire Paul Rand, who was at the peak of his powers from about the 1940s – 1970s and on top of whose myriad beyond-iconic imagery sits the entire graphic legacy of the 20th century tech giant IBM?

Having kind of got lost in the shuffle of Googles and Apples and Microsofts, in the past few decades, IBM has been reinvented by multi-disciplinary global teams to reflect the historical significance of the brand. The deep understanding of and respect to the genius of Rand's typographic and design legacy is apparent in every detail of the work shown by Arnett today, making this a textbook example of the cultural relevance to which even the most jaded of corporate brands can aspire via design.

ROLE OF DESIGN IS TO IMPROVE PEOPLE'S WELL BEING_Dror Benshetrit

I tweeted yesterday my opinion that Benshetrit is a contemporary da Vinci, definitely falling in to the legend-in-the-making category. He has all the sensibility, talking of poetry, physical and metaphorical transformation and emotional need in terms of his product and architectural design.

For starters, we loved the Wallchair, which transforms temporary furniture from space-intensive clutter to art and which turns into a folding chair for visitors with a flick of the wrist.

{{image:67107.jpg}}The brief to "come up with an idea to fit as many luxury houses as possible onto 135 000m² of island in Abu Dhabi" allowed Benshetrit to apply this transformational approach to architecture in the poetic Nurai Island project.

Recognising that the very definition of luxury is to feel as if you are the only one there, not one of 65 others, his concept was to cover the entire development in green "carpet" where multi-level dwellings become invisible, play with sea vistas or are suspended in space. The result, a sort of "Stephan Antoni meets the Hobbit", was approved by client on sight and sold out within 72 hours.

The most lyrical aspect is the submerged spa complex, which apart from having the most incredible glow of the surrounding turquoise ocean, faces into the current so that "when you have a massage, the building also get a massage".

A mastery of geometric structural form is also see in the QuaDror project, unveiled yesterday especially for Design Indaba after four years in development. An intersection of two L-shaped squares manifests a new building standard, giving all the strength of a full block but using only 20% of the material. They can be stacked to 86 units in height without collapsing and can be manufactured out of any material to be able to pack 1750 kits into a standard container, hinting at future improvements in disaster relief, large-scale delivery of low-cost or transitory housing solutions.

Ironically, the very structure of the assembled units is reminiscent of natural collaborative clusters, such as beehives and is perhaps heralding the beginning of us witnessing new ways of being on our planet en masse.

ROLE OF DESIGN IN PUBLIC POLICY MAKING_David Kester

Identifying that people are mostly more emotionally motivated than logically, via the example of the mass switch (90 million) from the brick phone to the iPhone as a deeply instinctive shift instigated by the brilliant behavioural insights of Apple, Kester and the British Design Council try to motivate for ways to "nudge social behaviour" in other contexts.

Trying to find ways to alleviate high human and financial costs in areas such as health care and crime prevention via design. Identifying that hospitals are very hard to clean and correlating this to the 37 000 European hospital deaths per annum, 99 000 US hospital deaths per annum and more than double those figures in the developing world, the case for relooking at solutions is undeniable.

To this end, new technologies have been employed in mattresses, bedside units, wheelchairs, cubicle layout, commodes and even new designs for hospital gowns (by none other than Hollywood fashion designer Ben de Lisi) – all playing their part in improving hygiene, patient dignity and wellbeing as well as nursing capacity.

From an African context, where you are lucky if you have a blanket, the political will to throw resources at these types of initiatives is what is always so touching about the UK case studies – they really seem to try and care.

The collaborative hive metaphor is again manifest in the process: patients, nurses, maintenance, orderlies, microbiologists, purchasers and infection prevention, among others, are all included in the process of deciding where best to allocate funding for projects. 2011 budget planners, are you out there?

The Western Cape MEC was in the audience yesterday, so let's hope he was inspired.

Another innovation which falls under crime prevention behavioural experimentation is the realisation that 4% of all deaths are attributed to alcohol abuse and that 12% of these deaths are via intentional abuse, ie injury via glass shards, and that these are even bigger statistic than HIV/Aids! To this end, two of the biggest glass manufacturers in the world are employing the same design solution used in car windscreens, which ensures glass shards do not cause more harm than necessary. This would be a great one for Consol Glass.

In the UK, the above kind of solutions is being embraced because they end up saving the taxpayer billions. Design is not nice to have; it is new way of looking at an optimally functioning society.

{{image:67108.jpg}}PEOPLE ARE PEACEFUL WHEN THEY DON'T LOOK TO THE WEST, WHEN NOT EXPOSED TO THE MEDIA, WHEN THEY DON'T REALISE THEY ARE POOR_ Francis Kéré

Somewhere they do not have these kinds of problems is Burkino Faso, a small landlocked country in West Africa from whence architect Francis Kéré originates. In this country, 80 000 people are illiterate, villages grow and shrink with necessity and colour changes in accordance with nature. Having been privileged to have the opportunity to study architecture in Germany, Kéré came back to try and raise funds to build a school.

AND SO WE MADE IT_ Francis Kéré

An incredible process whereby every element, from clay bricks to roof trusses, are hand-hewn and assembled by the villagers of all ages; where gravel floors are pounded by a sequence of strong men and their mothers wielding sticks and logs, beaten in time to music, to a mirror-finish and hand-polished to perfection; where natural ventilation from open spaces in the clay brick barrel roofs; where rain water is collected through downpipes to support vegetable gardens; and where every single member of the village takes ownership of the project till the last shutter is painted.

EDUCATION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE, PEOPLE IN THE WEST HAVE IT_ Francis Kéré

Since then, Kéré has been commissioned by his Highness the Aga Khan to develop a botanical garden; has designed the Centre de Architecture en Terre museum; and designed a rather stunning 200 hectare conference hall. He is also in the process of building a high school for 1500 students.

It was for showing the world how to build in a sustainable, aesthetic, inclusive way, with the most limited of resources, for his charming manner and ultra-refined sensibilities, but mostly for showing Africa as everything it can and should be, that Kéré yesterday received his standing ovation from an overwhelmed Design Indaba audience.

Conclusions

To maybe draw some conclusions, it might seem as if the shifts happening could be said to be from the static to the transitional, from rational to emotional, from singular to cellular.

Real designers immerse themselves in culture, emotion, spirit and materials.

Designers are passionate: they love things or hate them; they are never, ever indifferent. Indifference is the scourge.

Non-designers are mostly not even aware that they notice things on a subliminal level; designers are trained to understand these nuances, to steer culture, tone, emotion and aesthetic for the greater good and, under the right circumstances, they can bring any manner of life-enhancing joy to their surroundings.

Whether it is to increase revenues or for job creation, to improve mood and morale or to offer renewed hope in the future, design is the x-factor.

Lobby, tweet and network until you get someone to care - the design revolution in education, in healthcare and in telecommunications in Africa is almost at hand.