Thoughts from Design Indaba 6 - Day 2

Stephan Sagmeister

Dream projects such as CD covers for Lou Reed, David Byrne and the Rolling Stones, coffee table books and fashion catalogues have been forsaken by NY based designer as/frivolous/secondary/impotent. What can a designer do now? Move from cool things to significant things/proactive campaigns aimed to redirect Pentagon spend into education and healthcare/insider info reveals 150,000 Hiroshima type bombs on earth/5 could effectively destroy the planet/design to inform, unify, raise funds, make a difference.

Tholane Qobela

Far removed from the coalface of war/acclaimed Director of Strategic Planning at O&M JHB in powerpoint/what makes you black?/quest for identity/taste and furniture that fits into smarties (multicoloured RDP housing) and starter packs(townhouse/cellphone/urban lifestyle)/ Afripolitan trends/Oprah/the Bold and Channel O/Get the look!

Neville Brody

No introduction necessary/no work to show/critical juncture for our industry for the history of mankind/we need clear vision/ to redefine our function as designers/as human beings/work Vs world around us/Polarisation/1 or 0/up or down/life or death/war or peace/global anxiety/uncertain future/fear/acceptance of the status quo/clients cancel projects..."till what?/'till war?/'till end of war?/'till peace?/spend $100 billion on arms to leave people starving/Starbucks or Star Wars/M&M or CNN/wear the badge/join the club of global cultural mediocrity/our planet has all we need for the welfare of all if we just have the willingness to share it out/love/feel/take risks/act now for a better future/peace

Simon Sankaraya

Nottingham UK Digit design/7 years/22 staff members/clients MTV case studies/monumental scale/substantial body of experimental work not commissioned by clients/space manipulator par excellenc3e/pureInteractivity/staggeringly beautiful work/social contributions: working on a project to get kids out of the criminal justice system and a public funded community art project collaboration with the sole objective of promoting & creating good art/ now there's some worthy causes/digital aquariums at the Design Museum/changing data/intelligent everything/ watch this space..

Fabio Ongerato

There is no such thing as unique Australian design but there is design from Australia/ a risk averse corporate culture (well that's a relief and we thought it was only us)/design objective: to give a unique look, voice and language to each client that is unmistakably theirs/rigorous thought/determination to excel/cross pollination of fine art photography and unexpected image/space /looking outwards/images of fashion, architecture, passion/=/need to help, participate and educate the community in which you live in order to have a better place to li/ove and work and enhance the appreciation of good design.

Ozwald Boateng

Bespoke Couturier and assistant Charlotte in an on stage Q&A session/"whatever comes easy in life - stick with it"/early marketing strategy - to walk up and down Portobello Road in one of his designs till someone asked if they could buy it/fulfilled his dream of having a shop on Saville Row/ambassador for the historical home of tailoring in London/design philosophy: taking something old and making it new/to transform and celebrate the birthplace of the suit to meet the aspirations of the 21st century MAN/spin-offs: the Paris fashion shows/designs his own suiting fabric in vibrant colours/interior design for Bentley/video game design/opening of a new York shop in conjunction with Sir Terence Conran/launch of a women's bespoke parfume/with secret ingredient - Heliotrope - and double atomiser - push that envelope, dahlin'

Stefano Giovannoni

12 hour flight and heavy Italian accent did not detract from the inspiration derived from this icon of popular culture and design ;teacher at Florence faculty of Architecture and master professor at Domus academy in Milan/this guy has cred, cult objects for Alessi in the FIGURATIVE (using a figure) NARRATIVE with the objective that "everybody could understand"/the very pinnacle of consumer merchandising/ "leetle man" cut-out homewares, cactus in a pot (the merdolino - little shit) toilet brush holders and a plethora of assorted plastic and steel designs to die for/ his design is directly responsible for the sale of 100's of thousands of units of his merchandise globally.