[Design Indaba 2015] Introducing Make. Change

Design infiltrates every aspect of our lives: it is in everything we interact with, all that we see and almost everything we touch. From the chair you are sitting on to the screen on which you are reading this to that dinner you had at a restaurant that made you experience flavour in a new way, design exists to enhance our experiences and streamline our lives.

Design Indaba's 2015 creative campaign seeks to showcase the stories of people who actively Make. Change. - not by creating elitist designs for the 1%, but those who find creative solutions to everyday problems for the 99%. They do this to better a life, beautify a street, uplift a community or just make someone smile.

The aim is to tell the stories that matter: the ones that will brighten your day or inspire you to go out and do something worthwhile. So, share your story! Or if you don't have one yet, go find something that needs fixing, bettering or beautifying, come up with a creative way to do it, document your #makechange moment and share it with us on the Design Indaba Facebook page.

You are not crazy for thinking you can change the world. You are crazy if you don't try.

Some of the Make. Change. projects you can see at Design Indaba 2015:

• The Haven: Rebranding what it means to be homeless - The redesign of The Haven's website provides a platform where the residents can promote themselves and their skills.
  
• BOOK.exCHANGE - In partnership with The Bookery, Design Indaba's BOOK.exCHANGE project is a call for people to donate their previously loved books. These will be sold at the stand on the Design Indaba Expo floor with all proceeds going to support Kannemeyer Primary School.
  
• CREATe.CHANGE - Design Indaba sent out a challenge to some of South Africa's most exciting artists and creatives to take Leg Studios' three-legged, flat packed birch Carry Tables and transform them into works of art. Visit the CREATe.CHANGE stand at Design Indaba Expo and choose a table that captures your attention. Write down your bid (minimum bid is set at R1,500) and drop it in the slot. All the funds from the sale of the Carry Tables will go towards improvements at the library of Kannemeyer Primary School in Grassy Park.
  
• Doodle for a Difference - Design Indaba have partnered with 1000 Drawings to encourage everyone to put pen to paper in a conscious way and help make a difference to local communities, and take part in the mass doodle session on Friday 27 February at 14:30. The doodles will then be auctioned for just R100 at a one-night-only art sale, Night of 1000 Drawings, where all proceeds will be donated to a worthy cause.

For more information on Make. Change. go to designindaba.com/makechange.