#DesignIndaba: Glittering er design lights

Opens with Michael Wolff

Wednesday 23 February opens with Michael Wolff, co-founder of design firm Wolff Olins and current head of Michael Wolff & Company. Wolff has worked on numerous global brands and, on his website, he says "developing a brand is more about revelation than positioning". He sounds like somebody worth listening to (Bizcommunity.com will let you know in due course).

Dana Arnett, CEO of VSA Partners (whose client list includes Harley-Davidson, Coca-Cola and Nike) and prankster/improv artist Charlie Todd (most famous for the annual No Pants! Subway Ride event) are both on the billing for Wednesday, as is local design hero Richard Hart from disturbance design studio.

Thursday 24 February opens with what the promoters describe as lessons in creative entrepreneurship from Jody Aufrichtig and Nick Ferguson, the duo behind the development of Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock and the Grand Daddy Hotel; Brad Armitage and Rui Esteves, co-founders of beer salon ⋃ and Jen Bilik of US-based gift and stationary designer Knock Knock.

Kiran Bir Sethi, designer and education reformer from India and the woman behind the global "Design for Change" contest targeting schools and encouraging kids to help transform their communities, will hopefully offer inspiration to those seeking solutions to a dysfunctional education system. Dutch creative director and curator Renny Ramakers, meanwhile, "focuses on creating interaction with the public, new collaborations, tools and systems", which is certainly something the local design community need to engage with to a greater extent.

David Butler the big Thursday draw

But the really big draw on Thursday will probably be David Butler, who serves as VP global design at the Coca-Cola Company. His job description includes leading the global design function and building a design culture for Coca-Cola. Butler will be followed by another well-known name, Alberto Alessi, president of Alessi Spa, the famous houseware brand.

Friday morning 25 February shifts the focus to design in emerging economies, with the first session seeing Mexican architect Pedro Reyes and fashion designer Carla Fenrandez, product design collective Fibra Design Studio from Brazil and Lowery Stokes Sims, curator at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, sharing the stage for discussion.

The South African man behind the popular Linux-based operating system Ubuntu, Internet billionaire and self-funded space tourist, Mark Shuttleworth, will follow, talking tech while typography fanatics will look forward to type designer and "typographic experimentalist" Oded Ezer.

Ever wondered what a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (WEFYG) could possibly have to say? Well, you stand a chance to find out from Danish designer and WEFYG-leader Jens Martin Skibsted.

Mystery speaker

Robert Wong, creative director of Google Creative Labs, and a mystery speaker will round off the conference.

Trend forecaster Li Edelkoort is not on the conference programme (unless she is the mystery speaker) but her Trend Seminars will be taking place in Cape Town (26 February) and Johannesburg (28 February). At R800 a pop, she'd better improve on last year when she opined on the "bordello of the 21st century" - apparently the future holds one-stop f*ck fun for the entire family (yeah! - remember to take the kids).

The Design Indaba Expo opens this Thursday evening to delegates and Friday through Sunday to the public. A kids programme will be available, featuring Zapiro and Heath Nash, among others.

Design Indaba Filmfest

Don't forget the Design Indaba Filmfest, which kicked off Friday 18 February and runs to 27 February at the Freeworld Design Centre. Tickets are a steal at R30. Screenings take place at 6.30pm and at 8.30pm.

The festival is headlined by the Banksy-directed, Oscar-nominated documentary, Exit through the Gift Shop. The film's authenticity as a documentary has been questioned but it is still managing rave reviews all round.

Valentino: The Last Emperor (which the NY Times described as "a little like gorging on chocolate and Champagne until that queasy moment arrives when you realise you've consumed far too much") and L'Amour Fou, about Yves Saint Laurent, will also screen at the festival. Animated gem Chico and Rita by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal and The World of Buckminster Fuller, the acclaimed 1974 film on futurist Buckminster Fuller, comes recommended.

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