Design Indaba celebrates 10th anniversary

Helfet is considered one of the best car designers in the world, with the Jaguar XJ220 - one of the fastest production cars ever built - being one of his most famous designs.

Judged the best in the world by EIBTM in Barcelona, the world's most dynamic and illustrious creatives - graphic and industrial designers, architects, trend forecasters and more - will converge in the Mother City to address over 2000 delegates on the latest creations, trends and events in their respective fields at the conference.

Local and international representatives of advertising agencies, corporate marketing departments, movie production houses, architectural firms, the fashion and jewellery industries, furniture and lighting manufacturers and media will be in attendance.

At the vanguard

Expect to see presentations from designers at the vanguard of their respective fields - Daljit Singh, creative director and founder of leading interactive design company in the UK, Digit; music producer Brian Eno; and Dutch design company Droog partner Jurgen Bey. Also on the programme is multi award-winning photographer David Lachapelle, who began his career working for Andy Warhol.

In addition to the conference, the Design Indaba presents the Specialist Indabas, drawing emphasis to sectors identified as key areas of development in South Africa that would benefit immensely from creative injections. These two-hour sessions will run on 23 February 2007. The sectors represented here are Architecture, Fashion and Jewellery. Sessions are open to the public.

As part of Design Indaba's commitment to design education there will be a Young Designers Simulcast, which caters to young and emerging designers and students under the age of 25. It will involve a live broadcast from the main plenary session to a second auditorium designed to accommodate up to 600 delegates. To ensure that the students and young designers are able to access speakers, short, informal "chat" sessions will be planned during the course of and at the end of the day.

Home grown

The Design Indaba Expo, 23 - 25 February 2007, will run alongside the conference to give the public a chance to view the ingenuity, quality and variety of South African design.

This home grown, high-end exhibition of the finest in SA design gives visitors the opportunity to do drop-dead-gorgeous shopping with instant access to the designers themselves.

The 2007 event will be the biggest ever, with 67 brand new exhibitors who have never shown at the Expo before and with many designers launching their new ranges and products at the Expo. There will be a buying mission of 10 international buyers, supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), who will buy SA products for export. A few of the highlights are:

• A linger-longer Design Indaba Expo Birds Café, presented by award-winning designer Frauke Stegman of the original Birds Café in Cape Town
  
• A fashion concept where conventional ramp shows make way for gorgeous models who combine their display skills with dance, theatre, installations, live feeds and music. Fashion performances will take place all day, every day
  
• All-day South African music videos and short films on the big screen - in between the fashion showings
  
• Design Awards and talks for the public on the floor
  
• Live demos of DIY projects
  
• A series of motor vehicles will be "wrapped" in prize-winning graphic designs, with the graphics being printed out on big machines and applied to the cars right on the expo floor
  
• The opportunity to design your own t-shirt and then have it made in minutes, before your very eyes
  
• The world's largest wire-and-bead sculpture will be on the floor
  
• Interactive design and art projects that invite participation from visitors

Costs

The three-day conference costs R3995 (including VAT) with reductions for early bookings, academics, group bookings and previous attendees. Early bird bookings open 13 November 2006 and close 22 December. Thereafter, normal rates apply. Visit www.designindaba.com for a price list and registration.

Tickets to the Specialist Indabas cost R375/session and are available at Computicket. A full programme and speaker details will be available on the Design Indaba website from 20 November 2006.

A three-day ticket Young Designers Simulcast costs R850. Design Indaba is running a special offer - for only R995 young designers may acquire a Simulcast ticket and a year's subscription to the award-winning Design Indaba magazine.

Expo

Venue:
Cape Town International Convention Centre, Halls 1 & 2

Public opening hours:
Friday - 11am to 8pm, Saturday: 10am to 7pm, Sunday: 10am to 6pm

Tickets:
No pre-booking is necessary, and tickets are available at the door at a cost of Adults (R40), Students/Pensioners (R20), Under 18's (R15), Free Entry for Toddlers under five years.

For more information on the expo, go to www.designindabaexpo.com. For more information on the conference, go to www.designindaba.com.