"ama.xhosa.click"

The "ama.xhosa.click" is a product design i have been developing for about two months now intended for RDP homes in South Africa. Essentially the design consists of three standard cardboard profiles that are cut out of 6mm thick "DW4" corrugated cardboard sheets and which are then slotted together by the end user and combined in different ways to create either a table, a bench, or a stool. The profiles may be flat packed into a 30mm thick cardboard wall cladding so that when not in use, they only take up approximately 0.087 square meters of the limited 40 square meter metro house;)

multifunctional. simplistic. low cost & practical\

100% paper...

PaperStone is an architectural solid surface composite material that is made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper! The material is manufactured by a South African company called StoneTech who also manufacture quartz surfaces such as Technistone. The recycled sheets of paper are combined with petroleum-free, water based resins and once saturated, are fused together under heat and pressure to create composite panels in thicknesses ranging from 6mm to 31mm. Ordinary paper is transformed into an incredibly strong, non-porous, heat resistant and durable solid surface material that has a Class A fire rating and actually enables a building project to acquire LEED points in certain categories...

The possibilities in application are endless and PaperStone can be used both internally and externally. The product may be used for countertops, restaurant food prep surfaces, tabletops, joinery, window sills or even indoor or outdoor wall cladding and is easily workable using CNC routers with no special fabrication equipment required.

100% recycled content. 100% earth friendly:)

http://www.stonetech.co.za/

http://www.paperstoneproducts.com/

David Graas...cardboard furniture:)

David Graas is a Dutch designer whose work is "best characterised by its combination of humour and material experimentation"....Im so into cardboard right now and will be using this amazing material to create my product design range for the second semester:) David's designs make use of simple profiles that merely slide and slot together like a puzzle...the furniture parts come flat packed and costs are kept low by encouraging the end users to actually assemble the pieces themselves. Graas has also developed a children's version enabling kids to assemble their own items whilst learning and having fun in the process:)

cardboard office...how cool?

This is an office in Amsterdam where all the furniture is made entirely of cardboard!

In the images below you can see a staircase, boardroom table, ballustrading, desk, and bookcase all constructed from old cardboard pieces that make up the office interior of a creative agency called "Nothing".
The cardboard structures are not only functional but also provide a "blank canvas" on which people can leave their mark:)

Really cool use of an exciting material that offers designers endless possibilities... i love it..

I should really blog more...

my life = stressed

I do apologise for my serious lack in blogging but right now there is just too much to do, too little time!
One more week to go until design portfolio and we have to present to our biggest audience yet...eeek..
But first i have to make it to portfolio in the first place... and that means some sleepless nights and too much
red bull ahead:(

I have a lot of work to do in a week and the image below pretty much sums up how im feeling right now..

Contemporary Xhosa..

Laduma Ngxokolo is a fourth year textile design graduate from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University who developed a Xhosa-inspired knitwear collection in 2010, which was showcased at the Design Indaba earlier this year. Ngxokolo's collection interprets the aesthetic of traditional Xhosa beadwork into a range of men's knitwear intended for those experiencing the initiation ritual who are known as "amakrwala".

I decided to use this inspiring knitwear collection as a case study for my design proposal as the interior created will aspire to the same design solution:- traditional Xhosa aesthetic reinterpreted into a contemporary medium...acknowledging the cultural past whilst recognising modern advancement:)

Let me let you in..

Firstly, apologies for my lack of blogging...
Secondly, although we are already quite far into the design process for our thesis scheme, iv been very quiet over the past month and feel i need to take you back to the beginning and order my thoughts...

So what am i working on this year?

My thesis scheme focuses on social uplifting for a disadantaged community through design. My project will take on two directions under this one common theme:

1) the spatial design of an aftercare facility         2) the product design for RDP housing. 

The chosen community for my project is the Gqebera township (better known as Walmer township) situated in Port Elizabeth.

(s p a t i a l   d e s i g n)

For this I have chosen an existing strucure within the township which I will transform into an aftercare facility for Grades 1-3 school going children. The idea is that of supervised interaction and educational stimulation within a protected environment. The facility will include:- a cafeteria, library, homework hall, arts and crafts classrooms, extra-lesson classrooms, a training room, occupational therapy unit, counselling rooms, and outdoor play areas. unemployed women within the community may be trained to run the facility and thus community development may be achieved.

(p r o d u c t   d e s i g n)

multifunctional product designs will be developed for the RDP home which offers limited space for families.

Through the organisation of these products, a series of possible interior solutions may be achieved, creating a uniqueness of place, despite the indistinguishable exterior of the building structure.

putting it all in context (the walmer township...

dreams of flying..

I came accross these inspiring photos and thought id share them with you:) They form part of a series of photographs called "Dreams of Flying" by award winning German photographer Jan Von Holleben and i loved how such a simple concept and a change in perspective could become so effective..

http://worldphotocollections.blogspot.com/2010/09/creative-and-inspiring-photos-jan-von.html

something to remember..

"..The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.." Eleanor Roosevelt