ITC

Along with the Design Indaba we have just had the Infecting the City festival all around Cape Town. The five day long Spier Public Arts Festival was themed "Treasure" this year and had many hidden surprises around the city. I enjoyed how the festival aimed at turning communal areas in the city into stimulating, creative and truly public spaces and putting socially engaged performance and art on the streets where it is accessible to everyone. It is 
great that the general public was exposed to performance and musical expressions that underlie the rich cultural diversity of our society and that are seldom seen outside of the communities in which they originate. 

Ever tried, ever failed. No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett

radiohead lotus flower

i think this is wonderful

Good Design

What makes good design?

Each individual interprets design differently and any design, no matter how good (or bad) can be seen either way as it all boils down to personal preference, aesthetic prefer ability and taste. “Good” design, however, should include several factors:

Form and function: Every design has to have a balance regarding form and function. Forms need to relate to each other and make sense as a whole as well as benefit and compliment the objects function, for example, a jeweller can manufacture a very complicated ring with a rare abstract form, not often seen but this ring has to be comfortable, lightweight and wearable.

Aesthetics: Good design has to have some sense of aesthetic attraction. It should intrigue the viewer and attract attention with its beauty and interesting quality. Colours, materials and production methods all need to be taken into consideration in order to have an aesthetically pleasing end result.

“The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being.” Dieter Rams

Honesty: Good design is honest. This is a very simple factor, as it does not make the product/ design any more innovative, valuable or powerful than it really is. And does not attempt to manipulate the consumer/ owner with promises that cannot be kept.

Functionality: All design, whether product design, jewellery, architecture or fashion should be functional. Without this quality, how can we call it design? How easily it can be worked with and related to, is it easy to use? And can it be worn in a comfortable fashion?

Less is more: Good design is simple. Concentrating on the essential aspects and not ‘cluttering’ allows for clean cut and effective products. This way we are not distracted and overwhelmed.

There exists a fine line between good and bad design, and often people misunderstand the few fundamental steps needed to take in order to arrive at ‘good’ design. Nowadays design is often abused in a sense, as people do not apply these few fundamental factors, which results in clutter and nonsensical products. Understanding these factors, applying them and getting to know them inside and out will result in successful design, and a happy world!

sailor sam

I cast this one last year from a plastic button and then blackened it to get the 'weathered' look. I like rough around the edges, it somehow always seems more interesting- like there's thousands of stories hiding there waiting to be discovered.

This one's name is Sailor Sam. Say hi. :)

UBER

So so beautiful. Illustrated porcelain rings by Australian artist Abbey Seymour.

LOVE them.

delicious ring monsters!!

I found these bizare rings on the carrot box, they remind me of little monsters made of cake. Their delisciousness intrigues me in a way that makes me want to get to know each and every one of them, like they have specific characters and like they can become your friends. I love their abstract forms and how they're completely unpredictable. These are definite keepers!