So this weekend was Design Indaba time in Cape Town and I took myself off for a photo walk… at the Cape Town International Convention Center…

This is really a showcase of local design in almost every area…

With wall to ceiling recycling…

Literally!!!

One word just springs to mind – texture every where: stones, slatted wood, woven thread, folded paper, corrugated cardboard, leather, glass, concrete, leather, shells, gold, ceramics and recyclables…


























How were these funky t-shirts…


And hot-hot seller: The Consol Solar Jar… Folks were buying these faster than you can imagine!!! A Consol jar with a solar panel on the lid and a lightbulb. or outdoors/indoors whenever. They did look fun!!!

And if you follow me on on Pinterest you will know I am mad about pallets… had to catch the pallet trolly.

Ilovebokkie shelves – fun!!!

I know my avid pencil sharpener would love this giant pencil!!!

And how cute are these quick witted t-shirts for tots… nice thick fabric and each one a different and funny “something” to read – by babygross…


My kids would love and adore these stools. Seriously how clever and colorful are they!!!


Not my kind of thing – but impressive artwork… this is leather – amazing!!!

Andy Cartwright HomeWare had some fabulous shapes and colors going on … loved the crispy colors of their products!!!

House and Leisure had a fabulous looking stand… there were crates of course, which just made it for me!!!

And loved the dripping paint!!!

Totally loved Violet’s Walk…


And Visi’s dot art was fun!!! Blessed relief that some stands were having fun and there was something to do other than walk around and look – a vast improvement from previous years.


And I have a child or three that would totally love a wildlife bag!!! Love!!! From Kiddies Over the Moon.

My daughter could have spent hours at the Cape Town College of Fashion Design Stand… hours!!! I think we have to put up wall of design in out house!!!

And take a look at these tins and local products… all made of beads by MonkeyBiz Bead Project – incredible!!! They totally reminded me of our kitchen collection of tin cans – just the arty version – incredible!!!


Like I said… lots for people to actually do this year, even art jamming was there!!!

And I loved the packaging for this little tot shoes – how cute are these containers!!!

These umbrellas by Afrosol were just darling!!! Love them!!!


And CupCakeCountry was just too sweet for words!!!

Would you look at the fridge magnet zoo biscuits!!!

And onto my favorite product of the whole Indaba… I am a sucker for laptop bags… and I discovered the ultimate… made from recycled cement bags – how cool is that from Wren Design… totally, totally, totally love them!!!



And a final lift to my happiness factor – a wall of post-it-note suggestions:

What can I say: If this is what Cape Town has to offer the world of Design, then I love it!!! Definitely worth an afternoon stroll of discovery!!!

That looked like a divine outing! I love things like that! Would be nice to have supplier names and contacts on many of those!
Hi TJ, Happy Monday!!! It was fun, if not a bit exhausting!!! Think VAST and thousands and thousands of people… just my type of thing!!! I have to say: Very first comment and you caught my one gripe, which means I probably wasn’t the only person to have this problem!!!
If I saw a product I liked I thought I would be able to look it up in the visitors guide when I got home… Well no!!! Possibly the most useless visitors guide on this earth – If you know where the stall was exactly amidst the thousands, then you could get the store number from the map and then search through the alphabetical list of stalls to find a name to match the number and then google the name – impossible and frankly annoying. I am sure there are clever folk who could turn “the visitors guide” into an actual guide… I have about a million suggestions!!! Next year…
Meanwhile I literally spent hours trying to match products to a link or a website… If I was show casing my products there I would like to know that there is no way for visitors to get back to me and find my product – unless they picked up a card as they walked by.
Thanks for noticing and giving me a chance to – um – share!!! Have a great day!!!
Amazing! After all that visual stimulus I should imagine you had to lie down in a darked room. My head would be buzzing with ideas (and maybe my purse would be empty) So much caught my eye in your photos that I don’t think I could single out one thing above the others. What a treat for you.
looks like it was inspiring!
Hi Cheryl… It was exactly like that!!! What you didn’t see in the photographs was the people – millions and billions of people!!! It was a great treat to just walk around and snap some snaps… I purposefully didn’t take money with me – I new it would be the end of it!!! Lots of loveliness everywhere!!! Hope you are having a fun week!!!
Hay Tammy, It was a great show, lots of fun and so much to see!!! Really tons and tons of fabulous stuff!!! Hope you are having a good week!!!
Freak out that was a cool ride! Thank you!! Will go look again now!!!
Dear Corli… You are so right there!!! Stuff to see as far as the eye can see… well forever really, very fun!!! Hope you guys have a great week!!!