The main purpose of design is to solve problems. Interior design, being a type of design, therefore also solves problems but usually focuses on inside spaces. Interior design focuses on how a space works (function), what it looks like (aesthetics) and the project cost (budget). Most importantly interior design makes spaces for people, which means the designer’s ability to understand what the client needs and wants is the measuring stick for project success. The people-centred approach is especially valid when designing residential interiors – someone’s home – as it is such a personal space. The following quote by Nate Berkus highlights one approach that both designers and homeowners can use as a style guide: “Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love brought together under one roof.”
Design trends often change, where we have at least one big trend surge every three to five years. Keeping up with them can be quite an expensive exercise, as furniture is one of the more expensive interior items. Letting the interior space tell the story of who you are, will help the design look current for longer, as you will be you regardless of trends.
One of the ways to stay true to your own taste but remain trendy is to mix the Traditional Style and Modern style, into something called the Transitional Style. Let’s unpack these separately:
Traditional Style
Image 1 Traditional European residential interior (reference)
The traditional style refers to styles from history, most often from 18th Century English and French interiors. Furniture from this style is curved and highly detailed mostly made of darker timbers and partly or fully upholstered in intricately patterned textiles. The tufted upholstery technique is the most recognisable having multiple button indents.
Modern/Contemporary Style
Image 2 Contemporary residential interior (reference)
In this specific context, it would be more appropriate to use Contemporary Style, as the Modern style specifically uses designs from between the 1920’s and the Second World War. Contemporary style is what is currently trendy, which changes with the times. Often the style looks clean and sleek, simple shapes and minimal colour, and uses innovative materials and finishes made available by new technology.
International Transitional Style
Image 3 International transitional residential interior (reference)
The transitional style blends the traditional and contemporary into a best-of-both-worlds solution. It balances old with new, comfort with technology, the body with the mind, the feminine with the masculine, and memories with current trends. It’s about acknowledging your past and bringing in the present to make a space for future you. Materials often contrast for example more traditional tufted upholstery and modern curved glass.
Tips for Transitional Style
Knowing the difference between the traditional and contemporary styles is half the battle.
Image 4 Furniture styles (reference)
Here are some additional suggestions, based on the Interior Design Guide by DecorAid:
South African Transitional Style
Image 1.4 South African transitional residential interior (reference)
The South African flavour of transitional style is fortunate to be able to add references to the traditional style from many different cultures thanks to the rich heritage of our rainbow nation.
How will you bring in your heritage to interior design today?
Written By
Leana Scheffer
Full-time lecturer for the Built Environment
Pretoria Campus
Creative block is any designer’s worst nightmare, which is known to affect work, performance, well-being or even all three! So, how does one deal with a creative block and is it possible to wake up from this nightmare? Before we discuss techniques to deal with creative block, the question that needs to be asked is, ‘why do we suffer from a creative block?’
There are multiple causes that can lead to a creative block and causes can vary from person to person. Most common causes those who are experiencing financial difficulties, a break-up, losing someone, self-criticism, aiming for perfection, anxiety, self-doubt, or even being overworked. Creative block can be caused by one, or a combination of these factors. As the cause can vary, so can the duration. People can experience creative block for a few hours, a couple of days and in some cases up to a month.
How do we deal with creative block?
The most important step is to identify the factors that are causing a creative block. Once the initial cause is detected, it provides the individual with a clear steer on finding a solution. Here are a few handy tips that we have picked up along the way:
The most important thing to remember is that a creative block doesn’t last forever, you just need to identify the issue and use the right tool break the barrier!
Written by
Sonja Truter
When we think of oxymoron’s, they are typically used in a manner of irony and contradiction however in the fashion industry the meaning of ‘denim-wearing eco-warrior’ is treated with much more seriousness! For wearing denim that has been mass produced by fast fashion companies and claiming be an advocate for a sustainable life is perhaps akin to eating meat if you are vegetarian. Basically, a NO GO!
Adorning yourself in denim goods will never go out of fashion. Jeans have formed the basis of every person’s wardrobe since the 20th century and their popularity will, no doubt, continue far into the 21stcentury and beyond. As a popular product, its manufacture can safely fall into the ‘fast fashion’ segment of the fashion business. As with all clothing that is produced ‘fast’ the detrimental effects on the environment are something to consider when making your next denim-based product purchase. It was a little-known fact, prior to 2014, that the manufacturing of denim products had such an unfavourable effect on the environment. It doesn’t have to continue along this trajectory, however, but until one is aware of the existing problems with its production it’s difficult to affect any lasting change. Below are some of the problems associated with its production followed by possible solutions:
CONSUMPTION OF WATER
Used for the cultivation of denim fabric main ingredient, cotton. It’s a fibre that is heavily irrigated and fertilized, and additionally, it uses large amounts of water in its manufacturing and packaging processes. The finishing processes employed – which include dyeing, washing and special visual effects, such as stone-washing – also consume vast quantities of water, resulting in denim manufacturing with a high-water footprint. Incredibly, one pair of jeans, including its production and general wear uses up to 2,900 gallons of water.
Potential Solutions
Shopper education such as using a washing machine less often to wash your denim and perhaps considering sponge cleaning them occasionally is one such solution. The Better Cotton initiative has supported farmers in their move to reduce water usage by 39%. They are uniting farmers, ginners, traders, spinners, mills, manufacturers and retailers in a unique global community that is committed to developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.
Drip irrigation- Is a type of micro-irrigation that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface. The goal is to place water directly into the root zone and minimize evaporation.
Innovations in dying technologies developed by Bluesign, an endeavour that helps the textile business to produce in an environmentally friendly and resource-efficient way combining both the economic and ecological advantages to the benefit of everyone involved.
Shopper education such as using a washing machine less often to wash your denim and perhaps considering sponge cleaning them occasionally.
WATER POLLUTION
The three processes that cause water pollution are the growing of cotton, dyeing and finishing the material and texturizing and finishing the product.
It’s a natural occurrence if herbicides and chemical pesticides are used so prolifically. Their use contaminates the soil and water sources and can cause detrimental health effects to cotton farmers.
The use of chemical dyes in the production of ‘distressed’ denim is intensive. The denim is subjected to several chemical washes. Added to that, there are serious health risks to the workers through exposure to the harmful chemicals that are used to spray the material in pursuit of an ‘acid wash’. Chemical run-offs from some of these manufacturers are also dumped into the water system, turning them indigo-blue such as the Pearl River in China.
The production of organic cotton uses natural techniques to ward off insects. Natural indigo dyes could be used as well as Archroma advanced denim technology; an innovative dyeing process that uses sulphur dyestuffs that bond more easily.
DENIM SANDBLASTING
This process involves taking fine sand and channelling it into an airgun, it is then sprayed at high pressure onto denim to create a worn, old look. It’s a cheap, quick method that manipulates garments but its main ingredient, silica, is harmful to workers.
Computer-driven laser technology can replicate localized wear and whiskers, without the use of water, chemicals or stones. Lasers offer precise, repeatable bleaching effects that are more controlled. However, equipment is expensive, each garment must be individually positioned for treatment, and only one side can be treated at a time. It’s excellent for creating smaller effects but is less beneficial for overall bleaching.
Ozone Technology harnesses the natural bleaching capabilities of ozone gas to give a range of overall and speciality bleaching effects with substantially reduced environmental impact. Ozone can be used to clean pocket back-staining from normal washing processes or to bleach denim to a lighter shade. Ozone does not eliminate water use in jeans finishing. However, it substantially reduces consumption of water as well as energy, chemicals, enzymes and stones. Ozone offers important advantages over traditional wet finishing.
An emerging greener chemistry process, called Advanced Denim by Archroma, can produce a pair of jeans using up to 92% less water and 30% less energy than conventional methods. In addition to this, it generates 87% less cotton waste and no wastewater. Unlike conventional denim production methods, which require up to 15 dyeing vats and an array of potentially harmful chemicals, Advanced Denim uses just one vat and a new generation of eco-advanced, concentrated, liquid sulphur dyes that require only a single, sugar-based reducing agent. All other production steps are also eliminated.
WHO IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN DENIM MANUFACTURING?
Project Just is just one of the platforms whose mission is to “transform the fashion industry into a transparent, accountable and sustainable system that celebrates the stories, the people and the resources behind the clothing”. Along with the creative input of mindful designers such as Faustine Steinmetz who has managed to create a menage-a-trois through the combination of a commercially viable collection and a luxury aesthetic with an impressive sustainable core, a change is a coming.
With a focus on handwoven denim, she shows during London Fashion Week, her pieces are made with the help of a women’s craft collective in Burkina Faso. Produced on traditional West African looms her production time has now been reduced from one week to a matter of hours. Faustine, in her bid to expand her business in an ethical fashion, also works with a Spanish mill that specializes in recycled denim.
There are denim brands and other fashion designers that are taking a more sustainable approach to their manufacturing processes.
Everlane, the e-tailer and stalwart of sustainability and transparency uses the Saitex factory to produce their denim jeans. It is housed in a LEED-certified facility that recycles 98% of its water, relies on alternative energy sources, and repurposes by-products to create premium jeans-minus the waste. Through its commitment to renewable energy resources like solar power, Saitex has reduced its energy usage by 5.3 million kilowatts of power per year – and reduced C02 emissions by nearly 80%. Eighty-five percent of the jeans produced in the factory are air dried and then briefly finished, for softness, in a commercial dryer. All denim production creates a toxic by-product called sludge. At Saitex the sludge is extracted and shipped to a nearby brick factory. It is then mixed with concrete and converted into bricks that are used to build affordable homes.
The majority of these processes are fairly new to the denim manufacturing market. If your brand ethos is to follow a more sustainable path, finding the right type of manufacturer for a small company could prove difficult. In addition to asking the typical questions to fashion factories, you should also include questions that ask about their environmental footprint and practices.
Once you have sourced at least five factories, enquire about their sustainability regulations and ask to see their audits. Consider mandating that the factory you select signs a sustainability commitment, similar to the one that H & M supplies to its suppliers.
Mick Owen
PTA Inscape Fashion Lecturer
The planning of a project will affect the success of the project, and is a crucial element to in approaching a new interior design project. Planning allows the designer to work within a structured framework and provide the correct documentation that is required at each phase of the project. It is vital for a project to be well planned for it to run smoothly and be successfully designed, managed and executed.
Ultimately poor planning of a project can result in an unsatisfactory and rushed project installation, so here are some steps to ensuring a successful project:
There isn’t a project without a client, and there are many ways to find or get a client. A client could approach you, after seeing your previous work, looking through your portfolio or seeing your display at design expos. You could also approach the client after seeing their job advertised, or potentially work on the concept phase of the project as part of a tender process in the hope that your design solution is selected for you to continue with the remainder of the project works.
This first part of the process is vital to ensuring the success of the project and delivering a design that meets the needs of the client, after all the person who needs to be the most satisfied with the design needs to be the person who is going to be using the space every day. In the client briefing it is important to get all the details for the project and further expand and enquire on each piece of information to ensure you have not left out anything that would be vital to the success of the project.
For example: Family home? How many family members? What are the ages of the family members? Are there any specific needs? What space will you be designing? Likes and dislikes? Style preferences? Budget?
By having an informed understanding of the client and the scope of the work they are requesting, it allows you, as the designer, to make informed design decisions from the beginning.
Example of a client board: Showing who the client is, their design style and their likes and dislikes.
This is your preliminary design phase, where you have received the briefing from your client and you now understand what is required. You can begin this process by brainstorming ideas, collecting mood or inspirational imagery and starting to process these ideas to create a working interior space.
You may need to have additional client meetings in this phase of the project, to ensure that you are lining up with the clients brief, as the brief may have evolved and developed further since your initial briefing, and vice versa.
Some of the boards or work you would show your client in this phase of the work would be as outlined below:
Example: Mood Board, collection of inspirational Example: Concept sketches, the designers
Images to help the client understand the process to convert inspiration into working parts
Intended look and feel for the space. for the intended interior space.
Example: Floor Plan, a floor plan displays the Example: Sample Board, showing the finishes
layout of all furniture and fittings to go into the and materials to be used in the space.
At the end of the concept phase the client has signed off on the overall design solution; look and feel, planning and the application of materials and finishes. Signing off on the concept phase of the project, means that the client is happy to move onto the next phase of the project which details up the project on a technical level.
This portion of the design process is geared towards the designer providing technical documentation that is required for all contractors and suppliers who will be involved in the project. Contractor specific plans are drawn up to show the installation of their specific specialisation, be it electrical, plumbing, drywalling, shop fitting, etc. Detailing up these specialisation specific plans makes for easier understanding of the intended installation.
Final selections are made for all materials, finishes and fittings and documented in a finishing schedule. This schedule notes the material, its location on site and its cost.
A cost estimate is developed at this stage to make sure that all finishes and work to be undergone still aligns with the client’s budget and revisions are made to the budget or material selections if necessary.
A specification document is also put together at this phase to ensure that it is clearly communicated what materials are to be used where and more importantly to ensure the quality of the application of the materials by the contractor who will be installing in the next phase.
Project schedule is another important to compile in this phase as it provides a timeline of who is doing what, and when. This helps to ensure that conflicting installations do not overlap and that the installations can be carried out timeously and hopefully before the intended hand over date.
The project is a go! Contractors are on site and everything that was only outlined on paper is now coming to life. The role of the Designer is to now facilitate and manage the works on site, to ensure that all contractors are implementing their work as per the provided drawings, documentation and project schedule.
Once most of the work has been completed on site it is important to draw up a snag list, this is a list of all problem areas on site, where the contractor has either completed the installation but there is a small flaw or they have not completed the work to a satisfactory level.
Project is complete, contractors are done, and any flaws that were flagged have been fixed and it’s time for the client to move back into the space and use it for its intended purpose.
By following this process, and successfully compiling all the required documentation that is required at each phase, it allows the project to be executed systematically and professionally. By outlining the correct documentation at each phase, it allows for a successful installation for the client, the designer and all the contractors involved.
Jenni Mckenzie
Lecturer at Inscape
“We have a single mission: to protect and hand on the planet to the next generation”. Francois Hollande, President of France.
What an enormous responsibility and honor to be directly responsible for the welfare of our planet, and future generations! As designer in the built environment, we stand at the forefront of establishing a safer, cleaner and more efficient living environment for all life on earth.
There are a few basic design principles that I consider when designing for a more responsive and energy efficient building:
1. Be environmentally sensitive
Work with nature, not against it. Design as far as possible according to the natural topography contours, rather than implementing cutting or filling. This will result in the natural state of the ground not being disturbed too much and will reduce construction costs and duration of the works. This starts at the initial design stage of the architect and educating clients accordingly.
2. Be conscious of carbon emissions
Source and specify locally manufactured products, rather than importing.
By doing this, you eliminate unnecessary embodied energy, which means that you reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by product-manufacturing and transportation, import costs (project feasibility), etc.
3.Consider orientation
Design buildings to allow sufficient influx of natural light and sunlight by means of passive solar design. Include light shafts and atriums with roof lights for deep space buildings. It’s important to keep energy efficiency requirements in mind when designing with light shafts. It’s ideal, as a rule of thumb, to orientate buildings as far as possible towards north, for optimum influx of sunlight.
Plan spatial orientation in buildings with these principles in mind, to limit mechanical space heating and cooling. Incorporate green design principles, such as “Stack Effect”, “Flywheel Effect” and even thermal massing such as “Trombe walls“to promote natural ventilation.
By implementing “green” design principles, buildings regulate its own internal thermal comfort levels to a certain degree, and drastically reduce operational costs to maintain internal thermal comfort levels.
4.Design for natural elements
Consider wind direction, as well as sun influx angles. Implement vertical shading mechanisms on northern facades, and horizontal shading mechanisms on western facades. This will allow the building user to manually regulate the desired influx of sunlight and wind.
5. Properly insulating buildings
Buildings should be detail designed to properly seal inside from outside areas, to avoid the loss of energy. If a building leak, internal heat will escape the building quicker, requiring mechanical means of space heating, and vice versa for keeping cool air inside.
By properly insulating roofs, walls and floors of buildings, together with proper sealing at junctions, buildings should perform very well with solar heat gain (SHGC) and loss, reducing the need for mechanical means of obtaining internal thermal comfort levels.
There are much more that can be done to improve the thermal performance and energy efficiency of buildings. By implementing the above principles, buildings will be environmentally more responsive, and a comfortable space to occupy.
Remember that we design buildings to be occupied by people. Design buildings to be comfortable, efficient and environmentally sensitive, and you design the future, today.
Hugo Van Der Walt
StudioTect Architects & Fire Consultants
Are you an insanely imaginative, infectiously awesome and intentionally expressive unique thinker? Then this competition is tailored for you.
The Winners Prize?
So let the creative juices flow, unleash your talent and stand a chance to win the amazing bundle of prizes, including a cash prize of R50 000, where R25K you can keep for yourself and R25K for your school. Along with an online offsite course for you and five of your friends and teacher. Get choosing which friends you will be sharing this amazing course prize with.
Who can enter?
This award is open to students from grade 8-12.
Register and enter the competition: offsite.inscape.co.za
What do you need to do? You can complete the competition in 4 easy steps!
Step 1: Pick a word from the list below:
INspire, INdulge, INfluence, INventive, INventive, INvoke, INdividual, INtense, INvolved, INstant, INtelligent, INtent, INfuse, INclusive, INterest, INform, INcentive, INternational, INvest.
Step 2: Pick a design discipline:
Interior Design, Graphic Design, Tattoo Design, Architectural Design, Fashion Design, Artistic Design, Interaction Design, Audio-Visual Design, Communication Design, Culinary Design, Jewellery Design, Set Design, Exhibition Design, Systems Design… any design.
Step 3: Pick an Application
Stamp, poster, video, app, game, jingle, video, structure, website, cake, chair, blanket, car, light, hairstyle, sculpture, garment, carpet, accessory, shoe, cartoon, bus, toy, bicycle, gadget, utensil.
Step 4: Upload it
Once you have created a design solution based on your choices, then register through our online learning platform called OffSite, where you can upload your design right here: https://offsite.inscape.co.za/UserManagement/login/
T&C’s
Entries open 1st April and Close 31st July 2018 at midnight. Winner will be announced at the Inscape August open days, which are on the 17 & 18th August 2018.
Hurry and register now with Inscape offsite and remember to be INnovative, be INsightful and be INstinctive.
Having only arrived in Dubai three months ago, I found myself unqualified to make comment regarding this subject. As I felt personally, I hadn’t spent enough time immersed in the design that so obviously emanates through everything you do and see in Dubai. I turned to a few fellow South Africans and asked them their opinion on the topic. Here are their views.
Colleen Cocotos, a colleague in design education (herself a qualified Architect and Interior designer), is part of the Interior Design Faculty at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I spent a period of two years in Dubai, during which time I had the opportunity of enhancing my leadership skills with the diverse and multicultural design teams that I was fortunate to work with. I do believe that owing to the fast paced nature of development and design in Dubai, a two year work experience, yields a portfolio that would equate to four years of work in most other cities. Working in Dubai offered excellent career growth.” Colleen goes on to discuss what she feels are quintessential United Arab Emirate (UAE) design features.
“The Emir of Abu Dhabi and Dubai come to mind when seeking examples that offer richness and innovation in design. When visiting this country, you are exposed to the work of leading architects and interior designers, such as MVRDV, Foster and Partners’, Santiago Calatrava, OMA and Zaha Hadid. It is intriguing to see how local designers are honouring their culture and offering a rich and meaningful narrative and context to their work. The Abwab pavilion (2017), designed by the firm Fahed + Architects, was a perfect example of contemporary design, with its production techniques rooted in the region. LAVIT and Khalid Shafar also sculpted a chandelier which represented stylized domes of dynamic mosques. The chandelier premiered as ‘silent call’. The lighting would be interactive and subtly call people to prayer, therefore it was functional and beautiful. I personally choose to travel to countries which differentiate themselves and do not fall into the trap of ‘sameness’. One cannot leave the UAE without being inspired by the impact and power of how design in this country inspires interaction within their community, as well as among tourists.”
Pauline Heesom–Green is an Architect, artist, sculptor and all-round creative. Pauline studied Interior Design in Cape Town, South Africa, and went on to study Architecture at The University of Brighton, in England. She has also lived and worked in Stuttgart, Germany, and has called the UAE home for the last six years. Pauline feels that as a launching platform for showcasing creative design experiences, this centrally positioned region is suited to exhibit design firsts and leading technologies: “With the UAE celebrating over 40 years of independence, the county’s commitment, to futuristic technology and the improvement of living conditions in the region, is proof that it is heralding in the dawn of a new age, as a valid contributor to the International Design Industry.”
“The county’s geographical location offers a platform for people to come together from all walks of life. East meets West, cultures and traditions mix, ideas are exchanged. All these factors contribute to creating a dynamic environment for hosting workshops, seminars and international trade fairs, where stakeholders share relevant ideas on topics such as; technology, design, the built environment, sustainability, aesthetics and innovation. From this central hub, trends in design are born through the interaction and discourse of designers, students and professionals alike. This ripple effect filters out to the wider design community at large. Signifying, the impact that forums like these, hosted in the UAE, have on the international design scene.”
Shannon McGuffog, an Inscape Education Group, Interior Design alumnus from the Cape Town campus, moved to Dubai in the first quarter of 2011. She started her career in Dubai doing special design exhibitions, moving to brand architecture and marketing for the real estate and luxe industry, including turnkey commercial and retail interiors, as well as being an entrepreneur.
Here’s what she had to say about the UAE’s influence on the design industry: “Without doubt, the regions interior and architectural industry has surpassed expectation over the past decade. Subjectively, there certainly aren’t that many places in the world that have qualified for such a position of extreme growth and development, as UAE has proven its strong stead.”
“What shapes the interior and architectural development, and the gallant achievements of country’s past, present and future of design but also market development? The construction boom that helped shape the core of the UAE in the mid 2000’s, was an achievement of quantity rather than superiority. However, in recent years, the UAE has set a benchmark in global design on the world map of interior and architectural design. Major developers have started changing their approach to focus more on creating sustainable communities, rather than landmark skyscrapers. The need lies in creating places for people go; whereas a community, the people can feel a sense of belonging. One of the country’s greatest achievements is its ability to continuously and successfully interlock first-class projects and facilities with advanced, sustainable communities to create a better quality of life for both residents and tourists. The supposition of the UAE has attracted many of the best designers and architects from all over the world, creating a visionary platform of leadership and development. With so many establishing office in the UAE , this has helped mould the local design and architectural capabilities, right through to execution. The UAE has firmly demonstrated its ability, in an international market, that they are capable of doing anything locally and can adapt to today’s economic environments.”
Having heard from these three outstanding designers in their own right, I believe that the UAE, and Dubai in particular, is heading for a renaissance, where bigger better, faster, taller, first, is being replaced or perhaps joyfully integrated, with happy, wholesome, community, sustainability, learning and people development. I believe we can expect great things from the UAE region, and those who pass through or even decide to call it home.
Mornay Schoeman
Our May open day was a great success and we received lots of positive feedback. We would like to thank all our staff and students who helped in preparing and organising the event. Great teamwork!
We had a wonderful time seeing all the new faces, prospective students and parents. Most importantly, we hope your visit to our open day was insightful and we answered all your queries. We would like to add that we are more than thrilled to have you onboard as part of the Inscape community. We promise your journey with us will be exciting, the least.
For those who missed our open day, we are glad to tell that this was one of many open days throughout the year. Our next open days will be held on 17 & 18 August and you are all welcome to attend, however, the time is yet to be confirmed but keep a close eye on our social media for further information.
If you do have any questions, contact us here: https://www.inscape.ac/make-an-enquiry/
In the meantime, you can view the album below for the highlights of our recent May open day.
Design is innately creative. It imagines, it crafts, it moulds and shapes our experience of the world, whether we are aware of it or not. Design also affects our lives in creative ways – it enables and empowers us to function more effectively from day to day, and its usefulness is derived from its simple elegance.
Rather, that’s what good design is and does.
I’m sure we have all encountered the frustration of precariously navigating bad design. When Apple released its Airpod headphones, the cries of frustration from customers could be heard from the far corners of the earth. Why? Because these headphones were impractical, despite being touted as a technological evolution. Technology may have evolved, but the experience of it was a devolved one. Needless to say, bad design will affect us badly in our day-to-day experiences.
So what makes good design?
American art director and graphic designer Paul Rand writes that, “Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” Our interface with the world is encapsulated in design. We see it in the genius of smartphone technology (though Apple’s Airpods are not necessarily the best example to cite here), in the efficiency of household appliances, and in the simplicity of the humble paper clip.
When considering how good design affects us, I am reminded of the pure genius of the paper clip.
Watching paper clips getting manufactured is an entertaining and mildly satisfying spectacle to behold, and I do recommend you find a clip of this on YouTube, but it is an excellent example of how good design affects our lives. Invented some time in the late 19th Century, the endurance of this thrice bent piece of steel wire has continued into the 21st century as the most clearly identified office supply next to a stapler and a highlighter. What makes the paper clip endure is its versatility. Being from the MacGyver generation, I marvelled as this much-beloved TV character reconfigured a paper clip to repair a motherboard, not to mention pick a lock. And when I learned how to bake a cherry pie, I watched my grandmother pit fresh cherries with the help of a paper clip. Despite all these amazing adaptive uses, its pure genius lies in its efficient purpose – a paper clip binds paper together, and doesn’t take up too much space in our desk drawer. Purpose fulfilled! And we are better for having it.
Over a century after its design, we still know about the humble paper clip, and it is affecting our everyday lives in more technologically advanced ways than its physical form. How? It’s upgraded from analogue to digital. When graphic designers were developing e-mail interfaces, the symbol they chose to indicate the attachment of files to mails was none other than… the paper clip.
So, when you next consider that design, good or bad, is beyond our everyday experience, think again. Remember the paper clip.
Mary-Anne Potter
Inscape Lecturer
South Africa’s leading private higher education institutions have committed to improving the quality and positioning of the sector in the country.
Launched with an official signing ceremony at Milpark Education in Johannesburg yesterday (Wednesday 25 January), SA Private Higher Education (SAPHE) aims to build public awareness of and trust in private higher education by addressing myths and misperceptions about the sector, to ultimately increase access to higher education. Additionally, the association will seek to ensure that there is a greater understanding by the general public of the quality study options available outside of public universities.
“Although the term ‘private universities’ has gained some popular traction in recent months, many are not aware that private higher education institutions legally may not describe themselves as such. Therefore, unlike the situation with private schools, many prospective students are not even aware of the high quality, accredited qualifications they are able to pursue at scores of respected institutions across the country,” says Dr Felicity Coughlan, chair of SAPHE.
“Additionally, there remains a perception that a qualification from a public university is automatically more valuable than one from a private higher education institution. This could not be further from the truth, and unfortunately, this lack of awareness means that prospective students who may have been able to study towards a degree never do so.”
SAPHE members include most of the leading private higher education institutions in South Africa, including The Independent Institute of Education (Varsity College, Rosebank College, Vega, Design School SA and The Business School at Varsity College), Monash, Da Vinci, Boston, Milpark Business School, Southern Business School, the International Hotel School, Aros, St Augustine, AFDA and Inscape.
While SAPHE members have worked together as an interest group for more than five years, a decision was made to formalise the association due to the increased need for a unified and clear voice on the alternatives that private higher education is able to offer to students, society and the economy.
“The potential role of private higher education in the country is not well understood,” says Coughlan.
“Communicating opportunities in the sector to the general public, prospective students and parents is severely hamstrung by the fact that private institutions may not call themselves private universities. This is despite South Africa’s unitary quality assurance system (for the accreditation and registration of higher education qualifications) being equally applicable to both the private and public sector.
“SAPHE is committed to enabling student decisions by clearly communicating what private higher education offers, but more importantly to ensuring that quality and relevance promises are delivered on by its members. A third and equally important objective is one of advocacy with the regulators and with society.”
For further information or comment, please contact Shelly at Meropa: 021 683 6464 or mail [email protected].