"You know, the 1980s were all about lifestyle, and the 1990s were all about typography. Maybe this decade will be about activism." - Stefan Sagmeister.



Title:: Design Indaba All Stars
Publisher: Ravi Naidoo, Interactive Africa
Editors: Nadine Botha, Fiona Zerbst and Fatima Salie

If creativity can indeed make a better world, the team at Design Indaba are out to prove it. What started in South Africa as a biannual event featuring a mere nine speakers, Design Indaba has grown into an annual conference hosting more than fifty of the most creative and influential minds. Each year, a new set of designers share with the world their personal thoughts and aims; thoughts and aims that translate into design and change the world which we inhabit. If activism is what we are now looking for from design, Design Indaba is the front line soldier of this battle, the battle to ignite a social conscience in design.



Design Indaba All Stars is a compilation, which celebrates the thoughts and aims of thirty five influential designers, all of which have spoken at previous Design Indaba conferences. Derived from the annual Design Indaba magazine, this compilation follows its source and looks beyond eye catching bodies of work to really investigate the how and why behind the featured designs. The result is a candid look into design featuring content of striking visual appeal and brave cutting edge conceptualization.



Each designer’s body of work is like a different weapon of choice comprised of an abundance of images with ample supporting text paragraphed in between. Design Indaba All Stars isn’t just a picture book. Even if you pick it up just for a quick flip, its easy to see from the first flick of the pages that this compilation is crammed full with information, just waiting to shoot out at you. But don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not a heavy read. This book could be helpful when one is say in a creative ‘rut’; it has no official beginning and end, no chronological order, just a catalogue of work which can be easily accessed at anytime.



While Design Indaba All Stars features designers that do not require any introduction, the likes of Stefan Sagmeister, Erik Spiekermann and Karim Rashid are only the beginning. The first feature of the compilation, Lucy Orta’s work can be best described as ‘Body Architecture’. ‘Trained as a fashion designer, she has, since 1992, brilliantly addressed issues of relational aesthetics, her principal field of intervention being the personal space of the individual fighting for survival in adverse conditions.’ - Pierre Restany.



Then there’s Jonathan Barnbrook, a graphic designer who uses imagery and text to appeal to the conscience in all of us. ‘When I was younger I always thought I would leave design and go and do something that would directly help people, like working in a hospital. Now that I am older I can see that it is all a bit more complicated than that. I think everything has value and if you are good at something it is best to stick to it and make the people you work with think about how they can view their own work, both critically and ethically.’ - Jonathan Barnbrook.



While this book sits comfortably on the shelf as a commanding hardback, it is surprisingly nice to know that Design Indaba extends their social conscience to the printing of the book itself. The paper used for print is Sappi Triple Green, 60% of which is sugar cane pulp, which undergoes a chlorine free bleach process. The remaining 40% is made from wood fibre obtained from sustainable and internationally certified afforestation. Visit www.sappi.com if you are keen to check it out.



All in all, its safe to say Design Indaba All Stars is a creative endeavour to truly make a better world, in one sense of the word or another. The book features designers interviewing designers, all of whom share that same common mission. What is truly exciting is how each designer individually attempts to carry out this mission of theirs, each selecting a different design medium to impact the public into sensing social awareness.



If you are into print media, product design, photography, fashion, architecture, graphic art, industrial design, or a simply combination of them all, Design Indaba All Stars has something for the designer in everyone. This bright yellow covered book will ignite and excite your senses. It is ready to explode with inspiration and information the minute you flip its lid, showing you how strong design activism can really be.


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