It’s finally that time of the year again! Design Indaba 2012 is but a day away, whoop-whoop!

This year however, Rose and I are extra excited as we have been given media accreditation and will be attending the live simulcast of the Design Indaba Conference which starts tomorrow as well as getting up close and personal with all the exhibitors at the Expo.  The Conference is held over three days, with a back-to-back speaker programme that features a wide range of designers, artists, social entrepreneurs, ad gurus, filmmakers, culinary masters and this year even a scent expert!

We are practically bouncing up and down in our seats from excitement! Keep your eyes peeled as we will be soaking up all the design goodness and posting regular feedback and play-by-plays! YAY!

For those of you unfamiliar with Design Indaba, it’s THE event on the South African design calendar which includes the design conference, expo and other design festivities. To further explain the significance of this annual design celebration find below a few excerpts from the proverbial “horse’s mouth”, i.e. The Design Indaba website…

Highlights of the Design Indaba Expo 2010.

“Presenting the very best of South African creativity, Design Indaba Expo is a showcase of exceptional design across all disciplines, including advertising, architecture, craft, décor, film, fashion, graphic design, interior design, jewellery, new media, publishing, product design, visual media and more. Every year sees a more sophisticated interpretation of what South African design is.

Setting a high professional standard, each exhibitor is pre-approved by a curatorial panel of industry experts, ensuring that you will only see bespoke designs of the highest quality on the Design Indaba Expo floor.

In 2010 the core Design Indaba Expo, showing more than 280 exhibitors, including 80 first-time exhibitors and 40 Emerging Creatives, drew well over 35 000 visitors, including 379 journalists and 427 buyers – one third of which were international.“  – designindaba.com

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So why all the fuss?

1. Design Indaba Expo is your all-in-one creative stop, recognising and celebrating local creative work across all fields.

2. All designs are quintessentially South African – no derivatives, no imports.

3. An influential contingent of local and international buyers consider Design Indaba one of their key shopping destinations, creating a platform for productive trade relationships.

4. On the Design Indaba Expo floor you can catch all-day fashion shows, short films and Pecha Kucha presentation, chat to the designers or simply browse the gorgeous creations on display.

5. Design Indaba Expo coincides with Design Indaba Conference, resulting in a week of creative rejuvenation.

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THE DESIGN INDABA EXPO takes place from the 2nd – 4th MARCH 2012 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Opening Hours:

Friday 2 March:  10h00 – 20h00 (On-site tickets sales close at 19h00)
Saturday 3 March:  10h00 – 20h00 (On-site tickets sales close at 19h00)
Sunday 4 March:  10h00 – 18h00 (On-site tickets sales close at 17h00)

Price:

Adults:  R60
Pensioners and Students:  R40
Scholars and Children:  R30
Kids under 10:  free!

 Info & images via the Design Indaba website (be sure to check it out for more info)

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