The Design Indaba Conference is such an amazing inspirational (and motivational) experience – this year wasn’t any different. I’m always astounded by the talent and innovation – creativity truly has no boundaries for these design greats. I love to be surprised by a speaker – someone I would not have thought would interest me and then ends up blowing my mind.

As last year I left the note scribbling and just listened. Often the gist of a speaker’s talk or believe system can be summed up in one powerful quote. The folks at Design Indaba also create these super cute and quirky quote cards for each speaker (you can see the rest on their website: here).

Below are some of my favourite quotes and nuggets of wisdom from each of the speakers I had the privilege to listen to. I’ve also include a link back to the various Speaker Profiles – do yourself a favour and check out the unbelievable things each speaker has accomplished…

“There’s just too much shit design in the world.“ – Hella Jongeruis, renowned Dutch industrial designer,  issues plea to return to quality at the Design Indaba Conference 2015

“When you have to redesign the same thing over & over again, you become just ‘garde’ not ‘avant garde.’“ – Emily Oberman, a multidisciplinary design working for Pentagram (the world’s largest design consultancy), at the Design Indaba Conference 2015.

“I believe that if you give people honesty & something to trust, they will want more of it.“ – Roy Choi, creator of LA’s celebrated gourmet food truck culture, at the Design Indaba Conference 2015.

“Fail harder. You have to be able to fail!“ – Dan Wieden, American advertising executive who coined the Nike tagline “Just Do It“.

“I love imperfections. The flaws keep the imagination open. Perfection kills everything.” – Hella Jongeruis at the Design Indaba Conference 2015

“Imperfection is beautiful and not just something ‘good enough for Africa‘” – Studio Propolis, a husband-and-wife design team based in Kenya.

“Colours are like musical notes. You can play endless games.“ – Rosita Missoni, matriarch of the famous high-end Italian fashion house, Missoni.

“The difference between fashion & the home is that designs for the home are meant to last.“ – Rosita Missoni at the Design Indaba Conference 2015

“Colour is a topic I can investigate for the rest of my life, it’s really an ongoing research.“ – Hella Jongeruis at the Design Indaba Conference 2015

“Make the most of what you’ve got. Everything has potential, even if you don’t think it does.“– British designer, Dominic Wilcox, at the Design Indaba Conference 2015

“I was a ‘cast out’ kid and that gave me some other perspectives” says Yoni Bloch, Israeli musician and co-founder of Interlude.

“Architecture today is pornography. It’s all about beauty. My buildings are like your ugly friend.“ – Santiago Cirugeda, an activist architect from Seville, Spain.

“One thing I have learned is the work is so much better if you are having fun.” – Omar Victor Diop, a globally heralded photographer from Senegal.

“Playfulness is the most powerful way of finding ideas.” – Dominic Wilcox, at the Design Indaba Conference 2015

“The nature of creativity is to not let your brain default to the known … creativity requires independent, unprecedented thinking.“ – Casey Neistat, a maverick American filmmaker whose wildly popular YouTube videos are redefining the industry.

{Images via Design Indaba}