Young people were often at the forefront of the struggle to liberate South Africa and 30 years on they are still leading the way, producing solutions to age-old problems that have long vexed their elders. The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Young Design Achievers Awards celebrates youngsters with big visions and the tenacity to bring their ingenious ideas to fruition. All nominees are final-year students studying a range of disciplines from interior to textile design, well on their way to becoming socially responsible entrepreneurs. Each year the SABS Design Institute hosts workshops on business skills for 20 of the top design students from tertiary institutions across the country.
This is a selection of some of the top students’ designs.
Thuthukani Chonco, a dapper clothing design student from the Lindiwe Khuzwayo School of Fashion Design in Durban , designed his product after seeing his grandmother struggle with nagging joint pains. He developed a sock, dubbed the Reflex Sox, that simulates the effects of a reflexology foot treatment. “Like you work in an office, right?” he enthuses.
“You can’t be running around with a foot spa. Here you can just sit down in an office and use it for headaches, tiredness or flu. You don’t have to bother other people [to massage you] and set up doctors’ appointments. You just sit and pull up your sock.” The battery-operated device was developed after consultation with various practising reflexologists. It is made of bull denim fabric and is fitted with batting to make it more comfortable.
“It’s simple and affordable. I just want people’s lives to be equal.”
l As an avid surfer, the diminutive Leigh Ann Groenemeyer came into constant contact with neoprene, a versatile, synthetic rubber used in the manufacturing of wetsuits and bodyboards. The fashion and surface design student at Cape Peninsula University of Technology hit on the idea of using neoprene off-cuts to develop a range of products such as handbags and cellphone pouches.
“Manufacturers throw away off-cuts or burn them,” she explains. “By re-using them you reduce pollution of the environment.” She is also revamping old wetsuits for poor children who want to get into surfing: “Young kids want to get into body boarding — it’s becoming more and more popular, but underprivileged kids can’t afford wetsuits,” she says.
Groenemeyer designed a handbag for her surface design class project, fashioned from a neoprene swimming costume, with the shoulder straps forming the handles and the sides of the suit making up the front and the back of the bag. “It’s durable material,” she adds. “It’s not going to break easily.”
Most women aren’t aware that they do not have to lay a rape charge in order to access post-exposure prophylaxis drugs after a sexual assault, says Thithi Nteta, the brain behind the unique Save Your Life In 72 Hours multi-media campaign.
“That’s what scares a lot of people away [from seeking treatment],” she explains. An information design student from the University of Pretoria, Nteta based her project on extensive research among pupils at former Model C schools who she expected to have an understanding of the issue. It includes a website, posters, stickers, diaries and contact information in bright colour and appealing fonts. She test-drove her product on the streets, getting feedback from young people. “In that way it was different to other campaigns because usually you just do what you think is nice,” she laughs. “A lot of rape campaigns don’t talk to the women,” Nteta says. “It’s more like ‘Say no to rape!’. But the worst thing that can happen is if you are raped and you don’t know what to do afterwards.”
l Malaria is evolving into one of the biggest challenges facing the continent as the pesky mozzies develop a resistance to both drugs and poisons aimed at countering them.
Rachelle Mostert, a graphic design student from Inscape Design College, has created a cost-effective and safe way of repelling mosquitoes, with her biothermal battery-powered mosquito vapouriser. Worn on the wrist, it resembles a wristwatch with a diethyl-meta-toluamide (Deet) soaked vapourising mat to be clipped on.
Deet is usually applied to the skin or to clothing, to ward off insects. “The malaria strain is evolving and soon treatments will not be strong enough to contain it. So it’s better to prevent malaria than to cure it,” she argues. “Research costs a lot of money and it’s not easy to detect malaria until it has struck.” There are concerns about the safety of Deet, particularly prolonged topical exposure which can kill braincells and cause memory loss. Mostert’s product does not apply the Deet directly to the skin, but uses disposable Deet swabs placed on the face of the device. “The possibilities are absolutely endless,” says a beaming Mostert. “Eighty-five percent of malaria throughout the world is concentrated in South America, Asia and Africa, so it will be an exportable product.” But she warns that it will have to be affordable as “the target market is not exactly made up of wealthy people”.