Durban industrial designer Siviwe Jali won the Best New Talent award at Decorex Cape Town 2022 for his prominent new voice in the design world.
Jali’s work formed part of an exhibition of past and current designs by the various finalists and winners of the Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) talent search.
Jali said he was proud of his capsule collection, which included Nokhanya lights, Ntsimbi server and the Cupisa bench.
“Some of the designs I’ve worked on for years and others have come together quickly. They were all special projects to me,” he said.
“My designs reflect my personal experience, observation and curiosity, as well as people and my culture.”
Jali said the best part about the HYD competition was the doors it opened for him.
“I saw an increase in enquiries and business opportunities. I have since been working on my practice and developing a range of products,” he said.
In 2018, Jali founded an industrial and product design consultancy, UMugqa Studio, which uses functional design to help solve real-world problems.
The 31-year-old said his design and creative process includes intensive research.
“I am very strict about doing the best research for a project. Sometimes I look into data and research for days before I start to design,” he said.
“I use quick sketches when I start to conceptualise, then move into more detailed drawings,” he added.
His advice to aspiring industrial designers is to “learn how to see the details”.
“Observe how people use objects and be obsessed with understanding how things are made. This will lay the foundation,” he said.
“Try to come up with an opinion and point of view for life that bleeds into your work. Interesting people create interesting work.”
Tracy Lynch, director at Clout/SA, curated one of the exhibitions at Decorex Africa which included Jali’s three pieces.
Lynch described Jali as a multi-disciplinarian designer who used a strong visual language and an innovative approach.
“Siviwe plays with scale, colour and pattern and is a committed designer with a very bright future,” she said.
“Clout/SA has enjoyed working with Siviwe on multiple projects, especially his capsule collection displayed at Decorex 2022 in Cape Town. We can’t wait to see what Siviwe does next.“