SPECIAL REPORT: SABS AWARDS 09

Design reflects change. Change as the norm, not the exception, reflects how South Africa and the world has changed. “Yet 40�� years later, the ordinary person in the street continues to ask the obvious. ‘Where in our market are our goods? Where do we buy South African designed products?” asks Linda Mvusi, chair-person of the SABS Design Excellence Awards 20��0��9��� adjudication panel on the 40��th anniversary of the awards scheme.

Mvisi, an architect with around 30��-years’ of experience knows what she is talking about. Trained in Ghana and the UK, she has practised in several countries before settling in her country of birth, where she has served on the adjudication panels of the SABS’ various design awards for more than a decade.

While reflecting on the adjudication of the 20��0��9��� Awards,

Mvusi ponders on an important scenario: “South Africa

DESIGN IS ABOUT THE FUTURE:THE TIME

TO CHANGE TRACk IS NOW

Linda Mvusi, chairperson of the SABS Design Excellence Awards 2009 share some insights with Prof. Singh and Dr Bonakele Mehlomakulu, CEO of the SABS.

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pays a hefty premium by continually valuing extraction

industries and manufacturing for export at the expense

of industrial production the manufacturing of South

African design for our domestic economy. Will South

Africa continue to pay northwards of 5% of our real

Gross National Product in Intellectual Property, billions

of Rands in fees and royalties for other countries’

ideas? I hope not.”

Mvusi boldly exclaims that: “Hope is not a plan!” and

explains: “The problem is not design, education or the

‘much-ness’ of our material resources. The global eco-

nomic downturn is fortuitous for a country with our

socio-political-economic demographics. It reveals struc-

tural failure in our national mind-set. By and large, in

the past, we rewarded respectful conformism and

benchmarked minimal standards. We ostracised free-

thinkers, creative intellectuals, dissidents and crimi-

nalised the notion of having the courage to fail.”

She continues: “The time to change track is now” and

claims that the SABS Design Excellence Awards 20��0��9���

is a good news story: “positive proof that a country’s

wealth is not in material resources, but in people’s intel-

lectual creativity. Design is scaled at life itself, not the

design object or complex system. In an ideas-driven,

creative global economy, design and design-thinking

is pivotal.”

In October, 18 South African designed products received

SABS Design Excellence Awards, representing what

Mvusi terms ‘pivotal design-thinking’.

Although the products were not in competition with

each other, The Snuza Baby Monitor received the Chair-

person’s Award for the product that most inspired the

adjudication panel. Snuza, designed by …XYZ, Savant

and ID&B, is a new generation baby monitor that allows

mobile monitoring of a baby’s breathing.

…XYZ also received awards for its design of the Touch-

mart TAP, a solution to enable the general public to

access a broad range of products and services using

The Snuza Baby Monitor, designed by ...XYZ, Savant and ID&B.

payment methods that are accessible to them, and

for the Stopak Jumbo Inflator that is used in the trans-

port of produce in road freight vehicles.

Most of the other awards went to the home and office

ware category. These included the Kubic Innovator

LED system; the Willow Lamp Moonflower Range of

The Moonflower Range, designed by Willowlamp.

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Chandeliers which also received a host of other

awards in recent times; the Vector gate-opening

system; the Cobra range of taps and accessories

and the SKALA business furniture system. The latter

two recipients were both designed by one of Africa’s

most prolific industrial designers, Brian Steinhobel.

The Cobra range is also one of the rare high-end sig-

nature sanitary product ranges designed by African

designers in recent years.

In the medical and healthcare category, the Stim-

pod, a nerve-locating device also received and

award, while in the leisure and sport goods catego-

ry, the new age scuba diving flippers, Seawing Nova

and the nifty Ybike, a huge improvement on chil-

dren’s plastic scooters, received awards. and This

year again saw a pool cleaner, the Superbug, being

recognised awarded, highlighting South Africa’s ex-

emplary track record in the swimming pool equip-

ment market.

In line with products solving real African problems,

the Lifewise Eco-Loo was honoured awarded. This

cistern doubles up as a washbasin and clears the

toilet bowl of urine, if the person using it washes

his or her hands for 20�� seconds. This innovative

product solves two problems in one go – not only

does it save water, but it also enforces hygiene

through hand washing.

As is the case of the past 40�� years, engineering prod-

ucts again stood out this year. These include the GALT

Road/ Rail Vehicle, the Kaoko™ Throttle Control for

motorcycles, and the Puzey on-road, off-road motorcy-

cle. And on the electronics front, the Command and

Control Backpack, aimed at the military market, and

the Sola-lite™ also received awards. Sola-Lite™ is

modular and upgradeable a solar-powered LED

Lighting System that comes in a DIY kit form with

detailed instructions and is specifically designed for

homes or buildings that require lighting but may not

be connected to the national electricity grid.

In her reflection of this year’s award winners, Mvusi

comments that: “A significant proportion of entrants

were small-medium and family enterprises – wives

and husbands, siblings, parents and their children

offspring – the sector most resilient with ways and

means in a turbulent economy.” She notes that: “The

overall standard was higher than previous years, re-

flecting deepening design consciousness, and sur-

passing ‘problem solving’ and competence per se:

> The designs articulated new ways of thinking, em-

bracing responsibility for real issues. Primarily tools

for perception, not just ‘objects in space’, they clar-

ified purpose, meaning and use through legible

metaphors, articulating rich relationships between

people and objects.

> They evolved through collaboration between users

and designers, for in reality no one knows the aspira-

tions and actual activities of users affected by design

than users themselves.

> The designers tailored technology and materials to

users’ cultural and psychological needs, anticipating

and accommodating future change.

> Outstanding products were strategically designed

beyond clients’ protocols, re-organising corporations

for to accommodate user-responsiveness, not just

user-friendliness.

> ‘Fail-Safe’ Design – designing products and systems

to fail without disaster – is exciting. It acknowledges

as an appreciation that old and new technologies

can, do and should co-exist and be integrated and

complementary side by side.”

Mvusi concludes that: “This is people-centred design

at its best! The SABS Design Excellence 20��0��9��� Awards

embody critical values for a new, design-thinking

South Africa.” In line with this statement, DESIGN>

reviewed the successes of five of this year’s winners.

CENTURION SYSTEMS

Centurion Systems is a manufacturer of security and

access control products. Their product categories include

gate automation, proximity access control systems,

remote controls and receivers, high volume and man-

ual traffic barriers (boom poles), intercom systems

and related accessories.

Established in 19���86, Centurion Systems has always had

a culture of innovation. , and tasks itself Its mission is

to become a worldclass leader in the access automation

industry. Centurion started off Starting in a temporary

hut in managing director, Pat Dickens’ (MD) garden, the

firm . It soon had to find much larger premises and has

been moving every four to five years since. Today it boasts

a purpose-built factory of 15 0��0��0�� m2 incorporating robot-

ics and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes.

Since its inception, Centurion Systems has pioneered

many world-firsts such as battery backed-up gate motors

The Vector, designed by Centurion Systems.

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and the use of high torque DC motors. Their manufactur-

ing processes are is being continually upgraded and

its factory is fully compliant with the requirements of

ISO 9���0��0��1:20��0��0�� to ensure the highest quality. The com-

pany invests considerable amounts in its R&D programme

and has , with 15 qualified engineers to research new

and innovate products to add to the its range.

According to Marketing Manager, Adam Butchart:

“Without continuous investment in R&D, our company

would find itself joining the ranks of its competitors –

following the trends rather than creating them. Clever

design, together with an intimate understanding of the

manufacturing process, helps to drive down unit costs,

a factor critical to remaining competitive. In certain

cases, the introduction of innovative features justi-

fies higher selling prices, thereby maintaining our

competitive edge as well as our profitability.”

Over the past 23 years, the company has brought

more than 50�� products to the market, of which more

than 40�� are currently available. Even more encourag-

ing is that all products are manufactured at the com-

pany’s factory in North Riding, South Africa, and their

exports currently span five continents.

When asked what makes the Vector a worthy winner

of the 20��0��9��� SABS Design Excellence Award, Butchart

remarks: “The use of a novel centrifugal braking system

allowed the designers to focus on developing a highly

efficient epicyclic gear train. This allows a smaller

motor to be used, while still delivering class-leading

performance. The choice of stainless steel, aluminium

and plastic materials ensures a lifetime of corrosion free

operation. Quadrature position sensing and a closed

loop speed control system ensure that the operator

stops smoothly and accurately at the ends of travel.

A fully featured electronic controller, with LCD user

interface, ensures ease of use and enough flexibility

to overcome the majority of installation challenges.”

CHROME CHERRY DESIGN STUDIO

Established in 20��0��4, Chrome Cherry Design Studio (CCDS)

was founded as an outlet for the creativity of its share-

holders, five lifelong friends. Their skills and experience

stretch over span various design fields including indus-

trial design, automotive, exhibition design, aerospace,

furniture design and even film.

Launched two years ago, YBIKE is the first product

conceptualised, owned, manufactured and marketed

by CCDS and is currently available in nine countries with

others following soon. Since then it has won awards at

the SA Toy of the Year 20��0��7 and SABS Design Excellence

Awards 20��0��9���. Surprisingly, for the adjudication of SA

Toy of the Year 20��0��7, the judges only had a prototype

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to judge and YBIKE competed against world brands

such as Fisher Price, Mattel, Barbie and Lego.

Jean van der Merwe says: “We at CCDS are firm believers

in that not only good functional design, but more im-

portantly also the aesthetics of design are important

integral to our company’s development, sustainabil-

ity and competitiveness. We understand the changes

in a increasingly design conscious society and strive to

develop products out that meet this need. Why can

products not also be objects of beauty?”

When asked what makes the YBIKE a worthy winner

of the 20��0��9��� SABS Design Excellence Award, van der

Merwe responds that: “The YBIKE may seem to be just

another plastic ride-on, but every single aspect in its

design, both functional and aesthetically, was re-

searched and addressed. It passes complies with all

applicable international toy safety laws and was tested

by the Sport Science Institute and found to be very

beneficial to the development of gross motor skills in

young children. There are no short-cuts, from the choice

of injection moulding – which is expensive – through

material choices and place of manufacture, everything

was done with reason.”

Van der Merwe adds : “Being recognised by the SABS

Design Institute has capped off an incredible two years

since the launch of YBIKE. The award recognises the

work and effort that has gone into such a visually

simple product. We are determined to be at the

awards again in 20��10��.”

IDESO

Founded in 19���9���8, Ideso is a specialist industrial design

consultancy based in Cape Town. Its essential concern

is to take a potential product or ideas through the entire

product development cycle until an actual manufac-

tured product is on the shelves. This includes concept

design, material and process research, visualisation,

photographically realistic rendering, design for manufac-

ture prototyping, tooling, packaging project management

and manufacture.

“Design is our life. It is in everything we do. Our aim is to

design products that significantly improve our customer’s

competitiveness. Only by designing great products can

we expect to remain sustainable,” says Marc Ruwiel.

He explains: “We have designed over 350�� products in

the last 11 years. Of these, more than 30��0�� have gone

into production and at least 20��0�� of these are still in

production.”

Ideso-designed products are available all over the

world. “The USA and the UK are popular export des-

tinations, particularly for plastics and homewares.

Several of our medical products are sold in Germany

and in the Netherlands. The planters we designed for

Styler are available in the Middle East. We have also

designed collapsible horse stalls for a company based

in the USA, two-way radio chargers for a company

based in Hong Kong and a modem and tracking de-

vice for the UAE coast guard.” And he adds that: “It is

always fun to see products one has designed in a

completely unexpected and foreign setting.”

The sturdy Command & Control backpack that won a

SABS Design Excellence Award was a surprise entry

in the ICT category because it is a housing system for

such products rather than an actual ICT product. Ruwiel

explains: “We believe that it is the combination of ergo-

nomics, strength and fit suitability for purpose” that

secured this award. This range product is more than

a mere backpack because they are it is intended to house

sophisticated and fragile communication devices

which need to ‘survive when being parachute dropped The Command & Control backpack, designed by Ideso.

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from a plane or dropped onto a concrete floor from a

truck. While it must , yet still protect its contents, it must

also and be comfortable to carry for a wide variety of

people. It needs to do all this while weighing a fraction

of the equipment that it supports. It may not be the

prettiest product we have ever designed, but it is cer-

tainly practical.”

KAOKO™ THROTTLE CONTROL

The Kaoko™ Throttle Control was formulated in 20��0��2

by a South African adventure rider, Roy Mentis, while on

a long distance trip through the Kaokoveld in Namibia,

one of the last true wildernesses in the world. Mentis

explains that today, the company’s core business entails

the manufacture and marketing of one of the simplest

and most effective friction type throttle controls avail-

able worldwide.

In 20��0��2 the first Kaoko™ Throttle Controls were designed

for BMW motorcycles. Through their huge popularity,

and by demand for other makes of motorcycles, R&D

became an on going process, as the controls are bike-

specific and purpose designed. Currently over 10��0��

models are available and since 20��0��5, the Kaoko™

Control has enjoyed exponential sales growth.

“Design plays a major role. The Kaoko™ Throttle

Controls has earned the reputation as a market leader.

Kaoko™ vigorously keeps abreast of new motorcycle

models and designs and markets new kits accordingly”,

says Mentis. Unique features of the Kaoko™ Throttle

Controls include: 5-year functional guarantees; the

products are fully CNC machined; they are simple to

install and takes less than 10�� minutes to fit; they are

simple to operate, even with heavy winter gloves;

they are safe as they cannot lock and can be overridden

in an instant; and the products are readily available

internationally.

In addition to the Throttle Controls, Kaoko™ has also

developed a high-tech long-range fuel tank for BMW

The Kaoko™ Throttle Controls, designed by Kaoko™.

bikes and numerous designs of soft luggage for motor-

cycles. Mainly manufactured in South Africa, the com-

pany exports its products to the USA, Canada, all over

Europe and Australia.

…XYZ

Formed in 19���9���9���, …XYZ has grown into one of South

Africa’s largest industrial design consultancies, pro-

viding companies locally and internationally with

award winning and market capturing solutions. The

Cape Town-based consultancy has experience in devel-

oping products for a range of applications, from complex

socio-technical environments, to ergonomic intensive

tools, to rugged industrial goods. Their diverse knowl-

edge of 12 professionals encourages cross-pollination

between technologies and provides clients with a fresh

access approach to new markets. They describe their

core business as “linking society and technology

through product innovation and incubation.”

When asked about the role that design plays in the company’s development, sustainability and competi-tiveness, Design Director Byron Qually responds: “Design thinking is used throughout our business, from extrapolating a client’s true requirements or to planning a the products for mass production. The real essence of good design practice is to manage issues of sustainability, consumerism, innovation and recycling, amongst others.”

…XYZ has developed more than 10��0�� products that em-body multiple components and diverse technologies, of which 71 products have reached the marketplace in the past ten years. Depending on the client’s existing network, quality expectations, production volume and design for assembly considerations, the company manufactures in South Africa, China, India, Singapore and Portugal.

Describing the three products that won SABS Design Excellence Awards in 20��0��9���, Qually says: “The Snuza Baby Monitor and Stopak Jumbo Inflator, respectively assist in managing the safety of individuals and cargo. The Touchmart TAP, being a mobile and standalone solution, has empowered users with access to a broad range of products and services that were previously inaccessible. All three products have constructively contributed to the well-being and development of the market society.”

Commenting on their winning streak at various awards schemes over the past few years, Qually says ”The SABS Awards bring international recognition and credibility to the South African product development community. The scheme, in part, provides an audit of product quality for export potential and an indication of skills sets that can compete globally. …XYZ has won 20�� awards, been featured on five international exhibitions, and has its products as part of the per-manent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.”

These five companies exemplify what Mvusi describes

as “people-centred design at its best!” >Stopak Jumbo Inflator (top) and the Touchmart TAP, designed by ...XYZ.

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