South Africa has one of the most forward thinking Constitutions in the world. Few countries have been able to define and legislate for equality in such an all-encompassing way. It is a challenge for design educators who must be aware of the likely future implications for design students, and who need to question their own views and current practice.

Designing for Disability has long been a specialism for a minority group. However, international trends are redefining it as a mainstream, user-lead concept. There is great potential for South African designers to embrace the meaning of equality for disabled people within the Constitution and use it to guide design practice.

This paper will examine:

When new media and interactive design were added to the traditional graphic design curriculum at the University of Potchefstroom this year, I became keenly aware of the current complexties in the industry and the difficulties involved in teaching students a wide range of specialized skills with limited funds, limited expertise and in limited time. I certainly sensed what Lorianne Justice termed the ‘big squeeze’ when she refered to the ever expanding knowledge base that needs to be accommodated in limited time in current design curriculums (Justice 2000: 49).

The University of Botswana is proposing to introduce an undergraduate degree program in Industrial Design. It is inevitable that a new program must have local relevance while not loosing touch with the global realities. This paper discusses the need for the course, the proposed program structure and its rationale within Botswana’s social, economic and industrial setting. 

The submission discusses global factors that were considered in designing the program. It also highlights the implementation plan in terms of student enrolment and their exits profile, staff, resources both existing and projected, and industry collaboration.

In order to achieve sustainability within the design industry, designers and educators working within changing value systems need to develop practical and contextualised solutions.

This paper examines ecological principles based on growing environmental awareness and the need to imbue responsibility towards our environment and relate appropriate technology.

The paper focuses on the role that documentary photographs may play in indigenous knowledge research. Visual methods, or qualitative research where visual images play an integral part of the study design, have the advantage that power imbalances between the researcher and the study population are typically low in comparison to more conservative research designs, especially when the visual material is produced by the members of the study population themselves.

The paper specifically discusses methodological aspects of scenarios where

The relationship between design and business management becomes critical when contexts change and new problems emerge. Some new problems in the design industry are a redefinition of disciplinary boundaries, new technologies and shifts in business thinking and client expectations. Design educators need to understand current demands and anticipate the future requirements of design clients when devising courses and content. This requires conceptual flexibility and continued scenario planning.

Many corporate firms, although operating within this age of information and the knowledge economy, still rely on the skill and expertise of individuals to the extent that the ‘organisational memory’ can be severely weakened when that individual’s store of knowledge (skill, know-how, individual memory of corporate behaviour) ceases to function as an input. This highlights a parallel lack of system in organising collective and strategic knowledge - to collate and retain the most valuable and necessary units of knowledge. These circumstances will be compared to the general technikon situation, in which a related, academic, lack of knowledge management is all too evident.

A framework for Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Technology Research: A cross-cultural Indo-South African research project.

The craft sector is currently one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa. It involves commercial and industrial interest in the manufacturing, marketing and design aspects. Within this proposed project we will focus on the study and development of traditional and appropriate technologies in the manufacturing processes of crafts.

Modern techniques will be adapted, adopted and incorporated with traditional technology. Research done on ground level will help to identify rural development projects, problem areas and technological innovation possibilities.