In 2012 the Melville Community Development Organisation (MCDO) approached the Department of Strategic Communications at the University of Johannesburg for a collaboration between the University and the Melville community, with the support of the Melville Residence Association (MRA). These Melville institutions requested groups of Honours students to research and propose a solution for the urban degeneration within the area, as perceived by its businesses, tourists and residents.

The South African government has invested in skills development ever since 1995 in an effort to facilitate more opportunities for small business and micro business (SMME) owners. Skills development programs offered in South Africa include the development of technical skills like apparel construction. At least 129 active apparel SMMEs were operating in the Pretoria region of Gauteng province during between 2001 and 2013. Most of these SMMEs provide custom‐made apparel for their individual customers and the owner‐designers of these businesses are involved in the design process of the custom‐made apparel, but also play an imperative role in the business functions that directly relate to the design process.

This paper probes two areas relating to transcoding culture in a website interface development context. Firstly, culture is interrogated through the lens of current anthropological models of dimensions (traits/tendencies) of national culture. Secondly, transcoding anthropological models of dimensions of national culture into culturally adaptive website interfaces through the graphic design process.

The world exists and is driven by need and yet the notion of education remains static. The new dispensation of Universities of Technology (UoT) in 2004 created a sense of anxiety and exhilaration simultaneously. UoT as a centre of educational delivery has implications for the new role which Higher Education will play. This also impacts on Departments of Visual arts and design within such institutions. The South African context of education is layered with social issues which impact on a broad spectrum of its development.

This paper investigates the demise of design and related programmes within the public Further Education and Training (FET) system of South Africa.

Policy documents regulating the provision of these programmes were interrogated and the various changes which have occurred in the FET system, especially in terms of restructuring, will be highlighted. These changes have had adverse implications on design education, evidenced in the introduction of the National Curriculum Vocational (NCV) programmes and the unclear status of the ‘old’ Nated programmes. The paper concludes by advocating for non-­‐formal education as a possible antidote for the poor availability of design and related programmes within the 50 public FET colleges.

One of the most severe disabilities known to man is the loss of sight, as it deprives the individual of the primary sense used to acquire information and knowledge about their direct environment. Visual impairment limits effective decision making as it severs the individual’s essential involvement in society. Such individuals have restricted mobility and are mostly dependent on other people and as a result their ability to make decisions, and develop a sense of purchasing orientation is hampered. This research aimed at exploring the shopping experiences of visually impaired consumers in regards to clothing prices, colour choices, fibre content and the feel or hand of the fabric used for the garment.

Citizenship implies association and involvement in a community. Even though the conditions of involvement can be specified by government laws, citizenship is in fact not only a matter of politics, but actually an issue of culture and experience. It can therefore be described as a status and as a set of attitudes, associations and expectations that go beyond territorial boundaries. Active citizenship is the viewpoint that citizens should work for the improvement of their community. The notion requires active participation through economic contribution and volunteer work to improve life for all citizens.

During the past decade, all the surveys of women’s sizes and measurements show that a significant proportion of the population can be categorised as plus-­size. This is not necessarily something new but rather re-­confirms that there is a large market for the plus-­size garment of all types. Younger women are becoming plus-­size, particularly among “pear-­shaped” South African women of African origin.

These two factors, combined with the ever growing fashion awareness among the general public, make it necessary to develop a sizing chart for the pear-­shaped body characteristics and to re-­evaluate the existing sizing chart in relation to this particular body shape and size category.

The Platonic notion of idealism, specifically used in the botanical imagery represented inRenaissance paintings is investigated in this paper and compared to the botanical motifs used in Renaissance enamelled jewellery. The same process of idealisation used in Renaissance painting and enamel jewels is applied to South African botanical motifs, which creates a stylistic departure from the botanical images used during the Renaissance.

Full Title: A reflexive account of developing community health care material through the use of pre-testing methods and visual persuasion techniques

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a congenital syndrome caused by excessive consumption of alcohol by a mother during pregnancy. It is characterized by retardation of mental development and physical growth, particularly of the skull and face of the infant. FAS is a growing problem in South Africa, with it being rife in the townships and rural areas. The lack of public information and intervention is one of the reasons why the syndrome persists in these communities and this was also the motivation for this study.

If “Design is shaped by the community and community shapes design” (DEFSA 2013 brief author), then how do we teach design to a culture that is engrossed within the ever-­changing information age, what is the impact of this ethos on the current day designer and design?

A.W. Sprin’s definition of landscape as a process of the “mutual shaping of people and places” implies that the inhabitants of any space are implicated in, but also susceptible to, the shaping of their surroundings. This paper examines such interactions by theorising landscape as embodied, individuated experience of place in relation to representations of landscape. The Vaal Metropolitan area is reflected on in terms of the researcher’s experience of place, where experience of place refers to the consideration of direct (multi-­‐sensory) perception, memories and prior knowledge as well as imaginings of place. This understanding of experience of place is based on a combination of theories of place from the writings of Edward Casey, J.B.

This paper reflects on aspects that impact on an interdisciplinary shift motivated by technology‐transfer within a University of Technology (UoT). Discussion focuses on the integrated use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) as automated layer by layer 3D printing product design and development technology within a 3D Art and Design studio-practice environment. As emerging technology, AM’s impact has redefined the procedural framework and required knowledge coherence for the development of 3D objects.

The paper considers culture as a collection of meanings which are produced and consumed by a given social group. Thus, the generation of meaning would be analogous to the generation of culture. In the investigation of architectural (built) artefacts it is unusual to identify a representative sample; instead research focus is on the in-­depth precedent study. The purpose of this paper is to identify selection criteria for such a broad corpus of interior design artefacts (which may be studied from a semiotic perspective) as grounded theory requires a large and broad data sample. This is a novel application.

The design options in the contemporary computerised era, lead to the digitised manipulation of proposed reality. Green screen is a technique used within film/television and permits compositing and manipulation of the proposed reality. This allows the filmmaker and the virtual designers to substitute the green screen area with whatever designed ‘environment’ the filmmaker desires.

Internationally, design incubators have emerged as a result of clustering. These design incubators serve as artist studios, or as design centers providing opportunities for young emerging entrepreneurs to acquire studio workspaces located within a cluster of similar economic activities.

In South Africa,  design incubators, particularly fashion design incubators, have emerged in the Johannesburg Fashion District, situated within the central business district of Johannesburg. Research conducted in 2006 established that there were a number of emerging fashion designers located within the Johannesburg Fashion District design incubators. However, interviews conducted in 2012 revealed that the number of fashion designers positioned within these design incubators had declined.

This paper centres around a creative design project for first-­‐year fashion design students. This project was informed by (1) the theoretical underpinnings of design thinking, (2) a human-­‐centred approach to design and (3) protocol studies of novice engineering and industrial design students’ approaches to the design process. The design project assumed a design process method that focused on human beings – and their needs – as the driver for fashion design. The aim of adopting such a human-­‐centred method for creative design was three-­‐ fold. Firstly, the design project aimed to create a culture and awareness of human beings and their needs as a driver for fashion design.

Jacob  Dlamini,  in  his  seminal  text  ‘Native  nostalgia’  (2010),  confides  that  the  first  time  he  heard  the  term ‘economic  sanctions’  used in the township  was in the early 1980s when he woke up one day to discover the local Barclays Bank had been renamed First National Bank (FNB). Notably, Dlamini continues to list “a bottle store and … the biggest news agent in Katlehong” as signifiers of urban life of Katlehong, but only the bank is recalled by brand. At the time, the re‐branding of Barclays engendered a storm of protest in South Africa, both in design circles, and amongst members of the public.

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  discuss  the  benefits  of  embracing  constructivism  as  a conceptual  basis  for  the practice of teaching and learning in interior design degree programmes;  namely Bachelor of Technology,  and BA Honours offered at many of the institutions in South Africa.
 
Deliberation  is  given  to  using  a  constructivist  approach  to  both  teaching  and  learning, and  as  a  research paradigm to better align the research and practical components of these traditionally vocationally-­orientated, project-based design programmes.   
 

The paper deals with issues and concerns relating to the process of pre-­‐testing visual  illustrations used in educational material in a community communication setting.

The first part of the paper discusses  how selected aspects of nutrition education materials meant for elderly care givers in Boipatong  were pre-­‐tested using questionnaires (n=55) and focus group discussions in order to establish the  target group’s views and opinions about different types of visual illustration approaches. The  information was subsequently used to guide the production of a visually illustrated nutrition  education booklet, which was distributed free of charge in the community as part of a nutrition  education intervention.