design indaba 2011 conferences

designer alberto alessi (left) and droog founder renny ramakers (right) are two of the speakers in indaba’s 2011 ‘a better world through creativity’ conference

design indaba conference february 23 – 25th, 2011 cape town, south africa

aiming to create ‘a better world through creativity’, the design indaba conference will run from february 23-25th, 2011 at the cape town international convention centre.

the fields and expertise of the speakers range from programmers and web developers to stationery-makers and restauranters. among the designers set to present are alberto alessi, renny ramakers, and maarten baas. all are brought together with technology creatives, students, and marketing professionals to examine the interplay of creativity, design, technology, and commerce.

the three-day conference series is part of the design indaba project, which also includes an artist expo, housing development project, and range of educational and outreach missions. a ‘young designers simulcast’ will broadcast the speeches live during the event to a second auditorium of students, designers, and professionals.

left: designer maarten baas; right: brad armitage and rui esteves, developers of the split brewery and locavore restaurant &UNIONthis year’s list of speakers includes designer alberto alessi, co-founder and director of droog renny ramakers, designer maarten baas, and david butler, responsible for global design strategy for coca-cola.

representing the frontiers of technology and design are presenters robert wong of google creative labs, ubuntu founder mark shuttleworth, and ben fry, developer of the processing program interface for creatives.

adding a bit of interactivity to this year’s program, charlie todd, founder of improv everywhere, will be leading hundreds of volunteers in enacting one of the kinds of spontaneous public pranks the group has become known for.

showcasing indaba’s focus on fostering young talent towards the creation of a better future, ‘campus to cape town‘ brings together recent design graduates from across the world to discuss design, process, and the future of creativity.

technology developers set to speak include robert wong, head of google creative labs (left) and ben fry, developer of the processing programming interface for creatives (right)

more information about this year’s speeches and presenters can be found at the conference website.

the series is followed by the design indaba expo, which runs from february 25-27th and features the work of 280 south african artisans and designers.