2020 Line-Up Kicks Off At The Design Assemblage

The Design Assemblage (TDA) created a big buzz in the design community when it launched last year.

Its array of hugely popular free expert lectures, workshops and masterclasses continues in 2020 with Lego Foundation partner for Africa Brent Hutcheson; renowned art photographer Sophie Licht and Nitida owner Bernhard Veller explaining the label designs of his award-winning wines.

Global business coach and art photographer Sophie Licht will be giving a talk entitled Why Your World Needs Wabi Sabi: What Every Creative Thinker Can Learn From The Art of Imperfection on Tuesday, January 28, at 15h00.

In this inspiring presentation, those attending will discover how and why the new frontier of creative thinking combines messaging, story-telling and inspiration. Licht will unpack Wabi Sabi (broadly speaking a Japanese aesthetic or a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay), present the seven aesthetic principles of Zen philosophy and share six nuggets for finding and making meaning in your life.

Don’t miss TDA’s first ever Breakfast Salon together with Brent Hutcheson on Friday, January 31, at 08h00. Hutcheson, from Care for Education supported by Lego Foundation, will be hosting an interactive talk on Why Creativity is Becoming the New Benchmark for a Country’s Potential.

Hutcheson, the LEGO Foundation partner for Africa, is an Ashoka Fellow and is also chairman of the World Robotics Olympiad Advisory Council and heads up the judging panel of this Olympiad. He taught for more than 10 years and during this time developed a passion for working with children and a strong desire to change the way schools work with children.

At this debut Breakfast Salon, Hutcheson will be doing a six bricks workshop as part of his not-to-be-missed interactive talk with guests.

Imagine your year for 2020. Join Sue Kilian from Creative Life Circles for the afternoon on Saturday, February 1, to clarify your vision and define your goals through an interactive workshop titled See Clearly With 20/20 Vision at which you can make your own vision board. TDA will supply boards to those wishing to participate in this free workshop but attendees are asked to bring along their own scissors and some magazines.

There’s the fascinating talk When I Turn 150, I Want To Be A Fireman: Life Long Learning by Design by Desmond Laubscher of the Greenside Design Center which takes place on Tuesday, February 4, at 11h00.

Explains Laubscher: “Our lives to date have been based on a linear timeframe – grow up, become educated, work, get married, have children then grandchildren and then pass on. In a world where we live to be 200 all this will change, we will go through cycles which will include many career changes, many partners and a completely different way of living. How do we prepare for this and how can design be a catalyst preparing us for this?”

Sue Kilian is back on Wednesday, February 10h30, with a talk titled What’s Your Number – An Introduction To The Enneagram. By strategically tapping into creative solutions, Kilian’s aim is to help people minimise the harmful psychological and physiological effects of workplace stress. Having had a long career in the building environment working in construction and surveying, her experience lead to personal coaching. Understanding the nine Enneagram personality types helps to define your core motivation, emotional intelligence, strengths and fears.

TDA’s popular Wine by Design sets to explore the winemakers’ process, wine label design and share unique stories in wine with the design community, through a series of intimate tasting evenings. The featured winery on Thursday, February 27, at 17h30 is the award-winning Durbanville Wine Valley-situated estate Nitida whose winemaker Danie Keulder was named the 2019 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year late last year for his 2017 Nitida Pinot Noir.

Nitida has won numerous awards for its wine labels. Owner Bernhard Veller explains the story behind them: “Our labels were not a quick design sketched by an agency and sent off to the printers. Quite the opposite. We spent months thinking of the best way to incorporate everything Nitida stands for: To capture the essence of the estate, our wine’s unique characters and to give our friends far away a little bit of home.

“Our label illustrations were hand drawn using inks made from our Nitida tree leaves. Inspired by protea nitidus in our garden, they also feature local Renosterveld plants and some of the creatures who share the farm with us.”

Details of more February talks and workshops will be announced shortly.

Reserve your free seat at www.thedesignassemblage.com