Design Futures Africa Archives

Futuristic Pagan by Chipo Mapondera and Sabina Mutsvati

Futuristic Pagan explores Shona spiritual practices and traditions through virtual reality. The space reflects a Shona dreamscape made up of traditional icons that represent the rituals and meanings related to communicating with the ancestors, and other guides and deities. The...

September 29, 2023

What lies beneath by Rufaro Magara and Ryan Harvey

Design Futures Africa

What lies beneath by Rufaro Magara and Ryan Harvey

Dive into a virtual ocean adventure in “What Lies Beneath”, a captivating prototype VR game that transports players to an underwater world with a pressing mission to save the seas. The game seamlessly blends education with entertainment, empowering the viewer...

September 29, 2023

Back To by Tarryn Tippens and Larnelle Bakala

Design Futures Africa

Back To by Tarryn Tippens and Larnelle Bakala

Back To is a short-format 360-degree film that explores cultural identity through sustainable design. This is the story of a woman named Yelena who is living in a post-apocalyptic world. Yelena tells us the story of how her life has...

September 29, 2023

Resurrection by Jackson Chifamba and Joel Chandauka

Design Futures Africa

Resurrection by Jackson Chifamba and Joel Chandauka

Join JaXX in an immersive experience of what it’s like to be a textile creative in Harare. Follow him as he goes to the Mbare market to thrift for second-hand clothes that he uses as material for the making of...

September 28, 2023

Bhero Kulture by Siza Mukwedini and Plot Mhako

Design Futures Africa

Bhero Kulture by Siza Mukwedini and Plot Mhako

For Bhero Kulture, Siza and Plot have created an augmented reality portal into the Mabhero clothing market in Harare, and an immersive zine that allows viewers to engage with various topics affecting the fashion industry in Zimbabwe. The zine invites...

September 28, 2023

Far and Wide by Larah Fisher and Keith Dliwayo

Design Futures Africa

Far and Wide by Larah Fisher and Keith Dliwayo

In this immersive 360 degree virtual reality music video, Larah and Keith have created different spaces of nature, accompanied by soundscapes, that represent different phases of climate change. Original music has been composed for the film experience of wandering through...

September 28, 2023

Design Futures Lab 2023 creatives imagine a brighter future by blurring real and virtual fashion

Design Futures Africa Features

Design Futures Lab 2023 creatives imagine a brighter future by blurring real and virtual fashion

“We have a crisis of imagination,” said Marina Gattás, Wellbeing Economy Alliance Brazil Hub Co-Lead, during her presentation at the Design Futures Lab 2023. The lab creatives are addressing this failure of imagination. Using possibilities offered by immersive technology, they...

July 17, 2023

Meet the 12 creatives selected for Design Futures Lab 2023

Design Futures Africa Features

Meet the 12 creatives selected for Design Futures Lab 2023

This year a musician, artisanal fashion designer, culture activist and artist join cutting-edge photographers, filmmakers and creative technologists for the second edition of Design Futures Lab. After considerable deliberation, six Zimbabweans and six South Africans have been selected to participate...

April 14, 2023

Design Futures Africa Features

Open call for Design Futures Lab 2023

NOTE: This feature has been edited to reflect new dates – the deadline has been extended. Do you want to create an immersive digital experience about sustainable fashion and design? After a successful inaugural Design Futures Lab 2022, the application...

February 17, 2023

Design Futures Lab 2022: Where sustainable fashion meets immersive technology

Design Futures Africa Features

Design Futures Lab 2022: Where sustainable fashion meets immersive technology

What happens when sustainable fashion and immersive technology collide? The Design Futures Lab 2022 prototypes are here to answer this question. After an open call for nominations, nine teams of South African creatives were selected for the first-ever Design Futures...

July 23, 2022

All Is Precious by Oliver Hunter Porohille and Holly Bell Beaton

Design Futures Africa

All Is Precious by Oliver Hunter Porohille and Holly Bell Beaton

Oliver Hunter Porohille and Holly Bell Beaton present ‘All Is Precious’: a capsule collection of digital garments designed in relationship with planet earth. The capsule collection aligns with the elements of air, fire, earth, water, and Spirit, based on the...

July 22, 2022

Baku by Khumo Morojele and Mbangiso Mabaso

Design Futures Africa

Baku by Khumo Morojele and Mbangiso Mabaso

For this prototype, Khumo Morojele and Mbangiso Mabaso have created three experimental looks which aim to minimise waste in the design and manufacturing process using 3D software. This software, including blender, Clo3D, and Unity, is used as tools to reduce...

July 22, 2022

Botho by Lesiba Mabitsela Studio and King Debs

Design Futures Africa

Botho by Lesiba Mabitsela Studio and King Debs

“Botho” is a SeSotho phrase that roughly translates to “the act of carrying the required level of respect for the other.” Or, in short, treating the other with respect. With the concept of Botho in mind, this project looks into...

July 22, 2022

Worldrobe by Natalie Paneng and Masego Morgan

Design Futures Africa

Worldrobe by Natalie Paneng and Masego Morgan

Worldrobe starts in the community wardrobe, a space where creators can add their finished products. In our prototype, we focus on Masego’s story and world. Masego is a suburban girl, who consciously started her slow fashion journey in 2016 after...

July 22, 2022

One of None by Matthew Edwards and Xzavier Kunene

Design Futures Africa

One of None by Matthew Edwards and Xzavier Kunene

South African-based designers, Matthew Edwards and Xzavier Kunene, come together to lean into each other’s crafts across fashion and product design. Through their prototype, they explore the possibilities of a sustainable future, and present, by recycling and remanufacturing denim waste...

July 22, 2022

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