Pretoria - Final year design students and established designers across South Africa have been called to enter for the National Furniture Design Competition.
Entries for the competition, which is presented by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in partnership with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Design Institute, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Furntech and MeCad Solidworks will close on 31 August 2015.
The theme of the 2015/16 edition of the competition, which was officially launched at the annual Design Indaba Expo in Cape Town at the weekend, is ‘Future Public Spaces’.
The theme speaks to the designing of seating or waiting areas in public institutions.
Chief Director of Agro-processing at the dti, Unati Speirs, said the aim of the competition is to attract designers to the furniture industry, thus creating a pool of designers to serve the industry and promote product development and differentiation.
Speirs said the competition is designed in such a way that it will promote entrepreneurs and professionals in furniture design, assisting them to take their career forward and improve their design skills.
“The furniture manufacturing industry is an important sector in the South African economy. It has the potential to contribute to the reduction of unemployment, increase exports and develop small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs),” said Speirs.
The competition is divided into two categories. The first is open for final year students and the other focuses on established designers.
Entrants will be expected to provide technical drawings of the product, a description of materials to be used in the production, as well as the description of and the concept behind the design.
Prizes worth R100 000 will be split amongst the three finalists in both categories.
Speirs said the competition will elevate the image of the furniture manufacturing industry in South Africa as well as position the local industry and enhance its competitiveness locally and abroad through new product development and product differentiation.
More information on the competition can be obtained from http://www.thedti.gov.za/furnituredesigncompetition.jsp. - SAnews.gov.za
