Passion Projects
For some, design means making things beautiful. At IIE-Vega, design is a way to solve complex problems - a crucial skill in the context of the Global South. IIE Graphic Design, Digital Design and Interior Design students were briefed to design solutions to the challenges affecting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
The core steps of the project were to:
- Pick an SDG that the student felt passionate about
- Analyse the problem in the context of their community (ranging from the global village to the microcosm of their class)
- Conduct in-depth primary and secondary research
- Design a conceptual solution
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: mental health
The Road less travelled is a project concerned with raising awareness and providing a solution to an important mental health issue, namely Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). The design of a customisable, travelling installation will create the opportunity to reach countless university students in South Africa in an attempt to build awareness about SAD. Additionally, the installation will be purposed as a safe haven that allows for reflection, communication and shared...
- Students: Abigail Wagner and Itumelang Mosebi
- Discipline: IIE BA Honours in Interior Design
BIOPHILIC DESIGN - climate change
This project addresses an environmental wicked issue; climate change and the possibility of regenerative design instead of continual renovations. The solution looks at the concept of hydro ceramics as a building material and how it mimics the strategies of the human body. We created a dome shape that uses hydroceramics that would be placed within the Kruger National Park’s rest camps as picnic spots. The structure makes use of biomimicry by adapting the aesthetic and mannerisms of nature and wildlife within the region, biophilia will be incorporated in order to...
- Students: Chané Jacobsz and Alexia Morezzi
SEED BEYOND YOUR SOUL – reviving a community garden in a poor community post-COVID
Sibahle community vegetable garden in Boikanyo – a project aimed at educating the community about sustainable agriculture and healthy food while providing local schools and households with food. The project ceased to function during COVID because it relies on volunteers who stopped coming to work in the gardens as they feared catching COVID from contact with other people. ...
- Student: Jaime Boolkin
- Discipline: Digital Design
- Campus: Bordeaux
DALA WHAT YOU MUST – tackling youth unemployment in Eldorado Park
Based on research findings within the Eldorado Park community, the student came up with a conceptual solution that utilises street pole posters linked to a mobile application to put young people in Eldorado Park in touch with potential Mentors in the community. The idea ...
- Student: Zeynia Wax
- Discipline: Digital Design
- Campus: Bordeaux
I AM INTERFAITH – I AM NOT TABOO – promoting interfaith tolerance
For this project, the student explored the challenges faced by young people in interfaith relationships. She came up with a conceptual solution of creating a Netflix documentary telling real-life stories to get a conversation going about the topic and to promote tolerance. The documentary is supported by a movie poster and an awareness campaign on Instagram.
- Student: Zuhaira Osman
- Discipline: Digital Design
- Campus: Durban
FLYING PHOENIX FOUNDATION - tertiary students donating time to help primary school children who have no support, with schoolwork
The student identified the impact of online / hybrid teaching on primary school kids whose parents were unable to support / help them with schoolwork during the COVID pandemic. In households where parents were unable to support learners with schoolwork, learners ...
- Student: Jeremey Cook
- Discipline: Digital Design
- Campus: Cape Town
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – transmedia campaign to raise awareness about cyberbullying
*INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION: IIE-VEGA DIGITAL DESIGN STUDENTS (CAPE TOWN) and FONTYS EINDHOVENThe brief required students to explore cyberbullying, its root causes and consequences and to create a transmedia campaign, using storytelling and audience involvement across multiple...
- Students: Julia Blythe, Tyler Ainsworth and Rufaro Chilware
- Discipline: Digital Design
- Campus: Cape Town
#HIGHLIGHTTHEUNSPOKEN
South Africa has many mental health issues and abuse. However, though these issues are prevalent, they are left unspoken in many circumstances. Some issues may even be ‘taboo’ in some households and individuals experiencing these dilemmas are made to feel as if they are overreacting or simply, seeking attention. Therefore, many resort to staying silent about such matters....
- Students: Aunisha Hooseria, Christopher Meiring and Megan Taylor Hills
- Discipline: Graphic Design
- Campus: Pretoria
HELPING HEARTS
This student created a product that speaks directly to children that inhabit spaces of victimhood and the resulting feelings of alienation and being alone. What sprung to mind was something that all children hold dear to their hearts, the embodiment of childhood and youth: a teddy bear. A teddy bear has no gender, no culture or creed and no assigned race and as such acts as a universal item of enjoyment for all children....
- Student: Hannah Rosekilly
- Discipline: Graphic Design
- Campus: Bordeaux