The realities of where a career in design could take them were brought home to some 250 learners from 17 Cape high schools when they took part in a special event organised just for them at the Design Indaba 10 Expo as part of Woolworths’ ‘Making the Difference Through Design’ educational programme. This year’s event, held on Saturday 24 February, followed last year’s successful debut of this special educational presentation designed to provide insight into this exciting, ever-changing world. The grades 10-12 learners and their teachers, all from schools participating in this innovative educational initiative being spearheaded by Woolworths and the Western Cape Education Department, were given the opportunity to hear from some of South Africa’s top young designers, including well-known fashion designer Themba Mngomezulu of Darkie and lighting designer Heath Nash, who was recently named South African creative entrepreneur of the year by the British Council. They also had a chance to see some award-winning work in graphic design, illustration and multimedia design at the Loerie Awards stand and learned about the world of advertising from Andrew Human, Managing Director of the Loerie Awards, and Julian Watt, an award-winning Creative Director from Net#work, one of South Africa’s top agencies. Two learners (can we insert their names??) were also lucky enough on the day to win one of the limited edition Design Indaba delegate bags commemorating Design Indaba’s 10th anniversary. Held in conjunction with Design Indaba, the Design Indaba Expo showcases the best of local design and features advertising, architecture, craft, décor, film, fashion, graphic design, interior design, jewellery, new media, publishing, product design and visual media. “We’re incredibly excited to have been able to provide this one-of-a-kind opportunity for these learners and their teachers,” says Penny Luthi, who heads the Making the Difference Through Design project for Woolworths. “Not only has it given them the chance to further investigate the many paths a career in design could lead to, it also gave them the chance to interact first-hand with some of our country’s top design practitioners. This kind of link between the classroom and the ‘real world’ is invaluable.” ENDS Issued on behalf of: Woolworths Issued by: liquidlingo Communications Contact: Jackie Busch / Ayesha Abrahams +27 21 424 1530 jackie@liquidlingo.co.za ayesha@liquidlingo.co.za