Collection of Globe Hope’s products travelled to Windhoek, Namibia to be part of Potentials 3 workshop.

The third Potentials workshop brought together students, entrepreneurs and other professionals from the craft and design fields from Namibia and Finland. The Potentials workshops aimed to nurture leadership and entrepreneurship by developing design management skills in a hands-on environment. The workshop took place from 1-5 June 2009 at the Pambili studios and Studio 77 in Windhoek, Namibia.

Working together with Namibian young fashion designer Maria Caley our Action Station was concentrading on DESIGN AWARENESS:


"The main aim of the awareness station was to examine the impact of designers and their product on the environment and the society. The aims were also to question material solutions and think of the life cycle of the product as a whole: from the beginning to recycling possibilities after the use."

Globe Hope’s products were playing part as an examples how different recycled materials can be used, be well designed, look cool! 
When presenting bags made out from seat belts or old sails, earlier intended use was so well obliterated that participants really needed to think hard what materials used to be.

During the four fast going working days we made a huge collage out of product life cycle; about all the different working phases on product’s journey from the material resources to the end consumption or hopefully new life. With the use of image it was easier to raise the discussion and to illustrate our thoughts to other people in the workshop.
Later on we concentraded producing prototype products from founded material, mainly from material we collected during the excursion to the dump site in northern part of the city. Most of our group had never visited the place before, and oh how many usefull parts we founded! This old trashpicker wasn’t the onlyone excited!

Old tyres changed their form to be a handbag and green plastic binding material had a new life as a basket. Products were presented together with Globe Hope’s examples in the exhibition first at the craft centre and at the moment in the College of Arts, both places here in Windhoek. 

I was happy to hear that most of the participants founded workshop given a lot of inspiration! New ideas are planned to be taken into action later on, lack of material is not the issue in Windhoek either!

I have faith in new young designers, in Maria Caleys words: Designers have the power to change things around them!


More about the whole workshop can be read from:
http://www.designmagazine.co.za/pages/852914247/events.asp

With warm greetings from Namibian winter, Hanna Perakyla