12 questions to industrial designer Joe Paine
adopt because it often is not conventional and requires a double take or some investigation by a customer. The production processes, however, are certainly accessible because I use the industrial vernacular found in Johannesburg, which
1. What is design to you? What do you believe it should be? Design to me is the application of a thought process to the production of objects making
Purple Rain Table lamp for soft indirect ambient light.
them better and to solve solutions in a human way.
can be rather low tech by international standards.
2. Do you achieve that ideal in your work? I try to, by trusting my process in the hope that what I make is valuable and loved by those who use them. 3. How do you keep the balance between design and running a business? How limited are you as an artist by traditional industrial design and economic factors to survive, for instance? I am more of a designer than a businessman, my accountant will attest to that. There is always a trade off, but I try to keep a lifestyle balanced with design, business and time. 4. Do you have a product that sells like sweet cakes? My Picture Perfect Rails sell the best, as they are high quality at a low price. This is hard to achieve on other products due to the time and material inputs involved. 5. You have been described as making furniture with a more accessible design using accessible processes. What does this mean in your world? I am not sure that would be totally correct, as my design is not always accessible. It can be hard for people to
6. What is the thinking behind your creations? My products range from planters, indoor and outdoor furniture, lighting, levitating
The Kelly Capwell Drinks Cabinet to entertain in true 1980’s soap opera style.
Galapagos Planter to grow a creeper indoors without worrying about wall space.
57
ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker