Cape Town named World Design Capital 2014: what it meansOn Wednesday morning, 26 October 2011, at around 6:20am South African time, the announcement came from Taipei that Cape Town has been awarded the crown of World Design Capital 2014. Since the announcement, it seems that half the people on the SA social media circuit are jumping up and down celebrating, and the other half are scratching their heads, asking "World Design Whadda?" In the spirit of illumination, I'll attempt to clarify (quickly, 'cos I got important creative work to do at my real job) what this all means. First of all, for those who don't know, the World Design Capital is an award created around eight years ago by prominent international design forum ICSID. Previous winners have been Torino, Seoul and Helsinki. My own company, web marketing agency World Wide Creative, has been working with our client Cape Town Partnership on the digital side of the bid. In short, it's a big deal, especially considering the stiff competition, having been shortlisted against Bilbao and Dublin. In terms of outcomes, there are five major things we can expect:
One last note: I attended the pre-announcement party last night, Tuesday 25 October, at The Assembly nightclub in Cape Town, and it was mentioned that 2014 is exactly 20 years after the dawn of South Africa's new democracy. We've been through a bumpy ride since then, with societal and economic challenges of the highest order. It's significant to note that a marked sign of any developed nation is its sustained commitment to arts and culture. With more pressing issues to tackle, the creative side of our society has (understandably) been sidelined. What better way to get us on track than to win this award? Here's to the future of Cape Town and South Africa! For more:
About Fred RoedFred Roed, CEO of digital marketing agency World Wide Creative (www.worldwidecreative.co.za) and co-founder of the Heavy Chef initiative (www.heavychef.com), has unhealthy obsessions with online branding, The Simpsons, Hawaiian shirts and old Christopher Walken movies. He blogs at Ideate (www.ideate.co.za) a blog about South African entrepreneurs, and personally at www.fredroed.com. Contact Fred on tel +27 (0)21 423 3519, email fred@worldwidecreative.co.za and follow @Fred_Roed on Twitter.
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