Woodstock has long had a reputation for being a hub of industry, design and manufacture. In a new social media series, we’ve been featuring our local creative businesses, coined to be part of the Woodstock Design District. Now we curate our top five for 2019, which we have selected to feature across a range of design and art businesses across the creative sectors. This series was inspired by The Woodstock Design District Map, a curated guide to the Cape Town neighbourhood with the highest density of design studios and art galleries in the country, created by the Guild Group and Monday Design.
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Monday Design
Known for creating iconic brand identities and packaging for some of South Africa’s most-loved modern brands, from logos for Origin Coffee, Ecco, The Guild Group, Royale Eatery and El Burro to wine and beer labels for Spier Creative Block, Citizen Beer and Cape Rock Wines, Monday Design is home to some of the best graphic design around. Based in Cape Town and passionate about branding, creative director Francois Rey and his team enjoy the challenge of assisting clients to translate ideas, values and strategic goals into visual identities and graphic design. Monday has a knack of producing beautiful, simple and effective solutions and have been responsible for many successful corporate identities and packaging ranges over the years.
Visit their website to see more of their work: mondaydesign.co.za
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Hoi P’loy
Meet the team at Hoi P’loy, founded in 2013 by Cape Town creatives Ploy Phiromnam and Guy van der Walt (above).
The Woodstock-based company, located in Ravenscraig Road, creates a unique line of vintage-inspired lighting products, which you see all over Cape Town, lighting up dozens of restaurants, stores and homes with their dazzling designs.
“Our goal is to draw on the production values, materials and techniques from the past and marry them with modern technologies and contemporary designs.”
The designers embrace forgotten materials such as solid brass, Bakelite and fabric-woven electrical cable along with new design tools such as 3D printing and scanning.
“We’re passionate about bringing back the quality design aesthetics that were once evident in everyday objects.”
Based in Woodstock, the studio works with various skilled artisans to offer a new take on lighting inspired from the past. Visit their website to see more of their range and order online or to set up a visit to their beautiful showroom: hoiploy.com
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Haldane Martin Design
Haldane Martin Design (above) is one of South Africa’s preeminent furniture designers who is also behind the interior design of some of Cape Town’s iconic spaces such as Truth Coffee Roasting and Swan Café in Buitenkant Street.
His design studio is based in Roodebloem Road in Woodstock. We love his latest ranges of outdoor furniture, seen here, the Polka and Cha Cha table collections, Hula chairs and the Papa Sun outdoor sofas. Haldane’s multi-award winning furniture and interior designs are culturally significant contributions to the South African design language.
Now, with 5 new furniture collections released in 2019, the brand is bringing contemporary South African identity to exterior spaces – and helping secure the place of Cape Town design on the Woodstock map!
See more at haldanemartin.co.za.
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Goodman Gallery
Founded in Johannesburg originally by Linda Givon in 1966, the Goodman Gallery now has spaces both in Johannesburg and Cape Town, in our very own Woodstock at the Fairweather House in Sir Lowry Road. Internationally renowned and one of the few South African galleries to have a committed presence at international design fairs such as Art Basel and Venice Biennale, the gallery represents both established and emerging artists who have shaped the landscape of contemporary art in Southern Africa.
Goodman Gallery is now run by businesswoman Liza Essers (right) who took over the helm in 2008, also co-executive producer of the Oscar-winning Tsotsi and one of four partners of European design brand Ligne Roset’s South African arm. “Art can make a difference in terms of shifting consciousness and opening a space for dialogue,” says Essers, and “bringing African perspectives to the international art scene” has been her goal with the Goodman Gallery.
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Robin Sprong Wallpaper
Creating original artwork and bringing top artists’ work to your walls… from Tretchikoff to young South African artist Tara Deacon… Robin Sprong (below) is leading the way in South Africa in the globally revived trend of wallpaper. Bold, blown-up prints, from artwork to photography to pattern, can transform an interior, and Robin Sprong’s wallpaper studio is one of South Africa’s leading bespoke wallpaper companies. Together with a host of diverse artists and designers they are cultivating designs that showcase a modern innovative aesthetics, right from the hub of Woodstock, in the creative block Mason’s Press in Ravenscraig Road.
View more designs at robinsprong.com.
About The Woodstock Design District Map:
“The Guild Group worked with Monday Design to produce this handy annual guide to a neighbourhood in constant flux, which was home to Southern Guild’s first collectible design gallery (now relocated to the Silo District in the V&A Waterfront). The Woodstock Design District Map compiled the best design stores, art galleries, workshops and artisanal food stops that made navigating the area easier for locals and tourists alike. The map was available both as a printed, fold-out version and online.”
See the map: theguildgroup.co.za/woodstock-design-district
