LeftRight

Daily Archives : January 9, 2010

One Small Seed issue 17

interestingopinion

One Small Seed Issue 17


One of South Africa’s most well known design magazine is back and with a leopard skin ROAR!
Seriously, I had to laugh at the model on the latest cover of One Small Seed Issue 17…hilarious.
It’s the Wild Issue boys and girls. Time to get primal and bite the person to your left RWooooOAR!!!!!

One Small Seed Issue 17 is, as always, jammed pack full of some seriously interesting articles and bits and bobs from every facet of South African design and beyond.
Here are a few pieces that I found interesting. Take a lookie lookie my snoekie!

Political artwork is not a new thing. No sir. However, I was impressed with the Activist Artist article on Sindiso Nyoni. The article describes an artist who grew up in the turbulent times of Zimbabwe in the 80’s. His unique artwork reflects the social wounds left by a bitter struggle against colonial repression and of course the internal conflicts of the Shona and Ndebele factions. Sindiso had extremely different views to the militant ZANU party and because of these views feared for his own life. He relocated to Jozies, where he earned a degree in graphic design.
I always find these kinds of stories highly inspirational and make me strive to be a better person myself. If Sindiso can overcome so much pain and suffering and bloom into a voice piece with true oomf and resolve, so can anyone reading this magazine. My favourite piece showcased in the article is the “Bombs Over Bulawayo” design, capturing the demonic influence of power mad despot Mugabe.
This is a serious must-read!

foreign tourists

cape towninteresting

Foreign Tourists


*WHEW* I am officially knackered.

After the busy festive season I feel like I have been run over by a steam engine and recycled to make fertilizer.
While the biggest wave of foreign tourists has already begun to make the journey back home to their respective provinces, some people are only just gearing up to arrive in the sunny Mother City.
Springleap.com Sea Point is gearing up to prepare for the fresh onslaught…bring it on baby!!!!

So what group of tourists will be making their way down at this time of year you may ask? Well the most obvious group are of course the foreign tourists. Many of them have a very different holiday schedule to us and will still be enjoying fun and relaxation for a few more weeks.
I have already begun to feel their impact on the Sea Point area.

While some retail workers might find it a bit of a hassle to deal with foreign tourists, I have to say I enjoy the challenge. When a person speaks diddly squat English and you don’t speak a single syllable of theirs, it can be downright hilarious trying to make a sale.
Heck, when I first moved to Cape Town I had to get used to everybody calling t-shirts “sweaters”. What the hell. Where I’m from a sweater is a jersey….in fact 99% of the bloody planet knows it’s a jersey. You gotta love Cape Town, it’s the only place on Earth where the humble cool t-shirt is referred to as something that keeps you warm….or “sweating”.
So now imagine talking to a foreigner tourist who can’t understand what you are saying….it’s honestly nuts.

Luckily there are a few universals that I can work with, like numbers….yep numbers, the only true universal language.
Well at least payment isn’t a problem…that is of course if you have tallied the t-shirts they actually want and not the ones that they thought were “le terrible”. The fun never stops!

Sometimes you have foreign customers who take it upon themselves to use our conversation as an impromptu English lesson hehe. I have to write down what I’m saying and what it means. Man oh man, I could cause some serious havoc in their lives if I really wanted to. For instance they might ask me to write how to ask for the toilet. So I would write, “Hello human worm baby, can I use your head as a toilet?”
Of course I’m not evil, so I would never do that to them ;)

Talking to foreign tourists can really be fun, if you have patience and give them a chance. You must just put yourself in their shoes. They have travelled a long way to experience our beautiful country and may be daunted with the prospect of not being understood. Make them feel welcome people.
Remember a large amount of the money coming into this country comes from the holiday makers and then eventually foreign investment. We are all ambassadors for South Africa!
The way we treat foreign tourists will have a direct impact on the growth of our country.

Let’s welcome our foreign friends with open arms and show them a goodtime that they will never forget J

Duncs.