Double sided Design Indaba and why I want to be German in my next life...

Words by: Adeline Jubi
Photographs by: Tertius Heyns and Adi Cloete

After weeks of preparation, no sleep for some and little sleep for others, Design Indaba has come and gone for the Fine Ouncers. 


Most of us had two stands to plan and man, an accomplishment that   sounds more doable four months in advance.  We barely just got over the mad Christmas rush. A time in which I saw my children so little, that they started calling our nanny, my husband and even the cat “mamma”.  We had short break , only to be dumped in the cauldron of frenzy again. 

Getting stuck with double sided tape...

Comic relief during build-up

For our non German (vorsprung -durch –tehnic) members, getting organized for Indaba while juggling life and other  orders, just seems a bit more stressful. I have decided that in my next life, I want to be German. Our German members never panic on the surface, whip out power tools and set up 2 stands in half the allotted time, only to whoosh off to the movies while the rest of us sit till 3am to thumb suck prices and still make jewellery for the next day. Even if something does go wrong, they might at the most, gracefully swear in 3 languages . All this while I stick myself to the wall with double sided tape, instead of the paper cloud that is supposed to be stuck down. Our Indaba neighbours and us tried everything from spray glue, Prestick, double sided tape (3 different types) to normal glue, but our displays refused to stick to the panels of our stands. Eventually, I used so much double sided tape to stick my “Welcome to Cake Town “showcase to the back panel of the Fine Once stand that it was impossible to remove on Sunday night without breaking the back mirror into a million pieces and cutting my finger in the process.

Finished stand for Firepetals

Showtime with Carla Frank

Frieda and Maike's stand

Eventually everything worked out fine and we pulled it off. We all DID it. Fine ounce and our own stands got fantastic feedback from an adoring crowd. We even got a Design Indaba TV interview, sales and loads of compliments and encouragement for our efforts. Yet again, I have realized why we put ourselves through this torture... Feedback and getting your “stuff’ out there are so important if you sit isolated in your studio. It makes all the effort worth while.

So will we do it again? Probably, why not... it’s still a whole year to go.

"Welcome to Cake Town" stuck down

Jane's magnificent earrings

Break Down and the girls at work.