Cape Town Dribbble Meetup by Isoflow
We’re excited that Cape Town is hosting its inaugural Dribbble Meetup. We know first-hand that South Africa’s “Mother City” boasts great designers; it stands to follow that it also boasts a great design scene.
As Cape Town sits 7,714 miles across land and sea from Dribbble’s Salem HQ, we won’t be able to give you an in-person lay of the land in advance of next week’s gathering. Thankfully, Vanessa Berger, senior UI/UX designer at Isoflow, and Daniel Klopper, creative director at the same, have agreed to play tour guides.
If you live in Cape Town, go sign up for the meetup. Everyone else, grab a cuppa and enjoy the read.
Tell us what you love about Cape Town.
Daniel: Cape Town is one of those cities that offers so much without having to travel anywhere. From one of nature’s seven wonders, Table Mountain, and beautiful sea views, you really get the best of both worlds in a single city. It’s a city driven by the outdoors and its nightlife. I enjoy seeing all the new niche little restaurants opening up in and around town and how the city accommodates so many diverse cultures.
Vanessa: I love the energy of Cape Town. The people are laid back, yet eager to get involved, experience new things, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings the city has to offer. Creativity drives the city, and I enjoy the fact that most people choose careers/work based on passion, and not purely for financial reasons. There are always cool events on like First Thursdays, where a number of art galleries in the CBD (Central Business District) are open to visitors after hours with drinks and an awesome vibe.
Tell us where Isoflow is, in relation to the rest of the city.
Daniel: We are currently situated in a suburb just outside of the city centre called Woodstock. It is fast becoming the hub of design as more and more design studios are moving to the surrounds of the city. The Woodstock Exchange is a primary example of an incubator scenario where creatives and businesses are flourishing and sharing the common components of interaction and creativity.
Vanessa: Although Woodstock was previously quite run down, it’s definitely going through an urban renewal phase with trendy restaurants, coffee shops, and innovative small companies springing up in revamped warehouses and buildings. In a way it reminds me of Brooklyn in New York.
Tell us about the Cape Town design scene.
Daniel: Cape Town houses so many talented and innovative individuals, studios and agencies, while still being a small design community. I feel we have a lot to offer in the tech and design space. The community generates quality work that competes internationally with some of the best names and companies in the field. Last year (2014) Cape Town was the World Design Capital and the purpose was to highlight the city and how it’s leveraging design as a tool to improve the social, cultural and economic lives of the city through a year-long programme of design-related events. We also have a large influx of international talent that attends the yearly Design Indaba with keynotes from top speakers around the world. Over the last three years the “design scene” has grown considerably. Even though we have a small footprint on Dribbble our design quality is top drawer.
Vanessa: I think Cape Town is still pretty diverse in terms of the design scene. We have some of the best fashion, decor, and craft designers on the continent who are showcased around the world. The tech startup scene is growing significantly with talented UI/UX designers assisting in the creation of innovative products that not only look beautiful, but help solve problems that are unique to our country. Cape Town is definitely the place to be as a designer in South Africa.
Daniel - Choose a shot from three Cape Town designers, and tell us what you like about them.
Regina Casaleggio, filters, above left.
I think what attracts me to Regina’s work is the unique color palettes and the attention to detail she spends on individual UI components, this shot particularly. It’s the sense of playfulness the UI has. The subtle shadowing on the icons and form elements are a nice touch.
RADIO, More Day - Mastercard, above center.
The combination of quality illustration and animation that Radio puts together always amazes me. I can literally sit the whole day watching this shot.
Derek Clark, Blueprint/Wireframe, above right.
I have always been a huge fan of this treatment for building out wireframes, if there was an app that could generate wireframes in this style I would be the happiest designer alive.
Vanessa - Choose a shot from three Cape Town designers, and tell us what you like about them.
Regina Casaleggio, Kid blogging platform Icons, above left.
I love icons that are simple, unique and informative. Regina has brought across a playfulness in her icons, and I like the fact that she chose blue and yellow to represent the education environment in a traditional but fresh way.
Daniel Klopper, Statistics UI, above center.
Dan, our creative director, is a talented UI designer in Cape Town. He’s an avid Dribbble poster and he definitely nails graph/stat designs. These screens all look clean and slick, and the colour choices work so well together. The clean typography keeps the whole layout minimal and simple.
Chris van Rooyen, Pigeon Strut, above right.
I love the title of this illustration - “Pigeon Strut.” Who would have thought something as mundane and common as a pigeon could look so quirky and cute. I like the details and character on this little piece of work. Chris has some lovely illustrative logs on his profile.
Jealous of the Cape Towners meeting up? Check our meetups page to see if there’s a meetup happening near you. If not, plan one!
Find more Meetups stories on our blog Courtside. Have a suggestion? Contact stories@dribbble.com.
