This year’s Design Indaba was one of the best ever, with extraordinary innovation and creativity on show. With Cape Town winning the Design Capital of the World for 2014, it’s set to grow in leaps and bounds.

Here are our Top 5 favourite innovations from the 2012 Design Indaba.

1. An exhibition displaying items competing for the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa was won by “The Lily Pad” ring, designed by Kirsten Goss.

2. The iBhandi Butterfly Bench, created by David Savage, was crafted out of wood and appeared to be floating in mid-air. The use of wooden flat panels cleverly imitates a butterfly’s wings in flight. This unique bench was a finalist in the Western Cape Furniture Initiative Competition.

3. The Consol Solar Jar is beautiful in its simplicity; a giant jam jar with a solar panel in the lid that soaks up sunlight during the day and lights up in the dark.  This bottle of sunshine looks amazing hanging in the garden at night and the bottles can be painted or filled with coloured liquid. They cost R120 direct from the Consol Shop in Stellenbosch.

4. The Best Creative Stand at Design Indaba Expo 2012 was won by Mike Van Heerden for seamlessly melding his 3D wood graphic designs into the small stand set aside for new talent.  His prize is a 6m² stand of his own next year. 

5. The Botany Project’s Upcycle Flower Lamps were launched at the Indaba and sold out within hours. They take their form in ceramic, Fynbos-inspired candle-lights fuelled by olive oil that fit on top of any glass jar. These creative lamps are absolutely stunning to say the least.