Now open in Woodlands....ONE WAY!

* Men's Women's & Children's Apparel * 

* Exclusive Mosi Gear * Perfect for Gifts * 

* Custom Embroidery & Screen Printing * 

* Corporate Branding *

100% Made in Africa Using Biodegradable Inks

ONE WAY Zambia has been open at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport for a while now, selling high quality and super cool T-shirts, caps and all kinds of fun stuff.  They recently launched a line of exclusive MOSI gear and customers have demanded better access to these great, fun products.  Lots of folks were crying to get their hands on these designs, claiming they were for 'gifts' but I've spotted more than a few new Mosi shirts and cool beaded caps around town ... maybe they are just testing them out until they decide to give them away?  

Great for yourself and great for gifts, the line of products at the ONE WAY shops is now available in TWO new retail outlets (in addition to the airport.)  You can find them at the new Mosi Kiosk at the Manda Hill shopping centre and you'll also find a brand-new, fully-stocked retail shop at the Woodlands Mall -- just head up the stairs by the Blue Moon Cafe and once you're up, hang a left and get your pocketbook ready. You won't be disappointed.

Back to School. Back to Work

An example of the 'in-camera' potential with the new photography equipment.
Behind every good photo is a good photographer, but having new equipment sure makes it fun!

As we turn the calendar pages, September jumps out as a month of new beginnings, most notably the return to the classroom for all our favourite young people.  At InHouse Design Studio, September is the time for exploring new opportunities, starting new projects and also...heading back to the classroom.  Armed with a spectacular new camera kit, I'll be participating in a number of different photography workshops, technical skills instructional classes, and some exciting professional projects.

On the design side, our studio is on the verge of offereing new services.  The program that I have been putting off mastering (for no good reason) is Dreamweaver.  Diving into Dreamweaver -- a visual design-driven and code-supported program -- will enable InHouse to add website design to our client portfolio.  In the coming weeks, look for our own new website and be ready to sign up for your own!

Introducing TAONGA: Handmade in Zambia

Sabangwa with her little one, shown wearing the girls' sun bonnet.

Alice, modelling one of her hats

InHouse Design proudly introduces TAONGA, Zambian’s newest creative studio featuring the work of two talented Zambian seamstresses, Sabangwa and Alice.  They are launching their business with sales at this month’s Dutch Reformed Market in Kabulonga.  

Taonga is starting smart and small with three sweet and stylish designs:  sun bonnets, bucket hats and embroidered dresses for the littlest members of your family.  They are using locally procured chitenge and materials for all of their designs. They can take special orders but have a variety of ‘stock on hand’ for you to pick the perfect design that suits your and your little ones’ style.

Special Note: “Taonga” has several meanings:  in ciNyanja it means ‘thanks’ and in the Maori tradition of New Zealand a taonga is a special or treasured object. We wish them the best of luck in their new business venture!  Keep and eye out for new designs and fresh ideas from these wonderful hard-working ladies.  

The Adventures of Tintin in Zambia!

InHouse Design Studio is proud to add this novelty poster to our collection of independent design projects as a tribute to our favourite cartoon character.

To give you a bit of context, Nyami-Nyami is the river god of the mighty Zambezi that watches over Lake Kariba and controls life in and on the river.  The Lake was formed in 1956 when a huge dam was built on the river which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. There are many Tintin-worthy stories from the construction project -- mysterious accidents, two 'thousand year' flood events that destroyed much infrastructure, the relocation of people and animals that lived in the now-flooded areas that now make up Lake Kariba, and of course the ongoing separation of Nyami-Nyami from his wife by the dam.  Wikipedia has the full baTonga legend of Nyami-Nyami, which certainly would make for a good book-length project in and of itself.  We'll tuck that idea away for another day.

The Knife Edge Bridge spans the Zambezi River directly across from Victoria Falls over the boiling pot of the river gorge's Eastern Cataract.  During the rainy season the mist from the falls rains upwards ferociously and even a quick dash through the cloud will leave you soaked through in a matter of seconds. We're sure we've seen these fearless crime-fighting friends race across the bridge and disappear into the mist.

Very Special notice:  Blistering Barnacles! Intellectual property rights of course prohibit distribution of this poster!

Blue Moon

Dailass Nalwamba, Zambia's 2012 Barista Champion.

Zambia's first and only American-style cafe, the Blue Moon, is an ongoing source of pride for InHouse Design which developed the Blue Moon brand.  This week the Cafe is hosting a number of different TV crews as they document Dailass and Miariam's preparations for the World Barista Championship (and Gourmet Coffee Expo) in Vienna, Austria.  Dailess competed in the Africa Championship in February, placing 3rd and has high hopes for her European debut.  Here are a few photos from the tasting and coaching yesterday.

  Dailess presenting to the three sitting judges (this judge refused to be ON camera, opting instead to stay behind the lens!)

For the competition the baristas have 15 minutes to prepare and present their espresso (4 shots), 8 cappucinos, and 4 specialty drinks.  While preparing the drinks they must explain to the judges what they have prepared and the tastes they should be evaluating.  Dailess is bringing a 100% Arabica from Munali farms and Marika's Gourmet Zambian Coffee Roaster which has strong lemon notes and a hint of dark chocolate.  As explained by a certified judge from Marika's Coffee, the barista is evaluated for their preparation, explanation and knowledge of their coffee (amongst other things).  If the judge tasted cherry and caramel it means the barista has missed the mark.

The specialty drink Zambia's star barista is presenting is an iced espresso with macadamia nut milk sweetened with the tiniest bit of honey.  Two agricultural products of Zambia are, you guessed it, macadamia nuts and honey.  It's a lovely and refreshing drink and is of course presented beautifully in a hand blown glass and crushed ice.  (See some photos from our visit to Cilla's Macadamia Nut farm!)

 

 Dailess doing her post-presentation interview for MUVI TV.  Tomorrow she'll practice again in front of the ZNBC crew for the news and for "Kwacha Good Morning."  With all the press, she's clearly comfortable in front of the camera and had great, intelligent answers to her interviewers questions. It'll be fun to see these features hit the big screen.

The superstar, getting feedback from the judges.  She's so proud to be representing the Blue Moon Cafe, her country and female baristas everywhere!  Good Luck Dailess!

THIS JUST IN:  Catch Dailass Malwamba's performance as competitor #40 (of 54) in Vienna

Curious?

Please tell me you are at least a wee-bit curious?

Yes? 

That's the idea.

This InHouse event promotion poster has three elements to pique your interest.  Can you spot them?

1 - a new take on an iconic design

2 - an odd relationship between a piglet and dodgeball

3 - a mysterious secret coded message (that black and white box)

The InHouse Explanations:

BEFORE I go into the explanations, I have some bad news for all Dodgeball fans of Lusaka.  Don't get your tube socks and sweat bands out just yet...the Big Man just issued a temporary Piggy Pardon and this incredible event has been postponed.  Before you go and cry about it, just think of all the time you'll have to brush up on your skills (a la Napoleon Dynamite) and your Dodgeball movie trivia.  Plus, that little piggy is only going to get yummier.  Back to the task at hand: 

1 - During the second World War the British Ministry of Information produced the now-famous "KEEP CALM and CARRY ON" propaganda poster (with the Imperial Crown of King George VI, not with a piglet) to increase morale.  It was the third in a series and while 2.5 million copies were printed, the distribution was limited.  The original designer is not known and the Crown copyright expired in 1989.  It was virtually unknown until an original poster was discovered in a second-had bookstore in 2000 and it became and instant hit in the design community.  There are new and contested efforts on behalf of a private UK company to establish trademark over the image but has been so widely distributed, used and parodied that it's difficult to say where their efforts will lead them.  

While we wait for the lawyers to hammer this out, for now, it's reasonable to assume that the idea of the "Keep Calm" image is one we can all enjoy free of copyright restrictions.  (It is interesting to note that the legals battle began some 11 years after it became widely popular to the point of now being cliche.)

2 - Our version of this famous poster carries the mark of a piglet and says "Keep Calm and Play Dodgeball." And while the original poster is red...this version is dodgeball red.  The "fine print" finally offers an explanation: the event is a combination lunch feast (PIG ROAST) and Dodgeball Tournament.  It took a few tries to figure out how to put these two very different events onto a single poster.  By the time you get to reading the information, you should already be mentally assembling your team and marking the day in your planner.  There is a second, equally curious version:

This version (same elements, same colors) is for a different crowd...one that will instantly recognise a dodgeball but wouldn't necessarily be drawn in by the "Keep Calm" message of the other poster.  

3 - The secret code, otherwise known as a QR or Quick Response Code.  This is not really a 'new' thing at all.  QR codes are 2D versions of a bar code.  It was first used in mid 90's by the automotive industry to track vehicles along the production line.  A subsidiary of Toyota owns the patent rights but has chosen not to exercise them.  In the last few years use has expanded to other industries.  Most recently, it's caught on in advertising. 

If you have a smart phone, you can quickly and easily download a QR app and your phone can 'read' the code and take you directly to the website (or in this case the Blue Moon Facebook "event" page) where you can instantly access even MORE information about the event.  In MadMen advertising lingo, the QR Code can take a consumer deeper into the 'conversion funnel.' Which means a company can get the observer that much closer to being a customer/client by eliminating the need to remember a website address, a phone number, a company name, or...you get the idea. Just scan and click and you're right were we want you:  deep in the conversion funnel. 

That sounds unpleasant but it's actually pretty darn cool.  It's a first for Lusaka -- even cooler.

Communicating to your community

This poster, designed for the Lusaka International Community School's upcoming Fun Fair, provides a great example of the benefits for on-demand printing.  Because theywere doing a relatively small number of flyers and posters it made sense to use a drop-in print centre.  This allowed us to develop 'set' of posters with four different background colours.  They can be posted separately or in a grouping for more impact (on a notice board or digitally).   Designing it in a landscape format also meant we could use the same design for the digital poster...landscape translates better to these glowing rectangles that are such a huge part of our lives.

Tools of the trade - supporting innovation

A project came to InHouse recently that started out as a straightforward poster design and layout project.  When discussing its application, however, the project was revised and become a successful and unique brochure.  The brochure is an accordion "desk guide" which can be easily carried around and referred to for field reporting of health data.  The resulting product got everyone's stamp of approval -- even Bill Gates!


Left, the front cover for this desk guide.  The brochure has 5 folds/6 panels, unlike the typical brochure printed from an A4 size with 2 folds and three panels.  This enabled us to put a lot of information into a document that would have otherwise been unwieldy.  (If it was an A4 or A5 booklet for example, or as an A3 poster as originally planned).  It was printed locally, another great thing.

The NGO that sponsored the project can be commended for their willingness to go beyond what their 'deliverable' was supposed to be and think not about what line-item requirement they were meeting with the project and instead really considered the practical use and intended audience -- health workers using this new mobile-phone based reporting system in the field.

The mobile phone reporting system replaces a paper-based system whereby malaria data was submitted monthly and compiled at a central location.  This new system not only adds an element of accountability but also "enables health officials to better understand the disease burden and ensure that there are enough malaria supplies to support the community."

Celebrating Age: Patina

As an artist and photographer I frequently find myself distracted by the tiniest of things....the color of the sky before a storm, that hint of a smile behind an otherwise stony facade, the way a shadow falls across a road....

Perhaps as a side effect of all the new construction and freshly tarred roads turning up around Lusaka I'm noticing not the slick new surfaces, the freshly painted signs and clean windows....but the patina and character that comes only with age.

From my days in my Fine Arts programme at University, one concept that I embraced, particularly in pottery, was the aesthetic derived from Buddhism called wabi-sabi:  beauty in imperfection.  Wabi-sabi characteristics include asymmetry, irregularity, simplicity, austerity, modesty, intimacy and the "appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes."

Last week I grabbed by camera and put together a study in celebration of age which I'm calling Patina.  These images are from a bigger collection of photos from Lusaka's Olympic Pool (dedicated just before Zambia's independence in 1964.)

Making a Good First Impression

Like the cobbler with no shoes, InHouse Design Studio has been without our own business cards for far too long.  These cards are printed on gorgeous paper:  heavy weight (350gms), silky matte laminate, sustainably sourced, elemental chlorine-free, wood free paper.  There is a 'greener' eco option for this particular company's paper, also cards with elegant rounded corners.  They have a handful of accessories in their product list as well.  InHouse has sweet new logo stickers now, for example. Other products include postcards, greeting cards, stickers, labels and business card holders.  They cater to small, speciality businesses and as such have a limited range of high quality speciality products.  Now that we have used this printer we are confidently able to offer printing to our clients through them.

While InHouse is always inclined to go with local options when sourcing materials (and talent), this project demanded something more than what I was able to find in Zambia.  Our cards were printed by a UK-based company with print studios in the US and the UK and are an excellent option for higher-end companies and clients.  Not only do we feel the cards represent our business well, but we know from our experience with them that their products (and excellent service) can bring our US, UK and Zambia clients that 'something extra' to help them stand out in the crowd.