At the Sanlam Investments FoodWineDesign Fair we came across a striking range of home decor products by Makers of Stuff (MOS). Included in their eclectic range are garden sculptures that offer beauty and decoration and are designed to grow plants, silk-screened posters that scream out cheeky phrases and show-stopping pendant lights. We spoke to its multi-talented founding partner, Antonia Morgado.
Tell us a bit about Makers of Stuff…
Makers of Stuff is a small design studio situated in Johannesburg. We are involved in many different areas of the creative industry, from branding and cinematography to set building and product design. MOS is our product range, designed and manufactured by us, as local to the Johannesburg region as we could make it. MOS was borne out of the need to prove our design ethos through our products.
My bio in 30 words…
Illustrator trained as an art director turned graphic designer with specialised focus in branding, moved into product design, which grew into an obsession with light and lighting design.
My design ethos is…
I believe that design should give more. It should be more accessible, at lower cost, to more people with a longer lifespan and a serious focus on beauty. I want to create stuff that is all of these things and more, so I am constantly thinking and searching for ways to do this better. I must add that bad design makes me angry enough to want to change my bits of the world.
My favourite decor pieces…
If my home were to burn down I’d miss my library the most. Having said that, I am an avid collector of all kinds of stuff. Each item in my home has a story behind it so it is very difficult to decide which pieces are my favourites. And part of my design ethos is to never buy new – always reuse, repurpose, recycle so, I guess the ones I like the most are:
- Pair of vintage red angled wingbacks.
- Green blown glass bubble mess (indeterminate origin or purpose).
- Collection of various animal horns/skulls (mammals and sea creatures),
which began with the mounted buffalo horns my great-grandfather appropriated
while drunk from some bar in German East Africa in 1913. - Stainless steel and cedar wood kitchen island with local felled cedar wood
and a repuropsed stainless steel top. - The ball and claw cast-iron bath that has been on the property for about
100 years.
My favourite design project is…
When a brief is difficult and challenging, it forces me to think hard in order to solve the problem. Also when my imagination gets to play with interesting materials and develop new ways to make something “wow” or affordable or both.
My first treasured household item…
An English Oak Morris chair with curved arms that I found at some hippie commune party in the 90s while still at high-school.
I’m inspired by…
If you just have the patience to look, the world will show you inspiration on a daily basis.
My favourite designers are…
The design studio Atelier Oi in Switerland. That’s who I want to be when I grow up.
The five essential pieces for any home include…
- Somewhere calm and quiet to sit outside and watch the sky move past you.
- A bonfire pit or a place to make a fire – a proper fire with at least two-foot
flames. - A vegetable garden.
- Large work surface in a kitchen on which to create amazing things.
- Colour. Life is too short for beige.
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