The Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) talent search is back, inviting young creatives to pursue their ‘Screen Dreams’! Each biennial search seeks new product designs for Nando’s restaurants worldwide. For 2024, entrants are challenged to design sensational screens. Since 2014, South Africa’s best young creatives have shared designs for lights, patterns, benches, and servers, which Nando’s uses in its restaurants, linking designers with commercial opportunities. Notable winners include Nikhil Tricam and Nindya Bucktowar (2022), Katlego Tshuma (2020), Agrippa Mncedisi Hlophe (2018), and Thabisa Mjo and Samantha Foaden (2014).

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Mjo of Mash T Design Studio, who described the competition as having ‘changed the trajectory of my entire life’, went on to make history when she became the first South African designer to have her work placed in the permanent collection of the Louvre’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France, in 2020. Mjo most recently participated in Dolce & Gabbana’s ‘Gen D’ exhibition at Milan Design Week 2024. 

The fifth edition of the talent search returns with a new commitment to the future of young South African designers. HYD 2024 will not only serve as a platform for stand-out design and creativity, but as an opportunity to unlock mentorship and business acceleration. As such, the 2024 search is looking for designers and makers who are also entrepreneurs with a desire to understand the business of design. As both creatives and entrepreneurs, candidates will be assessed by their readiness to face the challenges of the commercial design sector. 

Ten finalists, who will be chosen by a carefully curated panel of judges against the application criteria, will go on to participate in a design immersion followed by a pitch session. Thereafter, five designers will be shortlisted to take part in ‘The Laboratory of Learning’ – a focused mentorship and business programme linked to prototyping their design. A finalist will be chosen based on the quality of their participation in the Lab and will go on to access more in-depth one-on-one business mentorship.

With this new structure, HYD 2024 will present a winner who is not only an exceptional creative talent, but an enthusiastic entrepreneur, and an ambassador for South African design. The winning screen will also be listed on The Portal to Africa – the Nando’s online marketplace where interior designers working on Nando’s restaurants around the world can shop for original pieces of furniture and lighting designed and manufactured in South Africa.

Nando’s HYD is establishing innovative ways to link young designers to creative and commercial income-generating opportunities in an effort to foster a more inclusive design sector. The Nando’s HYD talent search is managed on behalf of Nando’s by Clout/SA, a creative agency and business-to-business market-maker for South African design, and sponsored by Nando’s. 

Visit https://clout-sadesign.co.za/enter-nandos-hyd-2024/ for the online entry form and entry details. Entries close on 18 June 2024. To find out more about Clout/SA, follow @clout_sadesign #clout_sadesign on social media.