Two Interior Design students from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria are in the running to win this year’s Furniture Design Competition to be held in Durban next month. The annual Furniture Design Competition is one of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (the dti) Industrial Policy Action Plan furniture programmes aimed at responding to design skills shortage in the furniture industry.

Ms Patience Rachidi (23) and Ms Domine Stapelberg (20) who are both third year students at the TUT, will showcase their designs during the Durban Decorex Exhibition and will be in the running to win a one-year internship, design software training as well as graphic design tablets.

Rachidi, who was born in Ga-Sekhukhune in Limpopo, says she is ecstatic and never thought one day she would get an opportunity to be a finalist while being a student. She says it has not always been easy being a designer, but she always knew she had it in her to succeed in her career path.

“I always knew I was good in drawing from when I was still in primary school. At some point I even tried to convince my mother to quit a normal high school and go straight to an art school,” says Rachidi.

She believes the competition will grow her skills to become a better creative person.

Stapelberg from Montana, Pretoria, says participating at this year’s Decorex has always been her dream since she knew her passion lied in creating spaces, designs and innovation.

She says it was pretty awesome to finally reap the rewards of being committed and working hard to be a better designer every year. Stapelberg adds that the good thing about art and design was that every project was different and required one to have a different perspective and be more creative.

The programme coordinator responsible for Interior Designing at TUT’s Department of Visual Communication, Mr Clifford Moleko says the two finalists representing the university have always been committed to their work and have shown potential since they started.

Moleko adds that the university tries to promote a culture of excellence for their students. He says that is why it is important to expose their top students to various competitions within the industry and the competitive nature of innovation and design.

“the dti competition will bear good fruits for the department in the future. It is very relevant to what we do as part of our programme especially with the focus on furniture design. It can talk to some of the work that the students could make in their future career paths,” says Moleko.

All two students want to further their studies at the university and acquire skills before they venture on their own.