The name Nokkhanya light means to ‘bring light’. The design was the first product to get made from the studio and led the way for the other products to get made.
In 2019, randomly a fellow designer friend urged our founder to enter the Nando’s Hot Young designer’s competition, he came in the top 25 and was invited to come and present his concept in front of the judging panel.
In the presentation he showcased four concepts and one of those would that later become the Nokkhanya lights. The main theme of the presentation was 'High Craft' taking the mass production consideration and incorporating Hand craft techniques to add personality and uniqueness that the machine simply cannot achieve.
The design is a combination of experiences and influences from Brutalism to Vernacular architecture from Southern Africa. Blending traditional craft techniques with contemporary production methods.
The biggest take away from the experience with the judging panel was that they mentioned that if I worked on the even one of the concepts and create working prototypes then there would be more to talk about then just digital images.
Taking those words to heart our founder and spent the next 2 years researching & developing the Nokkhanya light with a local manufacturer in Durban. When the next iteration of the competition rolled around, he was more prepared, and his efforts landed him in the top 10. Using that opportunity to present the Nokkhanya again but with prototypes and a sense of how it should be manufactured. It was then the introduction to Ashanti Design, an industry titan with more than 20-year experience in lighting became the key collaboration partner for the light.
We shared our vision and handed over drawings and the prototypes to Ashanti, they saw the intent and helped us manufacture and elevate it into the final product that we see. The original Nokkhanya design features a bold colour combination of Red, black, and White inspired by the Imbhadadi the Zulu sandal.
The Nokkhanya light comes in 3 sizes 600mm, 900mm and 1200mm lengths, suits various settings ranging from offices to restaurants. We also offer colour customization to match whatever colour scheme that you might have in mind.
