Thingking
Industrial Design in Cape Town

Thingking is the collaborative effort of Lyall Sprong and Marc Nicolson.We specialise in Product Design, NoMU, Glider sunglasses, Jose Cuervo, Hansa Pilsner, Virgin Active, Carlsberg, Shoote, Southern Comfort, Adidas, VISI, 3D Visualisation and clear thingking. Thingking has successfully completed projects for the following clients: Bombay Sapphire, Concept, Furniture Design, Barcardi Breezer and more.

We work in things and ideas of expression and problem solving. Our aim is to create work that increasingly reflects a deeper sense of place and understanding. We created these mobiles in conjunction with Stuart Boyd playing with a very simple idea about balance and how a solid thing can have the same weight as something that is much larger but hollow. These mobiles are in perpetual motion, responding to something as energy slight as someone’s breath. They are incredibly responsive, made with so little material that it sometimes feels as if they barely exist. Pedi-back is a rough platform, a sort of tool with multiple uses. We think that objects could be brought out and experienced in their physicality in multiple contexts and that this could be augmented by the digital experience. This is an initial test and we will all add more later. The Pedi-back started it's journey in Woodstock and is now at Wembley Two. Through a number of simple interventions we worked with Lorelle Bell and Safmarine to upgrade a community cycling centre in Khayelitsha. Velokhaya, described as previously being a killing field, is a community road cycling and BMX hub. Slowly but surely the center is becoming a community hub, functioning not only in its intended capacity, but also as a sort of day-care facility, birthday venue and even a setting for music videos. The idea that Velokhaya should increasingly operate for the community, in conjunction with the prerogative of fostering pride as well as a sense of ownership, underpinned the design process. The artwork brightly transformed the entire centre into a massive billboard. Khayelitsha is hot and dry in summer so we installed a simple misting system that the riders and spectators could use to cool off on race days. Barrel braais to cater for a large community event and a gas catering unit to get past the lack of electricity were manufactured and sourced. The wall and part of the kitchen counter were transformed into a magnetic notice board. Seeing as we needed to provide a lot of cheap seating we sourced alien eucalyptus logs and added legs to create cost effective 3 person benches. Hangers for member helmets were installed and we designed a basic bucket seat for storage and seating. Colours from the exterior were toned down for the painting of the entire interior, and simple decals painted to indicate male and female toilets. The floors were oiled with the thought that linseed oil, being cheap and easy to re-apply would make it possible for members to maintain the floors. Food preparation and consumption is one of the central things people gather around, steering us toward kitting out the kitchen with crate drawers, cretestone slabs and simple shelving.