Design Duo Announced as Overall Winners of the 2022 Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) Talent Search

After an intensive judging process, Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) Talent Search winners have finally been revealed. Design duo Nindya Bucktowar and Nikhil Tricam are the 2022’s winners. The announcement was made on 26 October 2022 at this year’s Basha Uhuru youth festival at Con Hill, Johannesburg. 

Together, Tricam and Bucktowar are the owners of Kalki Ceramics. It’s a design studio based in Durban, specialising in bespoke handcrafted ceramic tiles. They looked to South African flora and desert landscapes for inspiration for their winning entry. Their Cactus Server draws on the duo’s combined experience in ceramics, product design and architecture to create a rich and textural functional art piece. 

“Utilising Kalki Ceramics tiles in unique glazes reminiscent of fynbos, succulents and flowers endemic to South Africa, the Cactus Server blends contemporary form with organic materials and motifs to create a uniquely South African design,” says Tricam. 

Great opportunities for the Nando’s HYD winners

Being named as winners of the Nando’s HYD 2022 will open up new business opportunities for Tricam and Bucktowar, including: 

• Having their piece prototyped and included on Nando’s Portal to Africa
• An online ordering and purchasing platform utilised by interior design studios locally and globally to source South African designer items to include in Nando’s restaurants worldwide. 

The winners will also receive ongoing mentorship and development support from the Clout/SA team designed to help fast-track their progress in the industry.

The Cactus Server was chosen from over 120 entries in the fourth iteration of the Nando’s HYD competition. It saw young designers from across the nation answer the call to conceptualise a condiment unit to display the brand’s acclaimed Peri Peri sauces. The challenge was to do so in such a way that these sauces and their piquant ingredients, which form an intrinsic part of the Nando’s experience, remain visible and accessible to customers throughout their visit. 

HYD shine a light on creativity and opportunites

The multiphase judging process saw members of the design and creative communities from various countries assess entries over two rounds. The entries were shortlisted to 20 and then edited further to the top 10 finalists, from which the overall winner was chosen. The prestigious panel of 17 local and global industry judges included the Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in New York, Ngaire Blankenberg; Sophie Douglas, Director of Fusion Design and Architecture, UK; Paul Thrush, Co-Founder and Director of STAC Architecture, UK; and Karen Brumfield, Head of Buying at @home, and others. 

“We’d like to thank the judges and all our entrants for their time and energy. The entries that made it to the finals are bold, authentic and unique, all characteristics we love in a piece of great SA design. We’d like to congratulate our overall winners and all of the finalists and look forward to seeing them thrive through inclusive access to opportunities and a global market that Nando’s HYD and Clout/SA will facilitate in collaboration with them. This competition is about changing lives by making sure we utilise the platform we have to shine a light on creativity and opportunity!” enthuses Tracy Lynch, a Nando’s HYD judge and co-managing executive alongside Nokuzola Jenness of Clout/SA, the company that facilitates the Nando’s HYD competition and roll-out.

Nando’s HYD aims to unearth saucy new designs for Nando’s restaurants worldwide and fire up the careers of emerging local creatives. As such, it plays a vital role in this ongoing industry development by functioning as a launching pad for fresh young talent.