Reliability on this page means showing how the work actually holds up: who we talk to, how we check a claim, and what we do when a maker would rather not answer. These are the questions that come up most often in studio visits and reader mail.
We visit the workshop, watch the work happen, and photograph the stages we can see. When a maker describes a technique, we ask them to walk us through it on the bench. If something cannot be shown or explained in person, we say so in the piece rather than smoothing it over.
Yes, when the maker is willing. Timber, clay and fabric costs shift with suppliers and seasons, so we treat any figure as a snapshot from the week of the visit, not a fixed rate. Where a studio asks us to keep a supplier or a client unnamed, we do, and we note that in the text.
Studios move, close, or change direction. We correct factual errors in the archive and add a dated note at the foot of the piece. We do not quietly rewrite a profile to make it read better later, because the record of how a practice evolved is part of what makes the archive useful.
Yes. A short note about the work, where the studio is, and a few photos of the process is enough to start. We follow up with questions before committing to a visit, and we will tell you plainly if the story is not a fit rather than leaving it open.
Still unsure whether your workshop fits the editorial line? Reach out through contact, or read how we handle reader data in our privacy policy.
Feedback from the people who actually use the magazine: students testing a glaze recipe, makers checking whether a tool list holds up, gallery staff looking for context before an opening. We keep the notes that describe a concrete outcome, not the ones that just say it looks nice.
I run a two-person upholstery shop in Pietermaritzburg and the issue on reclaimed timber changed how I quote. The part about air-drying stock before milling saved me from a warped batch I would have delivered. I now keep a moisture log for every beam, which I never did before.
Thandiwe Mokoena
Upholstery workshop, Pietermaritzburg
The ceramics piece on electric firing was the first thing I read that admitted a firing can simply fail. I shared it with my third-year students in Cape Town and we spent a whole session on glaze testing notebooks. The swatch archive idea is now part of their studio requirement.
Dr. Elmarie Fourie
Ceramics lecturer, Cape Town
We used the Durban screen printing notes to set up registration marks on our own long table. Small thing, but it cut our misprints on tea towel runs noticeably. What I value is that the article lists screen costs and stall fees instead of pretending small-run textile work is easy.
Sipho Ndlovu
Textile printer, Glenwood
I collect design journals and most of them skip the boring parts. This one prints the tool list, the supplier names and the mistakes. I lent my copy to a furniture maker in Braamfontein and had to ask for it back twice.
Anele Dlamini
Furniture maker, Johannesburg
We used the studio visit profiles to write wall text for a group show on local craft. The interviews gave us real quotes about pricing and materials, which is hard to find when you are preparing an exhibition on a short timeline.
Marlize van der Merwe
Gallery curator, Stellenbosch
As a student I could not afford studio time, so the practical notes on sourcing clay and fabric locally were the most useful pages. I followed the Western Cape clay body references and finally got a glaze that does not crawl on my test tiles.
Kagiso Sithole
Design student, Durban
We do not publish star ratings or invented circulation numbers. What we can show is the mail that arrives after each issue, the corrections we run, and the studios that let us back in a second time. Below are notes from readers, contributors and workshop owners who have worked with us directly.
"The Braamfontein workshop piece matched what we actually do, down to the drying times. Most write-ups get the sourcing wrong. This one did not."
"I teach a second-year materials module and use the ceramics issue as a reading. The glaze notes and the honest cost breakdown are what students need to see."
"They printed a correction when a screen count in our Durban feature was off by two. Small thing, but it told me the editing is real."
Contributor record
Since the first issue we have run 41 studio visits across four provinces, with 12 returning contributors. Every profile is checked with the maker before it goes to print.