INCORPORATING SWAHILI CULTURE IN CREATING SUITABLE PRODUCTS FOR USE AT MALINDI SWAHILI DISHES RESTAURANT, NAIROB

The product design profession has been tasked with the responsibility of providing aesthetic and suitable products for home spaces, organizations and large companies and even hotels. For a long time now most of the hotels and restaurants use products for décor from either abroad or bought expensive products online. In this case, having to create products in Kenya by Kenyans would be an amazing step towards the journey of appreciating the culture, beliefs and importance of different cultures in Kenya.
Swahili art is magnificently expressed in the design of carpets, rugs, porcelain and jewelry, all of which reflect some Asian influence. The Swahili also incorporate unique architecture into the design of their homes and mosques. The town of Lamu in Kenya is perhaps the best place to see the finest Swahili architecture, art and crafts.
The Problem; Swahili culture is replete of rare motifs that has been adopted and applied in countries far and wide in the world. Over the years in Kenya however, despite that richness, Swahili culture is rarely utilized to impart desired cultural identity to brand and design. Most times, individuals concentrate on what needs to be sold out instead of combining the ‘what’ with the ‘how’ to come up with solutions that work best for both the clients and the restaurant owners.
Objectives: The objectives of the paper was to identify the problems within the Malindi Swahili Dishes already in place and their effects, analyze the findings and what has been done before by other designers then propose better solutions.
Design; A case study model, the research employed the collection and analysis of both qualitative and quantitave data obtained through observation, photographs, personal interview and note taking.
Setting; Malindi Swahili Dishes Restaurant, Nairobi.
Subjects; The owners of Malindi Swahili Dishes Restaurant, employees and clients of the restaurant.
Results; Better decoration and layout with the application of Swahili Culture and an improvement of customer client relations to better the sales of products.
Conclusion; The findings established that Swahili culture is rarely utilized to impart desired cultural identity to brand and design. This then translates to clients not being receptive to the restaurant and Swahili Culture not applying within the space.