The creatives working across the fields of design in Africa have long been helping to shake off tired stereotypes pressed on the continent by colonialism and racism. Now, a new book is celebrating the most exciting and imaginative of the bunch.

Africa Rising: Fashion, Design and Lifestyle from Africa, gives an overview of the work of newcomers and established names across design, fashion, photography, and architecture who borrow ideas from traditional cultures across the land-mass and weave them with contemporary influences, technology and theories.

Inspiring designers featured in the book include South Africa-born Athi-Patra Ruga’s playful colour-filled artworks (shown above) which span photography, textiles, printmaking and video.

Africa Rising - in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Africa Rising - in pictures Africa Rising - in pictures Men using the natural Bogolan dyeing technique, which is an ancient craft tradition in the Niger River, particularly Mali. By Le Ndomo / Boubacar Doumbia. Photography by Adriaan Louw / Design Network Africa Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures An art piece by South African-born artists Athi-Patra Ruga. Photography by Adam McConnachie, Courtesy of Athi-Patra Ruga and WHATIFTHEWORLD Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures An image from C-Stunners by Nairobi-based artist Cyrus Kabiru. The phrames were made using scraps of disused technology. Photography by SMAC Gallery, South Africa Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Photography by Flurina Rothenberger published in the magazine 'I love to dress like I am coming from somewhere and I have a place to go'. Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures From the photographic series Proud Women of Africa: Rainbow Girls, which captures the lesbians of South African townships of Gugulethu and Khayelitsha who have been disowned by their families. Photography by : Magic Group Media, Amsterdam, NL Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Babylonstoren, where guests partake in curated dining experiences. Most of the food is planted and cultivated on the farm. Photography by Babylonstoren Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Work by The Nest Collective which spans film, music, fashion and visual arts. Photography by Phyllis Galembo Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Photography by Phyllis Galembo, who documented the clothing of people across Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina Faso. Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Architecture by Kunlé Adeyemi / NLÉ Photography by Reze Bonna. In collaboration with Makoko Waterfront Community, Blok Kats van Veen architecten, Dykstra Naval Architects, Thieu Besselink, Roel Bosch architecten, Urhahn + Borra, Pieters Bouwtechniek, Ikeyi & Arifayan, Matrix Design & Works Nig Ltd., Solarmate Engineering Nig Ltd. Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures A collaboration between Amandine David and Marie Douel, inspired by Burkina Faso. Photography by Émile Barret / Hors Pistes Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Photography by Héctor Mediavilla, whose photo series the SAPE Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People captures the dandies of Congo. Gestalten 2016 Africa Rising - in pictures Fantasma, a 'superband' formed in 2014 by producer and rapper Spoek Mathambo who recruited members from acros South Africa. Photography by Fantasma Gestalten 2016

Photographers include Phyllis Galembo, who documented the elaborate and ambiguous costumes of people in Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso.

Meanwhile, architects include Kunlé Adeyemi, who designed a floating school which collapsed earlier this year but was nevertheless a highly imaginative attempt at problem-solving in Nigeria’s largest city of Lagos.

“Design is such an important and growing industry in Africa,” writer and editor of the Design Indaba website, Katie de Klee, who contributed to the book, told The Independent.

“Designers in Africa are dealing with real needs, not just with desires for objects or aesthetic. They are problem solvers, and with so many of the fastest growing economies and such a young population, the race to solve those problems is really on.

“In often challenging and resource-scarce environments, design in the Africa continent requires a certain type of creative alchemy that it doesn’t elsewhere,” she adds.

Klee says there is plenty that throw-away consumer cultures can learn from those at the cutting edge in Africa, both designers starting out and those in the continent’s design canon.

Klee hopes that readers will gain an understanding of how diverse and contemporary African design is.