The radicalness of love, self-love, is what inspires me. I try to teach this in the same way I have been taught how to fight for myself so I can be able to fight for others. If you love yourself, you can make room for others to love themselves too. And together we can love and care for each other.” The graphic design discipline should be a platform to learn, explore and create from our history and lived experience of being African or any other culture that isn’t the accepted norm. – Nontokozo Tshabalala
they should not define the value of who you are. So many young people in the industry chase after them in order to just be listened to and taken seriously. You do not have to do that. Be your best. Do your best and if they come, they come.” Nontokozo’s work can be viewed at https://www.behance.net/ NontoTshabalala.
everyone’s business and is also very eager to share, we want to share the news of what it may mean to be unapologetically designing from the African context, she says. For her work, Nontokozo has received Pendoring, Creative Circle and D&AD awards. “However, the award that means the most to me is the Loeries Young Creatives Award, which I won this year. The award is given to two young people who are identified to be the future leaders of the brand and communication industry in the region of Africa and the Middle East,” she says. “Although awards are wonderful and help us move to other places,
Nontokozo holds a BA Communication Design
(Graphic Design), BA Honours in Communication Design (Graphic Design) from UJ and a Master’s degree in Design.
Nontokozo co-founded the Mam’Gobozi Design Factory
(Mam’G as they like to refer to it) with her partner Osmond Tshuma in 2016 to create work and spaces that celebrate the African identity and allows them to grow in defining for themselves the role of the African designer. Mam’G has a focus on building brand identities that are brave enough to take up the challenge to decolonise the way we see branding but it is also a space to explore, experiment and play. The core of the studio is to be able to create all kinds of work that not only looks good but speaks to the heart and celebrates the African identity. At Mam’Gobozi, which is isiZulu referring to the local aunty we all have in our community who knows Right: An Astra magazine cover designed by Nontozoko Tshabalala for a special edition about Afro-feminism in the Nordics
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ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
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