Masonwabe Ntloko is a 24 years old designer & illustrator, born & bred in iDutywa in the Eastern Cape currently living in Johannesburg. He studied Fashion & Textile Design at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha and is also the founder & director of Create Studios; a creative agency & design studio based in Joburg.
He discovered his talent when he was about 9 years of age, during an era in his childhood of Dragon Ball Z – a Japanese animated series which was popular & at school they would draw characters from the animated series & everyone was quite impressed with his drawings which came as a shock to him & ever since then he found something that he liked & was actually good at which is drawing, “I did not realise that I was talented & that I was actually a smart kid, it took my former teacher for me to realise all that, I was just always day dreaming and I had quite an imaginative mind”. He also became more drawn towards graphic design & illustrations during his varsity years while he was pursuing his qualification in Fashion & Textile design.
He describes his design process as a journey of self-discovery.
“I used to be influenced a lot by hip hop & that was apparent in the way I dressed, in the way I spoke etc. but I started getting realistic about life – about who I am & about how I could put out my work, I wanted my work to basically depict who I am. My style of illustration does not come from a point of this is what I want to do so that the market could buy it, it is a journey of self-discovery, learning & educating because of the way I was raised & where I was raised, I am very knowledgeable when it comes to culture & tradition. This was another side of me that I wanted to fully explore & with intention so that I can have an understanding of myself through art. So when it comes to these illustrations on the rugs collection there was no strategic thinking as such, there was no bigger picture I was just translating my knowledge & exploring, I had no idea that people would love my illustrations especially because I was often misunderstood, people never really got the concept so when the first rug collection was quickly sold out I was really in shock.”
The collaboration with Airloom
“I had an idea, I wanted to translate my illustrations into rugs so a friend of mine, Thandazani, told me about Airloom - rug retailers, I approached them & pitched with a proposal of which they initially did not buy into the idea because of their guidelines & my illustrations were very distinct from other designs they have but eventually there were designs that we all agreed on. The collaboration was great a great experience, finally getting to a point where people get my concepts but I am not attached to the final product.”
“There are other collaborations that I am working on but my focus will now be on my creative agency & design studio – Create Studios. Most of the work we do is in the entertainment industry, we have worked with many artists including Tresor, DJ Stokie, Mafikizolo, De Mthuda most recently and many more others.”
His advice to emerging creatives
It really matters to be firm in what you believe in especially when it has never been done before & society is used to what is considered to be “natural”. Do away with lack of discipline, being not realistic about who you are & always acknowledge that it takes time so the baby steps are very important & one should take pride in them. The art industry is based on relationships, always leave good impressions.
Masonwabe Ntloko x Airloom’s new rug collection titled ILIFA LETHU drops Friday, 1st of October 2021 online, one can also check out their branches in Parkhurst Johannesburg & at The Palms in Cape Town.
AIR LOOM
Airloom specialises in rugs, furniture, decor & flooring retailing, founded about 11 years ago by Rosie Bradshaw & her husband. They noticed a gap in the market between quality rugs and price & where inspired to open their own décor shop.
They have done collaborations with local designers including Bonolo Chepape & many others. Proposals for artist and designer collaborations are welcomed by reaching out on to them via email, website or social media.
#design #illustrator # art #
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