From murals to New York billboards, Sinenhlanhla has illustrated for some of the coolest brands locally and internationally. Let’s find out what is attracting the world to his vibrant art work.
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00:00I can't get you off my mind
00:03This illustrator has 99 perspectives, and each is a vivid one.
00:09I'd say my style is definitely influenced by African cultures,
00:12influenced by where I grew up, like my hometown,
00:14seeing colourful signage, seeing colourful icons
00:18within, like, tuck shops, barbershop signage,
00:21and also, like, the ever-changing narrative of, like, youth culture in South Africa.
00:25What I, like, I see online, and what I see on TikTok, on Instagram,
00:30and all of these, like, places where young people in South Africa can, like,
00:34interact and, like, build community.
00:3825-year-old illustrator Znendlanta Chauke, a.k.a. 99perspective,
00:42has managed to carve out a colourful space for himself in the creative industry
00:46in less than five years.
00:55I think 2020, for me, definitely is where the ball started rolling,
00:58and I got a lot of international clients.
01:01It really propelled my creativity and my career into a different level.
01:05And I feel like with that, obviously, it comes with a lot of changes
01:08and a lot of challenges.
01:09So, one was me having to work from home,
01:12because it was during the pandemic.
01:14And another one, I'd say, definitely navigating your own business
01:17and seeing how much of a shift it is working with colleagues, friends,
01:21to working solely alone.
01:23And also, the third one, I'd say,
01:25definitely having to manage your own finances, accounting, taxes,
01:29holding yourself accountable for everything that you do and timelines.
01:33If we happened to be in Cape Town last year, we would have seen this.
01:37But more about that later.
01:39From murals to New York billboards,
01:41Znendlanta has illustrated for some of the coolest brands
01:44locally and internationally.
01:46So, what is attracting the world to his artwork?
01:49I came across Sinek Lakla's work on Instagram,
01:52and I loved his pop art and his ability to really feel local.
01:57Under Armour came to Kopinski Design
01:59to give them some localisation within their international concepts.
02:04I loved his work, and it took a couple of months
02:07working with the international team to refine the designs,
02:10which, in essence, was bringing the quintessential elements of Jo'burg,
02:14like the jacaranda trees, some of the buildings.
02:17You know, Jo'burg's a very urban space,
02:19so we brought some of those in and made it fun.
02:23It feels great.
02:24I mean, you dream about working with different clients,
02:27but whenever a huge client like Under Armour comes along,
02:31it's really special, and it's something that you want to do more of.
02:34You try your level best to fulfil the brief
02:36and to create work that you're going to be proud of,
02:39and also work that you will look back and be like,
02:42oh, you know, I did that.
02:44One of Sint Lanta's biggest career highlights
02:47was collaborating with other designers
02:49on this larger-than-life festive campaign
02:51that was live at the world-famous V&A Waterfront
02:54in Cape Town, South Africa.
02:56So, basically, the campaign was Joy from Africa,
02:59so representation of things and places and people
03:02that represent joy in Africa.
03:04Because we're so used to, like, Santa Claus
03:06and, like, a white man on, like, a big chair who wears a red suit,
03:09but we wanted to be African-inspired
03:11and have African elements in that context
03:14and not just, like, a man in a suit.
03:16After high school, Sint Lanta won a bursary
03:18to study at the Academy of Digital Arts in Cape Town.
03:22Kanyamazane Township in Mpumalanga Province
03:25is where he grew up and where he collaborated
03:27on his first-ever mural.
03:29Within, like, my hometown, there were a lot of
03:32artistic spaces that I saw,
03:34so not necessarily, like, museums or galleries,
03:36but to see, like, the tuck shop sign,
03:38seeing barber shop sign,
03:40seeing any sort of, like, signage within, like,
03:42things that were tangible and were within my reach
03:44in terms of even, like, textbooks in high school,
03:48those sort of, like, built my level of, like, creativity
03:51and understanding what being an artist means.
03:54And I grew my own perspective and direction
03:59from, like, seeing those elements
04:02and seeing what I had around me.
04:05And as his studio name suggests, perspective matters.
04:10Your work can be influenced by so many different people,
04:13so many different cultures, so many different languages,
04:16and, like, your set perspective is not necessarily
04:18the only one that matters within, like,
04:20the context of the universe or the world,
04:22but it's important for you to, like,
04:24know what everybody's story is,
04:26so that you better understand what you're doing
04:28within, like, you know, a brief or a project and all of that.
04:31From Kanyamazane in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa
04:34to a global canvas,
04:36Sint Lanta's 99 perspectives on identity,
04:39pop culture, and African art
04:41are certainly worth exploring.