Me
Thabiso Junior Ntuli is an Art Director, Designer and Illustrator. A passionate creative that has lent his mind to some of the world’s most well-known, innovative and culturally relevant brands over the span of seven years. Excelling in concept, craft and strategic thinking, driven by a single minded mission to be at the forefront of both innovation and culture itself.
Employment
VMLY&R
Creative Group Head
Leading the development and delivery of creative solutions, from content work to larger campaign initiatives for a variety of clients. This includes both executing work as well as managing
and approving the work of assigned creative teams.
November 2022 – Present
VMLY&R
Senior Art Director
I’ve had the opportunity to create powerful purpose driven work for Google Africa ‘#LookMeUp Campaign’ and Hollard Insurance ‘ChangeMakers’ and successfully launched Stretton’s Gin a world class gin distilled and bottled in South Africa.
November 2021 – November 2022
Leo Burnett
Senior Art Director
During my tenure at Leo Burnett I had the opportunity to work on two of the agency’s biggest brands, Old Mutual & Visa. I worked on a variety of campaigns – Abantu Abafani: A through the line campaign for Old Mutual with influential entrepreneur Tshepo ‘The Jean Maker’ and the official AFCON Visa campaign that launched throughout the continent, being standouts.
September 2020 – October 2021
FoxP2
Art Director
My stay at FoxP2 was short but meaningful. I worked on brands under the Tiger Brands account, Nat Geo Kids, and helped create impactful COVID-19 coms for Mediclinic which included #SaSalutes, a powerful tribute to the medical teams on the ground in South Africa.
April 2020 – June 2020
King James
Art Director
I’ve worked on brands such as Netflix, Spotify, Pizza Hut, Budweiser, Johnnie Walker, Energade, Kulula airline, Rawson properties, Tyme bank, Pick n Pay (the continent’s largest retailer), Santam and Sanlam (two of Africa’s biggest insurers), Beacon Sweets and Parmalat.
I’m big on company culture, so I was quite involved in culture while being a part of King James. I ran King James’s football team and was part of the party committee. Furthermore, I mentored interns in order to help them get a comprehensive perspective on what it takes to make it in the creative industry.
January 2016 – March 2020
Publicis Machine
Under The Hood Graduate Programme
I was part of the “Publicis Machine – Under The Hood” Graduate programme where we were tasked to conceptualise ideas under pressure while competing against various teams of industry graduates. My role was lead Art Director and my team was chosen as winners. The prize included an internship programme at Publicis Machine.
October 2015 – October 2015
FoxP2
Intern Art Director
When interning at FoxP2Labs, I worked on live briefs. Brands I worked on include SterKinekor, the “DriveDry” campaign, and Captain Morgan.
June 2015 – October 2015
Selected Publications:
Counter-Print UK
From Africa
2022
Awards
IAB Bookmark Awards
Bronze – Excellence in Craft – Strategy – Hollard ChangeMaker
2023
IAB Bookmark Awards
Silver – Organic Search Marketing – Google #LookMeUp
2023
The Loeries
Finalist – Young Creatives
2022
The Loeries
Bronze – Service Design – Hollard ChangeMaker
2022
Creative Circle
1st Print – Annual Awards – Nat Geo Kids ‘Second Closest To Nature’
2020
The Loeries
Bronze – Print Advertising – Nat Geo Kids ‘Second Closest To Nature’
2020
Creative Circle
1st Print – Ad of The Month – May – Nat Geo Kids ‘Second Closest To Nature’
2020
Behance
Advertising Feature – Wise 4 Afrika Consent Whatsapp Campaign
2019
The Loeries
Finalist – Live Events – Mowgli 3D Cinema
2019
African Cristal Festival
Silver – BetChaeliCant
2018
Creative Circle
Silver – Ad of The Month – BetChaeliCant
2018
Best Ads on TV
Feature – Experiential – BetChaeliCant
2018
Advertising Health
Feature – Ad of The Week – BetChaeliCant
2018
The Loeries
Silver – Digital Craft – Santam Incubator
2017
The Loeries
Bronze – Service Design – Santam Incubator
2017
The Loeries
Craft – Digital & Interactive Communication: Use of Technology – Santam Incubator
2017
Hiii Illustration International Competition
Merit Award
2014
Education
Stellenbosch Academy
Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication
Majoring – Art Direction (with Distinction)
Minoring – Design & Illustration
In my free-time during studies, I also worked as a part-time lecture where I taught first years the fundamentals of lateral thinking.
January 2013 – December 2015
Languages
English (Native)
Zulu (Conversational)
Afrikaans (Conversational)
Skills
Adobe XD, Final Cut Pro, FL Studio, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Premier Pro, After Effects