About
I'm Janine. I help businesses find what makes them distinct, and give it form.
Nguni Creative is an independent creative and digital strategy studio, founded and run by me since 2021.
Where the work comes from
- 2017Started working in brand and digital
- 2021Founded Nguni Creative
- TodayNearly a decade in, with clients who've been with me since the beginning
I've been doing this work since 2017. My background spans web and graphic design, digital marketing and six years of teaching. Each taught me something I still use every day: design taught me craft, digital marketing taught me that good work has to perform, and teaching taught me to explain my thinking and bring people with me.
In 2021 I started Nguni Creative to bring those threads together. I kept meeting businesses with a strong idea of who they were, but a brand, website and online presence that told three different stories. I wanted to be the partner who connects them.
Today I work with a select number of businesses and organisations, in South Africa and beyond, from the first strategic conversation through to the website and search work that follows.
How I work
A proven foundation
I studied graphic design and web design at Vega School, and I'm a Certified Brand Specialist through Level C, the brand school co-founded by Marty Neumeier. The Level C method shapes every project I take on: differentiate, collaborate, innovate, validate and keep cultivating what works.
A teacher's instinct
I guide rather than dictate. Six years of teaching showed me that the best decisions are the ones people understand and own, so I explain my thinking and make sure you're part of it.
One connected thread
Because I work across strategy, identity, websites and search, nothing gets lost between them. The thinking that defines your brand shapes your website, and what we learn from search feeds back into the brand.
Always learning
Platforms, tools and audiences keep shifting, so I keep learning: new methods, new tools, new ways of seeing a problem. It keeps the work sharp, and it means your brand is built for where things are going, not where they were.
“A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company.”
Why the Nguni?
We take our name from the Nguni cow, an icon woven into the landscape, identity and visual memory of South Africa. Celebrated in art and recognised from coast to coast, it stands for beauty, resilience and individuality.
Each Nguni carries a hide of perfect imperfection. No two are ever alike.
Every brand has markings of its own. Our work is to uncover them, give them form and build them to last.
The Nguni doesn't try to blend in. It stands in its truth, and that is enough.
- Distinctive
- Grounded
- Resilient
- Collaborative
- Purposeful
Let's see if we're a good fit.
I work with a select number of clients at a time, so each one gets the thought and attention the work deserves. Tell me about your business and what you need, and we'll explore whether the fit, timing and scope are right.
Create with purpose.