Personal Portfolio
A curated showcase of advertising, art direction, and digital design by Phumla Dhlamini, the creative force behind Lala BlackSheep Studio.
As an Art Director and Digital Designer, I thrive where strict design systems meet raw creative intuition. Over the years, I've navigated everything from high-pressure advertising campaigns to meticulous digital brand identity systems.
My philosophy is simple: having a process is the job. I don't believe in "softening" my creative boundaries to protect a vibe. I believe in work that is legally sound, logistically clear, and visually undeniable.
Whether I'm building out a brand facelift, directing visual strategies, or crafting digital resources for independent creators, I design for reality, not just for show.
Selected Work
A curated look at brand identity, conceptual design, and UI/UX work — chosen to show process as much as polish.
A premium arthouse championing contemporary African art needed a visual identity as rare and profound as the work it represents. The result: a bold, editorial system built on raw, textured maximalism, tactile liquid-metallic gradients, and an earth-toned palette drawn from African mud and clay.
An interdisciplinary collective confronting Africa's e-waste crisis needed one authoritative voice across research, activism, and grassroots outputs. I built a geometric identity system rooted in the Fibonacci sequence, balancing academic precision with organic, accessible symbolism.
For WSoA's postgraduate conference on decolonisation and mapping, I designed a custom typeface traced from the campus map itself — turning location into language, and each student's journey into a collective visual identity.
A verification app built to help South African students confirm accredited institutions and report scams before enrolling. Clean, trustworthy UI paired with clear iconography — the concept resonated enough to earn a feature on national television news.
Brand Films & TVCs
Selected commercial work — concept, script direction, and brand storytelling for national clients.
LegalWise needed to shed its distant "don't talk to me, talk to my lawyer" reputation. We introduced Tumelo and Charlotte — the human faces of a new mantra: "Don't risk it, leave it to us."
For Youth Month, LegalWise needed more than commentary on youth unemployment — it needed action. We gave 16 young viewers professionally enhanced CVs on camera, turning conversation into a tangible step forward.
Telkom needed its student discount campaign to feel earned, not handed out. Introducing the Mavericks of Monate — positioning Telkom as the network behind every student's journey to becoming their best self.
Full CV and extended case studies available on request.