After completing an undergrad in screenwriting, film and media at the University of Cape Town, Mandla Shonhiwa’s love of storytelling found him in the world of advertising and film production. But the field was changing with technology and Shonhiwa entered a relatively new space: digital content. Creating interactive campaigns sparked his interest in technology and user experience (UX) design.

“I felt like there was another avenue to tell stories. This is how I got my footing into UX and motion design. Working at Deloitte as a senior consultant and creating art with friends in my spare time helped me think of the use of media in unique ways. I worked on a virtual reality (VR) art project a few years ago that got me thinking about how we use VR and virtual worlds in different ways,” says Shonhiwa.