Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Pumla Maswanganyi is a speculative designer, cultural curator, and creative strategist; with an academic background in Studio Art, African Identities, and Globalisation + Development.
She is the founding director of with another—a creative studio and consultancy lead by researchers, artists, and designers; developing strategies, products, and experiences shaping futures through culturally rooted design. She is also the primary author of African Life-Centric Design (ALCD), through which she articulates creation principles rooted in the varied lived experiences and aspirations on the continent.
Recognised for engaging with aesthetic languages to envision African and Global Majority futures, Pumla serves as a prominent thinking partner to a range of global institutions from Fortune 500s to universities to grassroots frameworks.
Her TL;DR is letting the question ‘what kind of ancestor do you want to be?’ guide her evolving intellectual and implementation practice.
This talk was recorded in October 2025 at the AIGA Design Conference at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, California.
Pumla Maswanganyi is a speculative designer, cultural curator, and creative strategist; with an academic background in Studio Art, African Identities, and Globalisation + Development.
She is the founding director of with another—a creative studio and consultancy lead by researchers, artists, and designers; developing strategies, products, and experiences shaping futures through culturally rooted design. She is also the primary author of African Life-Centric Design (ALCD), through which she articulates creation principles rooted in the varied lived experiences and aspirations on the continent.
Recognised for engaging with aesthetic languages to envision African and Global Majority futures, Pumla serves as a prominent thinking partner to a range of global institutions from Fortune 500s to universities to grassroots frameworks.
Her TL;DR is letting the question ‘what kind of ancestor do you want to be?’ guide her evolving intellectual and implementation practice.
This talk was recorded in October 2025 at the AIGA Design Conference at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, California.
