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Independent spirit. A graphic eye.Design & illustration / South Africa

MARIA UYS

Designer.
Illustrator.
Colour enthusiast.

I’m Maria. I turn ideas into characters, patterns, brands and things you can wear.

Explore my work
Colourful illustrated portrait with hot pink hair, a blue jacket and a yellow top.Two koi fish circle pink flowers around the words Seize the Day on a pale blue background.Purple mushrooms and pastel clouds beneath Dreamland lettering, with Good Vibes text.
Scroll to discoverIllustration · Identity · Surface · Styling

01 / Selected work

SERIOUS
ABOUT PLAY.

Illustration-led thinking.
Real-world applications.
Always room for personality.

Grqphic illustration of 4 young women of different ethnicities with unique colour gradientsExplore collection
01 / 17 works

Illustration

Characters with something to say

SKNY Sneakers New York logo exploration with black lettering, monograms and a blue and coral palette.Explore collection
02 / 16 works

Brand identity

From concept to the shop floor

A botanical and animal repeat print in pink, blue and green, shown on a dress and skirt.Explore collection
03 / 06 works

Surface & textile

A little wild. On repeat.

Candi Dolphin Jellies packaging concepts with illustrated dolphins and bright blue, pink and green colourways.Explore collection
04 / 02 works

Packaging

Made to catch your eye

Geometric Afrigarde identity and lettering animated on a black background.Explore collection
05 / 15 works

Graphic design

Small marks. Big personalities.

A model in a metallic gold top wears oversized yellow Afrigarde earrings against purple light.Explore collection
06 / 26 works

Styling

Seeing the whole picture

New work coming soon

Explore collection
07 / 00 works

AI work

Ideas in a new medium

New work coming soon

Explore collection
08 / 00 works

Textile & print design

Colour, pattern & possibility

02 / Inside the studio

A WORLD OF
CHARACTERS.

Expressive faces, curious creatures and lettering with a life of its own. This is where Maria’s love of illustration comes out to play.

The illustration collection
Character Study01
T-Rex Thundering Beats02
Dreamland03
Mzansi Princess04

There’s painting in the studio, too.

Ask about paintings & commissions
A dramatically lit model wears layered sculptural Afrigarde neckpieces against a dark background.

03 / Afrigarde · 2015–2022

ART YOU
CAN WEAR.

Explore Afrigarde

Photography: Dylan Louw · Styling: Maria Uys · Make-up: Gareth Coleman

Afrigarde geometric wordmark on a transparent background.

A label. A leap.
An entire creative world.

Maria founded Afrigarde to turn sculptural neckpieces into wearable art. She built the label from design and identity through to production, e-commerce, exporting and trade shows.

A practice that moved between the intimate detail of a handmade object and the bigger picture of building a brand.

Collaborations & shows
  1. 2020WHITE Milan selection
    BOZAR guest speaker
  2. 2017Afrigarde × Converse
  3. 2016Top Billing feature
  4. 2015Design Indaba
    Emerging Creative

04 / The person behind the work

CURIOUS
BY NATURE.

An artist’s instinct.
A designer’s eye for detail.

Maria is a South African graphic, surface and textile designer with a BTech in Surface Design from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Her work spans PEP, Keedo, independent client projects and her own Afrigarde label.

Her experience connects expressive illustration with the practical work of colour, garment CADs, print, product development and production.

Request my full CV

Along the way

From 2020

PEP Head Office

Graphic design · Apparel · Textile · CAD & production

From 2020

Uys Design Creative Solutions

Independent design, art & styling

2019–2020

Keedo

Graphic Designer & Outwork Specialist

2015–2022

Afrigarde

Founder, owner & designer

05 / Press & recognition

OUT IN
THE WORLD.

Design Indaba

Every Surface a Canvas

Google Arts & Culture

Emerging Creative: Maria Uys

Top Billing

The women behind Afrigarde

VISI

40 Emerging Creatives

Design Indaba

South African Designers Working with Wool

Design Indaba

Design Indaba Expo 2015

The Living Habitat

Emerging Creatives

SA Décor & Design

The hunt for emerging creatives

06 / Let’s make something

HELLO,
POSSIBILITY.

uysdesign@gmail.com
For employersDiscuss a role For clientsCommission design or art For collaboratorsPlan a show or collaboration