Since its inception in 2010, the site has become a popular place to find reliable tech reviews, networking connections, local and international artist interviews, say the founders.

The site is used by animators, illustrators, VFX artists and game developers. The online environment encourages sharing, learning and expertise development among local creatives. 

2021 has seen the site be redesigned, optimised and given a whole new purpose, says the team. More recently, The Marketing Mill made a strategic investment in the site.

"This was done to enable creatives to make money online through services on the site and help to create an income for digital creators in South Africa. If you head to pixelsmithstudios.com, you'll be able to choose from a selection of proudly South African digital products for your creative projects," the site adds.

"While we're initially opening our doors to illustrators and graphic designers in South Africa for free, we're also setting the foundations so that we can expand to assist animators, game developers, 2D and 3D modellers and VFX artists, encouraging them to open stores on our platform. Signing up is completely free for a year and artists will take 90% of the proceeds for the sale," adds the site.

Pixelsmith Studios aims to be the best marketplace for both sellers and customers. Ruan Smit says, "there's not currently a beneficial place where South African creatives can promote and sell their work. We wanted to create a site where we could empower designers in South Africa to sell designs and services to an international audience."

The goal of the site is to build a network and digital marketplace not just in South Africa but one that has international opportunities. Pixelsmith Studios was started to help creatives gain more exposure and essentially help build their career.

Creatives will still be able to promote themselves, network, find jobs and help each other out on the subdomain or hop on the site's Discord server. Here, they can find a like-minded community of over 100 creatives who are passionate about what they do. 

For more information, visit www.pixelsmithstudios.com. You can also follow Pixelsmith Studios on Facebook or on Twitter.