Cultural Identity & Digital Experiences
Project Brief
Nairobi, Kenya - The silicon savanna - leading hub for digital innovation in Africa.
A rich culture that has traditional craft at its core.
As daily life moves online, physical markets — the heart of cultural exchange — are being left behind. Visibility for artisans is shrinking, and the connection between maker and audience is fading.
MTUME responds to this gap — a digital platform designed to extend the presence of the market into online spaces without losing its cultural depth. It creates a bridge between physical and digital worlds, enabling cultural discovery, storytelling, and global access — while still pointing users back to the real, physical experience.
My role focused on crafting the visual identity and digital experience — translating traditional Kenyan craft into a cohesive, modern interface grounded in Afrofuturist design principles.
SITE DEMO
LOADING SCREEN
HERO & LANDING PAGES
FEATURED PAGES
BRANDING
The project began with research into Kenyan craft culture — studying materials, environments, and visual language to ground the work in authenticity rather than aesthetics alone.
This research lead me to the discovery of the Kenyan designed 'Yuwote Charvet' typeface (Designed by Kevin Karanja) that would become central to the brand.
ILLUSTRATIONS & PATTERNS
Pattern exploration became central to the system. Through iteration, abstraction, and refinement, motifs were developed into a flexible visual language that could scale across screens while maintaining cultural integrity. Rather than purely decorational, they were developed as structural elements to inform layout, hierarchy, and interaction across the platform.
SITE ELEMENTS
From there, the focus shifted to translating this system into a digital interface. The challenge was not just visual consistency, but creating an experience that felt immersive, navigable, and culturally expressive. These are the page container styles, background patterns, motifs, navbars, icons, and other components that create the site interface.
BRAND MOCKUPS
Finally, the brand was extended beyond the screen. As a bridge between physical and digital spaces, MTUME required presence in both, using mockups and contextual applications to situate the identity within real-world contexts and audiences. Sticker designs on the market stalls and applied on textiles worn by partnered artisans are used to display their affiliation and market the brand.
PROMOTIONAL BILLBOARD
Billboard design on a highway in Nairobi, establishing the visuals of the brand and creating anticipation and curiosity for the product among the target audience.