Where art meets African storytelling. Pendwa is Tanzania's answer to Netflix—a streaming platform celebrating African movies, music, and stories. I created the complete visual world: 50+ custom character avatars representing diverse African ethnicities, stylized country maps for content discovery, and over 100 movie covers. This is illustration as cultural pride.
How do you compete with Netflix, Showmax, and YouTube when you're a Tanzanian startup? The answer isn't technology—it's identity. Pendwa needed visuals that made Africans feel seen. Generic stock illustrations wouldn't cut it. We needed avatars that looked like our users, maps that celebrated our continent, and cover art that honored African cinema. All while building a streaming app that worked on 2G networks.
I developed a modular illustration system from scratch. Character avatars feature diverse African skin tones, hairstyles (locs, braids, afros, hijabs), and cultural accessories. Stylized country maps turn content discovery into a visual journey across Africa. Cover art templates ensure consistency while celebrating each film's unique story. The dark-mode UI optimizes battery life and creates cinema-like immersion. Offline download support respects the reality of intermittent connectivity.
How we brought this project to life
Deep-dived into African visual traditions: Kente patterns from Ghana, Maasai beadwork from Kenya, Ankara prints from West Africa, and Tingatinga art from Tanzania. Studied contemporary African artists on Instagram and Behance. The goal: authenticity that resonates, not stereotypes that offend.
Created modular character system: 10 base face shapes, 15 hairstyles (including natural hair textures often ignored in design), 8 skin tones following Monk Skin Tone Scale, and dozens of accessories (earrings, glasses, hijabs, kofis). Users can create avatars that actually look like them.
Designed stylized maps for 10+ African countries. Each map highlights key cities, landmarks, and cultural elements. Tanzania shows Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. Nigeria features Lagos and Nollywood. Kenya showcases Nairobi and the Maasai Mara. Maps make content discovery a visual adventure.
Designed mobile-first streaming interface optimized for entertainment. Dark mode reduces eye strain and battery drain. Large touch targets work with one hand. Video player supports picture-in-picture. Download manager shows progress and storage. Search works with Swahili and English queries.
Created template system for 100+ movie and music covers. Each cover balances brand consistency with story-specific imagery. Trained internal team on the style so they can produce covers independently. The system now produces 10+ new covers weekly without my involvement.
Created loading animations, transition effects, and micro-interactions using Lottie. Documented illustration guidelines for future artists. Organized Figma library with all assets properly tagged and exportable. Left Pendwa with a visual system that scales.
The visual identity of this project
See the transformation
How it looks on different devices
Explore the design details
Measurable impact and outcomes
Custom characters
Movies & music
Google Play
User activity boost
Illustrated maps
'Made in Africa'
"Jackson didn't just design illustrations—he gave our users a mirror. For the first time, Tanzanians see avatars with their hairstyles, their skin tones, their cultural accessories. The avatar feature alone increased profile completion by 80%. When users feel represented, they stay. That's what Jackson understood."
