Brand identity
One creature. Eight connections.
The PWEZA identity is built on a single idea: an octopus reaches in every direction at once from one centre. Restrained geometry, one accent, and a great deal of quiet space.
The idea
Pweza means octopus in Kiswahili.
The name is the strategy. An octopus is one intelligence operating many independent limbs — exactly how a communications platform behaves when messaging, voice, APIs and payments run from one core. The mark makes that literal: a solid centre, eight monoline tentacles, each ending in a connection node.
African in origin
A Kiswahili name carried without translation or explanation. The brand does not perform its origin, it simply holds it.
Technical in execution
Network diagrams, node terminals, monospaced detail. The identity borrows its language from infrastructure documentation.
Minimal by discipline
One mark, one accent gradient, two typefaces. Everything else is space. Restraint is what reads as trustworthy.
Logo system
Four lockups. No improvisation.
The horizontal lockup is the default. Everything else exists for a specific constraint — a square crop, a dark surface, or a space too small for the wordmark.
Primary — horizontal
Default for navigation, documents and signage.
Stacked
Centred applications: avatars, stamps, packaging.
Mark only
Below 96px of width, or where the name is already present.
Reversed
On ink, imagery or any surface darker than 40% luminance.
Clear space
Keep a margin equal to the mantle diameter (1×) on all four sides.
Minimum sizes
Full lockup 96px wide. Mark alone 16px. Below that, use the node glyph.
Signal treatment
The gradient mark is reserved for hero moments — one per surface.
Never do this
- Do not rotate, mirror or re-space the tentacles.
- Do not stretch the lockup or alter the wordmark tracking.
- Do not add strokes, shadows, bevels or containers to the mark.
- Do not recolour the mark outside ink, white, or the signal gradient.
- Do not place the lockup on a busy image without an ink scrim.
- Do not typeset PWEZA in a substitute face — always the wordmark.
Colour
Deep ink, one signal.
Ink carries the brand; the signal gradient carries attention. The palette is deliberately short — a longer palette would read as a consumer app, not infrastructure.
Deep Ink
Primary surface and text
oklch(0.19 0.03 262)
--ink
Ink Surface
Panels and cards on ink
oklch(0.24 0.035 262)
--ink-surface
Signal
Accent, links, active state
oklch(0.70 0.135 206)
--signal
Accent only — never for body text.
Pulse
Gradient end point only
oklch(0.58 0.19 288)
--pulse
Accent only — never for body text.
Signal gradient
120° from Signal to Pulse. One use per screen, never behind body text.
Contrast rule
Body text holds 4.5:1 minimum against its surface. Signal is never used for paragraph text on light backgrounds — only on ink, or as a fill behind foreground-coloured type.
Ratio
Roughly 70% neutral surface, 25% ink, 5% signal. If the accent is doing more than 5% of the work, the layout is under-designed.
Typography
Space Grotesk. IBM Plex Sans. JetBrains Mono.
A geometric grotesque for voice, a humanist sans for reading, a monospace for anything technical. Three faces, three jobs, no overlap.
Space Grotesk — Display
Headlines, the wordmark, eyebrows and numerals.
Many connections. One platform.
IBM Plex Sans — Body
Paragraphs, UI labels, navigation and long-form.
Connect customers, applications and transactions through one platform.
JetBrains Mono — Technical
Code, identifiers, status values and reference markers.
POST /v1/messages — 202 accepted
Brand accessories
The system, applied.
Every accessory follows the same rule set: ink surface, generous margin, one accent, technical detail in monospace. Renders below are live components, not images.
Many connections. One platform.
pweza.co.tz
Business card — front
85 × 55mm. Mark centred, wordmark on the baseline.
Full Name
Role Title
name@pweza.co.tz
+255 000 000 000
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
DigiStorm (T) Limited
Business card — reverse
Details in monospace. No icons, no clutter.
PWEZA is a product of DigiStorm (T) Limited · pweza.co.tz
Letterhead
A4. Mark top-left, legal line bottom, 24mm margins.
Avatars & app icon
Mark only, optically centred, on ink or signal.
Full Name
Role Title · PWEZA
name@pweza.co.tz · +255 000 000 000
pweza.co.tz — a product of DigiStorm (T) Limited
Email signature
One rule, one accent bar, monospace contact block.
Communications & connectivity
Many connections.
One platform.
Social / presentation cover
16:9. Statement left, mark bottom-right.
Sticker sheet
Mark, node glyph and wordmark as three die-cuts.
Full Name
STAFF
Lanyard / badge
Vertical ink badge, mark at the top, name in display.
Pattern
Node field at 12% opacity. Background only — never behind text.
Brand architecture
How the marks relate.
DigiStorm signs the work. PWEZA is the platform customers meet. SILABI is the complementary solution line drawn on the same grid, with its own mark.
DIGISTORM
Infrastructure
Appears in legal lines and corporate documents. Never lockup-joined to PWEZA.
Platform
The customer-facing brand. Products are named PWEZA Connect, API and Pay — in body text, never as separate logos.
Solutions
Shares the palette and typography, keeps its own bubble-and-wave mark. Sits beside PWEZA, never inside it.
Need the identity in your own files?
Talk to us for the full asset pack — vector marks, colour tokens, typography licences and accessory templates.