‘Put it on Gumtree, has become a favourite South African saying.

Since their launch in 2005, Gumtree has helped millions of people buy that dream ‘bakkie’ (pick-up truck) or sell your unused three leg ‘potjie’.

We were approached by the creative team at Gumtree to help create a bespoke visual language for the redesign of their popular app.

The illustration language needed to be developed alongside Gumtree SA’s core brand values to ensure it reflected their true brand identity.

Community, Safety and Locality were all aspects we needed to keep in mind during the style development phase.

Gumtree’s brand assets, like the redesigned ‘broccoli’ logo, helped push the design language in a new direction. A line-based illustration style with dashes of pattern and colour, harmoniously complimented the existing brand like a traditional ‘pap and wors’.

To create a distinctive illustration style, we had to carefully consider what visually represents South Africa without resorting to overused clichés such as zebra and leopard prints. We also leveraged Gumtree’s existing brand assets for inspiration and direction in order to develop a truly unique and memorable style.

In addition to creating a library of illustrations, we also developed an icon language. These small yet powerful visuals needed to effectively communicate complex concepts within a limited space, while still maintaining a cohesive look and feel with the larger illustration library

Throughout the concept and sketch phase, we placed great emphasis on character and explored various ways to incorporate distinct South African cultural moments into app-specific use cases. We had fun brainstorming creative ideas, from incorporating the iconic sound of a vuvuzela to other unique cultural references that would help users feel welcome to the app.