How Cruz took on the ride-hailing giants with a brand, two apps, and an always-on campaign engine.

The Challenge

Break into a category dominated by global apps: without feeling foreign.

Riders already had options. Winning meant more than a working app: Cruz had to feel warmer, more local, and more trustworthy than the incumbents, an experience people would choose on feeling, not just price. That called for a complete system: identity, a human illustration language, polished product, and marketing that speaks city by city.

The Idea

A signature illustration language

Custom characters and scenes give Cruz a personality no stock-photo competitor can copy, used across onboarding, empty states, campaigns and merch. It's the thread that makes every touchpoint instantly "Cruz."

The Identity

A 23-page brand system, built to scale.

Values of simplicity, innovation and community drove the mark, locked in a full brand book: logo construction, four-colour system (#060C2F · #4AEFA0 · #0C2070 · #3326C6), General Sans typography, and the lines "Cruise with Cruz, Effortless Connections, Memorable Journeys."

The Product · Passenger

A rider app that's simple, safe, and rewarding.

From a warm welcome to live ride-tracking and ride tiers, designed screen by screen.

The Product · Driver

A driver app built to onboard fast and keep earning.

Guided registration, ride-matching, and an earnings dashboard that shows drivers exactly where the money comes from.

The Platform · Operations

Not just two apps: the operations platform that runs the business.

A full web dashboard for the Cruz team: live KPIs, passenger & driver management, payments analytics, rides and promotions, the control room behind the brand.

The Website

A marketing site that turns visitors into riders.

ridewithcruz.com: the front door: bold hero, app-download flows and the Cruz story, in the same design language as the product.

The Campaign Engine

One brand, many cities, always in season.

We built a repeatable creative system that flexes by city, moment and audience: from Lagos and Delta to Father's Day, rainy-season comfort, and driver recruitment, so Cruz always shows up relevant.

Motion & Content

The brand extends into video & social.

Beyond static creative, the Cruz world runs in motion, short-form, social-first content in the same colours and voice.

Full motion library also includes vertical product & safety explainers (“safe, reliable rides”, “Real-Time Ride Tracking”) and the app promo.

The Result

A full-stack brand: identity, product and marketing in one voice.