About
A small studio, on purpose
Nyoni is a design and web studio in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga County, founded by Anthony Mwaura. We work with organisations across Kenya and East Africa, mostly remotely.
The studio
We design brand identities and everyday graphics, build websites from scratch in code rather than with page builders, lay out reports people actually read, and make 3D and motion work in Blender.
Nyoni was founded by Anthony Mwaura, a designer and web developer who has designed logos and identities for Kenyan businesses and clubs. The studio exists because of a gap we kept seeing: organisations doing serious, careful work were represented by websites and documents that didn’t come close. Agencies that could fix it were often out of reach, and freelancers were hard to rely on. Nyoni sits in between: studio-quality work, from an accountable team, at prices that are published.
We keep the studio small on purpose. You have one named contact from the first call to the last file, the people who design and build your project are the people you talk to, and when something needs fixing, someone answers the phone.
The name
Nyoni means bird
Nyoni is the Kikuyu word for bird, the language spoken here in Kirinyaga. (The Swahili relative is nyuni; in everyday Swahili, a bird is ndege.)
The bird in the logo is a weaver. Weavers build their nests by threading and knotting strips of grass, one strand at a time, and the result is strong because each knot holds. In the logo it’s pulling a thread into a ring that becomes a camera aperture and the letter O.
It’s a reminder of how we like to work: carefully, one decision at a time, so the whole thing holds.
How we work
-
Written down, agreed, then done
Scope, price, timeline and revisions are in writing before work starts. If something changes, we agree it in writing too.
-
Built to be owned
You own what you pay for: the files, the code, the domain. No lock-in, no platform you can’t leave, and a dashboard so you can make changes yourself.
-
Accessible and fast by default
Every website meets the WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard and is built to load quickly on a phone with an average Kenyan mobile connection.
-
Honest about limits
If something isn’t a good fit for Nyoni, we’ll say so early and point you to someone better suited.
How we use AI
We use AI tools, mainly Claude, for research, first drafts, code and checking work. It’s a large part of why a small studio can deliver this range at this quality and speed.
What that means for you:
- Every deliverable is reviewed, edited and finished by a person on our team. Nothing goes to you straight from a tool.
- Facts, figures and claims are checked against sources, especially for health, legal and financial content.
- Your confidential material isn’t used to train AI models. We use tools and settings that don’t train on customer data, and we’ll follow your organisation’s AI policy if you have one.
- Logos and illustrations are designed, not generated, so you get clear ownership.
Tools
Affinity for identity, print and layout. Blender for 3D and animation. Hand-written HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP for websites, with no page builders. Lighthouse, axe and real devices for testing.
Tell us what you’re working on.
A few lines is enough. We’ll reply within one working day with questions or a rough figure, and send a written quote once we’ve talked.
Or call +254 741 049 125, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.