Lelapa AI

South Africa

Lelapa AI is an African-based AI research lab founded by Pelonomi Moiloa, Benjamin Rosman, George Konidaris, Jade Abbott, Pravesh Ranchod, and Vukosi Marivate. It is a concentration of Africa's niche skills in resource efficiency rooted in the philosophy of Ubuntu ('Ubuntu' is an African value concept that highlights the interconnectedness of people - I am because we are).

The challenge was to design a logo that pays tribute to the profound knowledge rooted in Africa. The creative journey led us through exploring Afrikan fractals, delving into the binary code of the Bamana tribe, and investigating the binary system within the African divination systems of the Yorùbá tribe. Despite these efforts, we felt that these approaches did not fully capture the essence of the task.

Our quest for a more fitting solution led us to explore ancient African writing systems, focusing on Nguni writing symbols in particular. We chose to extract; (1) the wisdom symbol (representing Lelapa's vast skill set in Ai development), (2) the home symbol (representing the ambient Lelapa hopes to create, a home for Ai solutions), and (3) the family symbol (the English translation of Lelapa). With these 3 significant symbols, we then synthesized them to create a unique icon to represent Lelapa Ai. One might even say the icon almost looks like a robot. The outcome is a design that pays homage to the rich tapestry of ancient African knowledge. It stands as an emblematic symbol, ideally suited for a research lab committed to addressing Africa's challenges through the development of AI solutions tailored specifically for Africans, by Africans.