Design Yangu Press & Media Launch Kit

Design Yangu is Kenya's first print-on-demand marketplace where Kenyan designers earn royalties every time someone buys a product with their art no upfront cost, paid via M-Pesa.

Kenyan Creatives Can Now Earn from Their Designs Online Without a Printer, Shop, or Startup Capital

Nairobi, Kenya A new marketplace launching today is turning Kenyan designers' artwork into passive income no inventory, no printing machinery, no hustle to find clients.

Design Yangu (Swahili: "My Design") allows graphic designers, illustrators, and visual artists to upload their designs and earn a royalty every time a customer orders a product custom t-shirts, tote bags, phone cases, mugs with their art on it. Payments are processed through M-Pesa.

"I kept watching Kenyan creatives pour hours into designs that earned them a one-time fee and then got forgotten," said Ian Mutai, Design Yangu's founder. "Meanwhile the same design economy in the US and Europe is creating full-time income for independent artists. We built Design Yangu so that could happen here."

How it works: - Kenyan designers create a free shop and upload their designs - Customers browse and order custom products prices start from KES 1,200 - Products are printed by a local production partner and shipped - The designer earns a royalty on every sale no upfront investment required - All payments process via M-Pesa

The platform is specifically designed for Kenya's creative economy. Pricing is in Kenyan Shillings, the checkout experience is built around M-Pesa, and the design categories reflect local demand graduation merch, corporate branded items, event t-shirts, and Afro-inspired apparel.

The market opportunity is significant. Kenya has over 47 million mobile money users and a growing creative class concentrated in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. The branded merchandise market custom t-shirts for university classes, corporate teams, NGO campaigns, sports teams, and events runs into billions of shillings annually. Most of that spend currently goes to informal printers with inconsistent quality and no IP protection for designers.