Africa's think tanks at the heart of the G20
Brand and website for T20 South Africa, the G20's think tank engagement group during South Africa's 2025 presidency, for SAIIA.
The brand
The 0 in T20 becomes a circle of leaves in South Africa's colours, simple enough for a lanyard and strong enough to stand next to the G20.
The need
Who they needed to reach
G20 governments and negotiators, think tanks and researchers around the world, the media and the public
What stood in the way
In 2025 South Africa held the G20 presidency, the first time the G20 Leaders' Summit was hosted in Africa. The Think 20 (T20) is the G20's engagement group for think tanks: it brings leading thinkers together in task forces to produce policy recommendations for G20 leaders. The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), one of the institutes behind it, needed T20 South Africa to stand on its own, recognisably South African and African, while sitting comfortably next to the official G20 identity. It also needed a home online for five task forces, policy briefs, commentary, news and events, ready in time for a year of high-profile meetings.
What success looked like
A T20 that looked confident and African on every platform, and a website where governments, researchers and the media could follow its work and find its recommendations.
How we met the need
We built the brand around the 0 in T20, filled with leaves in the colours of the South African flag, a symbol of growth and many voices working together. Bold and simple, it works on its own or beside the G20 logo, with clear rules for both. From the leaf shapes we made a pattern that runs through the website, presentations and event material. The website is organised around the T20's work: its five task forces, each with its own colour and icon, commentary, publications, news and events. We built it for SAIIA's team to publish to, and we continue to host and support it.
Built around the task forces
The homepage leads with the T20's five task forces, each with its own colour and icon, followed by commentary, publications, news and events.
The process
In 2025 South Africa held the presidency of the G20, the group of the world’s largest economies, and hosted the first G20 Leaders’ Summit on African soil. Alongside the official meetings, the G20 works with engagement groups that bring in other voices. The Think 20, or T20, is the group for think tanks and researchers: it gathers leading thinkers into task forces and turns their work into policy recommendations for G20 leaders.
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) is one of the institutes behind T20 South Africa. We have been SAIIA’s digital partner since 2017, and it asked us to create the T20’s brand and website from the ground up in 2024, ready for a year of high-profile meetings.
The brand had two jobs: to say South Africa and Africa with confidence, and to sit comfortably beside the official G20 logo. We built it around the 0 in T20, filled with leaves in the colours of the South African flag. The leaves became a pattern for the website and event material, and the five task forces each took one of the colours, with an icon for its theme: trade and investment, digital transformation, financing for sustainable development, solidarity for the SDGs, and climate action and a just energy transition.
The website brings the T20’s work together: the task forces, commentary, policy briefs, news and events, with clear pages for each. We continue to host and support it.
What the client got
T20 South Africa had a confident, recognisably African identity throughout South Africa's G20 presidency, and a single place where governments, researchers and the media could follow its task forces and read its recommendations, from policy briefs to the T20 Communiqué delivered ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg in November 2025. We continue to host and support the website.
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