Postcard from Johannesburg
In 2019, Scott Clephane founded the proudly South African brand and digital design agency Epic Lion. Here, he chats to Transform about his agency’s recent work and the creative scene in Johannesburg.
How does Johannesburg’s culture, history and heritage influence your work?
Johannesburg is a city of builders, entrepreneurs, startups and challenger brands, which is why it feels so aligned with who we are as an agency. Its diversity exposes us to a constant mix of cultures, perspectives and ideas, reminding us that successful brands connect with real people, not just demographics. That’s why we’ve always been drawn to brands with ambition and something to prove. Communicating in Jozi means staying close to a culture that moves fast. We stay connected to the communities, creatives and conversations shaping the city, helping brands remain relevant in an environment where culture never stands still.
What do you find distinctive about brand design in Johannesburg, and South Africa in general?
South African design stands out because it is rooted in cultural truth rather than imitation. Consumers quickly recognise what feels inauthentic, so the brands that succeed are often honest, relatable and built on genuine human insight. While influenced by global trends, the strongest local brands reinterpret ideas through a distinctly South African lens to create something original and ownable. What makes SA design unique is its ability to balance contrasts: bold yet warm, polished yet streetwise, ambitious yet human. There is a resourcefulness, optimism and authenticity in the work that gives it energy and helps it connect with real people.
As well as Cape Town, Epic Lion also has an office in London. How do you ensure your strategic thinking is linked up across different regions?
I’ve found that while markets differ, people are often more similar than we think. Whether we’re working with our clients in SA, Europe, US, Middle East or Asia, we start by understanding the customer, the business and what growth looks like for that brand. Those fundamentals don’t change. Having people in different regions helps us challenge our thinking and avoid looking at problems through a single lens. We get the benefit of local understanding while bringing in perspectives from outside the market, which usually leads to better decisions.
How did your Transform Awards-shortlisted project with Proclean demonstrate Epic Lion’s results-driven process?
Proclean in Zimbabwe was exactly the kind of challenger brand we love working with: a young business with a strong founder, a compelling story and clear growth ambitions. We began by defining success, identifying the need to build trust, stand out in a crowded category and create a platform for growth. Rather than positioning Proclean as another cleaning company, we built the brand around what made it unique: the founder’s journey, its all-women team and the trust it had earned through word of mouth. The result was a distinctive, credible brand with a clearer market position, stronger story and greater potential for growth.
How do you ensure your branding work is relevant for the diverse audiences that make up Johannesburg’s population?
The simple answer is that we listen, and we do not treat Johannesburg as one single audience. It is a city made up of many communities, cultures, languages and economic realities, so relevance starts with understanding those differences properly. It’s easy to make assumptions in a boardroom. We try not to do that. We speak to real customers, listen to frontline teams, study market behaviour and use real data to understand what people actually value and respond to.
For me, relevance comes from combining human insight with real evidence. That is how we create brands that feel credible, culturally aware and commercially effective, while still delivering measurable impact for the business.
This article was taken from Transform magazine Q3, 2026. You can subscribe to the print edition here.
