Annual reports and document design for Iwi Māori Partnership Board Tihei Tākitimu. The purpose of this organisation is to advocate for whānau needs within the New Zealand health system. As well as a Community Health Plan and Priorities Document, an Annual Report was created.

Farmstrong is a nationwide wellbeing programme for the rural community, supported and informed by wellbeing science. We were approached by Farmstrong to design a website for farmers and growers who were impacted by the adverse weather (flooding) events in New Zealand in February 2023, called Getting Through.

The Getting Through website is packed with resources for mental wellbeing - videos, podcasts, and expert advice - all offering practical tips for long-term recovery.

Alongside the design of the website, we also created an illustrated mental fitness ‘toolkit’ containing practical skills and strategies for navigating long-term recovery. While these resources are primarily designed for those facing similar events in the future, their lessons are universal and relevant to anyone facing serious adversity.

The design solution for the Getting Through website needed to consider the existing Farmstrong brand, and build on this with an additional colour palette and a new illustrative style for the toolkit. The new warmer colours represented the earth, land and sky. The illustrative style developed was graphic and punchy to work effectively in digital outputs. Flowing black linework and textural elements were used to reflect the hands on and gritty nature of farming and growing. 

Navigation and layout of this website needed to be clear and simple, particularly as users were often on the go - ease of mobile functionality was also vital.

Social media and print adverts were also created as part of the Getting Through marketing suite.

The Hump Ridge Track is a 3-day loop in the South Island of New Zealand. It opened as one of New Zealand’s Great Walks in 2024. We were engaged by Story Inc at the concept design phase to create the colour palette, interpretive sign styling and wayfinding design systems.

NZDF required an internal search portal/interactive search tool where personnel could easily access future career pathways and discover information about external qualifications on offer.

The design solution was an engaging and visually arresting resource that presented key career information in a clear, accessible and functional manner, all aligned within the NZDF brand guidelines framework. The design communicated an overall feeling of competency, trust, pride/mana, and future focus.

The Tūhura Room at Space Place in Wellington, New Zealand, was in need of a content and design refresh. A vibrant and bright colour palette was used to appeal to children, and stand out from the white tiles ‘spaceship’ background. Fun typography details, a space character and illustrative details brought this zone to life. An important consideration was making all content bilingual throughout. (Content and 3D design by Storyinc).

Conceptual design for the redevelopment of the Space Place Centre in Te Whanganui a Tara / Wellington. A design approach for the approach to layout, photography, colours, fonts and AVs was required.

The interior of the Kiwi Conservation Centre at Te Puia required us to do a deep dive into everything Kiwi-related! Our role involved initial concept development through to developed design and production management.

This exhibition space covered a vast range of content including Kiwi evolution, species, breeding, and diet. Interactives were developed to help visitors understand the huge size of the kiwi egg. An earthy colour palette was used to link to the New Zealand landscape and natural habitat of the Kiwi bird, with the walls kept a dark grey colour to enhance the nocturnal nature of the bird.

This education centre is a highlight for many visitors to Te Puia, and attracts a wide range of ages and demographics.

Waitangi Day at Te Puia (2024) was a drawcard event where doors were opened to the entire community. The day of events provided an opportunity to learn about, engage with, and feel inspired by Maori culture.

Heritage, history and ancestry are central to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and what this day represents. Key to the Waitangi Day design concepts are prominent cultural sites and structures of significance within Te Puia that reflect this.

The first design includes the carved waharoa (gateway) as a central graphic element. The design acknowledges the legacy of Tene Waitere and his descendants while also being an iconic symbol for Te Puia and the Whakarewarewa valley.

Rotowhio Marae and Te Aronui–a–Rua are central to the second design iteration. The eight carved ancestral figures on Te Aronui–a–Rua represent the eight beating hearts of Te Arawa - the children of the ancestor Rangitihi. All members of the Arawa tribe can trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to one of these eight children.

Design outputs included digital and print advertising, site signage, print and digital billboards and wayfinding.

Graphic design for the newly opened WW2/Kokoda Track Gallery in Papua New Guinea. This newly opened exhibition honours the soldiers and events that shaped the history of the Kokoda Track during World War II. Exhibition and concept design by Story Inc.

Outputs included - colour recommendations for painted walls, 10-metre high hanging banners, wrapped graphic panels, a full-wall timeline, object labels, and large-scale illustrative graphics for walls.

Working with Story Inc, we developed the graphics and illustrations for a new area of the Kauri Museum in Dargaville, New Zealand. This included a large forest walkway, entrance/reception graphics, three-dimensional typography, lightbox panels in a main exhibition space, and wayfinding.

Tiki Ahua is an annual fashion show that takes place in Rotorua, New Zealand and showcases the work of Maori designers and culture. This event featured 22 designers and had a theme inspired by the Maori goddesses of fire, called Ka Mura: Set Alight. The brand consisted of surreal/fantastical photography and clean and modern typography. A number of print and digital marketing items were developed to showcase this event.

With a state-of-the-art Kiwi Conservation Centre being built at Te Puia, a new identity and wayfinding/signage strategy was required. The external signage needed to navigate, inspire, and educate. The spatial layout within the native bush was unique - early concept sketches and three-dimensional renderings were essential in plotting the sign locations and understanding visitor flow.

A predominantly two-toned colour system was created, to stand out from the green bush and help guide visitors down the sloping path to the conservation centre. Interpretive signage showcased evocative illustrations alongside historical content and diagrams. Large three-dimensional graphics were created for the building frontage which complimented the ‘live-feed’ video footage of the kiwi birds.

This Kiwi Conservation Centre consistently receives positive reviews on tourism sites like Trip Advisor, showing high visitor engagement and appeal for both international and domestic tourists.

Ellen Ford was after a brand that represented her vibrant speaking style and personality, and set her apart from other keynote speakers. Her brand needed to visually convey the ideas of motion and flexibility given this relates to the content she is communicating around belonging, autonomy and purpose in the workplace. The outputs for this client included brand stationary, printed documents, large-scale signage, digital marketing, and a new website. The final brand look expresses a harmonious balance between individuality and professionalism.

These wayfinding graphics were developed for Te Puia / Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley in Rotorua, New Zealand. A solution was required that communicated the different attractions through symbology as well as words. The result is an attractive and legible system that uses bilingual content, custom-designed icons and vibrant colours.

This annual Report for Tauhara North Land Trust drew upon colours from the landscape, lakes and forests that are part of the trusts commercial holdings. Large full-page photography, bold infographics and pull quotes highlighted key information throughout the document. The green colour used throughout reinforced the trust as a Kaitiaki (guardian) of the whenua (land) and it’s tangata whenua (people).

The esteemed exhibition Tuku Iho / Living Legacy, from the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, features Te Takapū (bone and stone carving), Whakairo-Rākau (wood carving), Te Rito (weaving), Ta Moko, and Kapa Haka. This international exhibition not only showcases authentic and beautiful Maori culture but also encourages New Zealand tourism and strengthens political relationships between Aotearoa and the host countries. 

One location for Tuku Iho was at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. Various marketing and design items were required to promote this event including a printed catalogue, banners and billboards, digital graphics and merchandise like t-shirts.

The sign designs for this pou maumahara were completed for the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI).

The pou maumahara was carved by master carvers at NZMACI as a symbol of remembrance for the Maori Battalion who served in WW1 alongside other allies and NZ soldiers. This was installed at a prominent Belgium war site in 2019.

The accompanying graphics needed to clearly communicate the rich meaning within the carvings as well as highlight other broader aspects of Maori culture within the NZMACI school context.

These graphics were completed for Studio Cassells as part of the Madame Tussards Wax Museum revamp in Shanghai, China. The brief was to develop a set of 'pop-art' graphics that would reflect the fun and eclectic nature of the street signs in Korean. A bright and fun colour palette was developed to reflect the youthful nature of the space. All of the signs were largescale and backlit.

These 'outdoor exhibition' sign panels were developed for Te Puia / Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley in Rotorua, New Zealand. The signs serve both a functional and informative purpose - they visually locate attractions for visitors and also provide information about each 'hot spot'. A set of contemporary patterns were developed from traditional Maori weavings and carvings, and added visual interest and depth to the signs as well as linking to the park 'categories' - geothermal, nature, cultural and arts and crafts. The colours of each panel also directly linked to the wayfinding signs, allowing a visitor to easily navigate through the park.

Tiki Ahua is a fashion show that takes place in Rotorua, New Zealand and showcases the work of Maori designers and culture. The 2017 event was inspired by the traditional narrative of human creation, Kura Mowai - Sacred Waters. The theme draws on the joining together of Hineahuone, the first female being, and atua (God) Tane-te-waiora, the giver of the waters of life. The brand consisted of surreal/fantastical photography and clean and modern typography. A number of print and digital marketing items were developed to showcase this event.

Emoji is the fastest growing language in the world, with still and moving image characters used in text and social media platforms to express, emphasise and reinforce emotion. The Emotiki app uses upward of 200 characters and represents a broad range of emotions, sports, situtations, foods and icons that are familiar to or have been made famous by Maori.

This new dentist in Auckland city were after some modern and vibrant graphics for both the inside of their office and the external windows. We developed a wave pattern that wrapped across a number of the internal doors, as well as some large typographic elements for both the interior and exterior of the building.

We design and illustrate maps to assist visitors in wayfinding. These might be small-scale, for brochures, apps or websites, or intended for large-scale signage or banners.

FINALIST: BEST DESIGN AWARDS NZ 2011

Created for Rotorua Museum’s newly built Don Stafford Memorial Wing, this permanent exhibition traces the rich history of Te Arawa, one of Aotearoa’s most famous tribal confederations. This was a Story Inc Project, with Linetamers involved in the creation of background illustrations and graphic design outputs. Different printing and finishing techniques were used including wrapped graphic panels, acrylic back-lit graphics, projected typography, laser cut letters and vinyl graphic applications.

These large scale wall murals were created for the Madame Tussards Wax Musuem in Shanghai. Each mural represented one aspect of 'The Bund' - a famous landmark in Shanghai. 

Te Puia required a major refresh of their corporate brand identity, from the logo mark and print collateral through to advertising, vehicles and uniforms. The solution needed to strongly reference the history of Te Puia and also represent Te Puia as a modern, bold and professional organization. The logo is layered with symbology - the icon of a guide represents the guiding legacy of Te Puia, a huia feather is a nod to the importance of women in Maori society, and a whakataukī (proverb) references the importance of maintaining culture over time.

FINALIST: BEST DESIGN AWARDS NZ 2011

This Story Inc Project, 'Ka Mate', dominated Te Papa’s Foyer during the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in October 2011. The Exhibition was an interactive experience which allowed visitors the opportunity to learn and perform the Haka. Light boxes were displayed around the exhibition which explained the historical story of Ka Mate and its use in contemporary times.

Collab flooring required a visually punchy brand to clearly communicate to their customers their services and aesthetic sensibilities. More work to come!

The Timaru Rock Art Centre showcases extraordinary examples of Maori rock art from the region. This Story Inc project involved large scale wall graphics, three-dimensional typography, laser cut elements, wrapped vinyl graphics, and large glass panels.

This architecture firm in Vancouver was after a unique visual language that would match their unusual name. The symbology of architecture - the 'language' of this field - was looked at, and graphic shapes were extracted and used across the collateral. The logo is an 'organic' logo - there are a number of different versions - this references how the company approaches design problems - from all angles and with a creative outlook.

Harambee Cultural Society in Vancouver required a fun, positive and colourful brand to reflect the inclusive and family orientated nature of their organization. A starting point was developing a unique stamp like logo mark and a set of brand patterns based off traditional African designs and symbols - representing ideas like love, family and stability. 

These illustrative graphics were created with Smart Design Group for Whole Foods in Vancouver, Canada. The Whole Foods brand needed to feel inviting and appealing to people who care about their food and environment. The aesthetic developed had a collage and layered approach and subtly referenced the hand-crafted folk illustrative style.