Te Rau o Rongo
Role
Graphic Designer and Web Designer
Collaborators
Independant
Client
Te Rau o Rongo
Industry
Māori Gardening
Year
2024
Designed a Māori brand identity that supports gardners to recconect to the whenua through gardening.
Problem :
Te Rau o Rongo Charitable Trust based in Waitara, Taranaki is a wāhine led maara (garden) dedicated to supporting whānau to reconnect to whenua (land) through gardening. Their goal is to promote food sovereignty and indigenous sustainable living practices, because healing the whenua will lead to the healing of our people.
The team at Te Rau o Rongo were seeking a tōhu (logo) that visually embodies the essence of Te Rau o Rongo, which means 'the many ways to find peace.' They wanted to visually communicate that people can find peace through cultivation.
Solution :
The final concept went through many iterations before it felt just right. Inspired by one of the tagline ideas, ‘peace through cultivation,’ which immediately brought to mind Te Raukura (the feather), a highly significant symbol in Taranaki. Te Raukura represents peace and, more specifically, acknowledges Parihaka—a Māori community founded on principles of peace and unity. It embodies spiritual, physical, and communal harmony. To complement this, I incorporated the kō a traditional Māori gardening tool used to prepare garden beds for planting. Its long, sleek form grounds the tōhu, creating space for the feathers to emerge from the kō—symbolising communities coming together to reconnect with the whenua.
Challenge :
A key challenge was choosing a design direction that felt right to both the kaupapa and the client. In order to identify am appropriate colour palette, typography and overall vibe of the brand I created stylescapes of different design directions. The chosen stylescape was the kūmara. A national crop for Māori
Summary :
I'm very thankful to my whānaunga Pounamu who brought this brand to life. Her passion to support people to practice healing through gardening is very inspiring. I can't wait to see what else she releases!
