A design based on tukutuku patterns and taniwha teeth, and reminiscent of a nikau palm. The nikau, along with the colour green, represents the original vegetation of the area. Green is also an important colour to Taranaki people, the ancestors of Te Aro pa.
In the negative spaces you see mountains. In Maori legend, Taranaki is a mountain being that once lived peacefully in the centre of the North Island with three other mountains, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu.
The shape is also reminiscent of a torch – darker at the base, lighter at the top like a green flame. This links to the client's Maori name, Hana.
A key service Te Aro offers is change management. In shorthand, mathematics and the sciences, the triangle (from the Greek letter Delta) is a symbol for ‘change’. In chemistry for example, it symbolises the addition of heat in a reaction.
The ‘A’ in Te Aro sits perfectly in the centre and rises up to almost meet the triangle at the base of the logo. This becomes the point of focus. Te Aro sits below, supporting a key person within an organisation. That person connects to their managers and so on with the change filtering out through the system.
Expansion and growth is suggested, with the shape reminiscent of a family tree, reflecting the importance of the client's whakapapa.
Wordplays throughout the comms and marketing materials demonstrate the client's sense of creativity, fun, and love of language.
The client wanted the idea of illumination to come through strongly.
I proposed doing some photoshoots involving light painting, a photographic technique where you take a long time exposure at night and while the camera is exposing the image you move a point of light around. In this mockup I light painted the triangle from the logo to how how they could work.
