Ministry for Ethnic Communities

Ministry for Ethnic Communities

Role

Design Director

Featured

Campaign Brief, Stop Press

Enable diversity to thrive.

Brand Build

The Ministry for Ethnic Communities project has been a long time coming, with communities advocating for a ministry for over a decade. Aotearoa is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries with over 213 ethnicities, speaking over 160 languages, we faced the challenge of creating a brand that represented over 1 million people in this ethnically diverse country. So, how do you create something that represents everyone? It starts with a conversation. We worked with the new Ministry to engage with members of these communities, including young people, agency staff, community leaders, and many more, to develop a brand that embraces diversity as a strength, yet still functions as a strong asset to the wider government brand. Our job was to create a brand that enabled diversity to thrive and what better way to do that than engage with hundreds of people from ethnic communities to develop the branding.

My Role

Brand Strategy
Creative Direction
Brand Identity
Design System
Brand Messaging
Logo Design & System
Art Direction
+ more

Creative & Design Lead

Anna Hughes

Team Members

Sam Stuchbury
Jordan Stent
Nick Jamieson
Hilary Ngan Kee
Jolin Lee

Client

Ministry for Ethnic Communities
Department of Internal Affairs

Strength in diversity.

We worked with the core themes that came through the conversations and research to create a logo and brand that represented belonging, approachability, warmness, trust, strength, power, and above all else, diversity. The brand was created in partnership with the many community members we consulted with; we made the conscious effort to step away from the traditional government look, designing a modern and distinct brand that could stretch and evolve with the Ministry throughout the years.

A voice at the table.

No one voice is the same. We have different religions, races, ethnicities, languages, and cultures, and there is beauty in the wholeness of our differences. Inclusion is not the act of one community but the act of the collective working together. Understanding, learning, supporting. It is a measure of how society enables diversity to thrive. Our voices give us power, a place to stand, a feeling of belonging, and an opportunity for us all to speak. It opens the door for action and tangible change.

“It represents inclusivity and a celebration of who we are . . . it reflects a sense of purpose.”

- Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan,
Minister for Ethnic Communities 

Turning voices into action.

To create a strong and actionable government brand that still has a sense of modernism and positivity, we needed to look further than what was currently out there. Ethnic communities felt a lack of belonging, some feel like they were always on a search for their identity, feeling like their voices weren't heard. We took in the idea of voices and turned it into tangible change and action, amplifying the voices of those who felt unheard or unseen. This was reflected in a brand that was strong and powerful yet celebrated differences. Everyone is different and there is beauty in our differences. Let's celebrate the super-diversity and change the thinking around assimilation and more towards cohesion with the hope that society will see strength in diversity.

Featured

Featured by Campaign Brief

Stop Press features the new Ministry brand

Launch speech at the New Zealand Government

Designing a brand that represents over 1 million people . . .

Read about the launch