AGENCY: Catalyst IT, 2021
KAUPAPA REORUA
ROLE: Discovery, IA, Design
This is a very exciting initiative of which Wellington is already a part of
This site is soon to be launched, and already has several key locations in New Zealand commited to making it a success.
We worked with a specialised team from DIA, and the Whakaaro Factory, An indigionous design agency tasked with creating their brand identity, to create a site where additional locations could learn more about the initiative and register their interest.
We challenged ourselves to structure the site so that wherever possible, both te reo and english would appear side by side. The te reo appearing first on the left, with the english next to it to help the user start to make associations between the languages. I’m excited for people to get to explore the site when it launches!
Aotearoa New Zealand has 2 official languages
Māori and New Zealand Sign Language. These were established by the Māori Language Act 1987 and the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. English is the predominant language spoken.
A time for korero
You can now expect to see and hear more reo Māori in Aotearoa. Rotorua as the city takes on the mantle of being New Zealand’s first officially declared bilingual city.
The site is set to launch early 2022
We hope that this will help excite and educate the whole of New Zealand and encourage participation by communities.
The future is bright
The participating communities hope to pave the way for more bilingual New Zealand towns and cities in the future.