Tuakiritanga

Inā kei te mōhio koe ko wai koe, i anga mai koe i hea, kei te mōhio koe kei te anga atu koe ki hea.

Over the past year we’ve been working hard on our identity as an organisation. While we have always had a strong sense of self; known who and what we stand for, and are knowledgeable and confident in what we do – we wanted to be more intentional in how we speak about ourselves, and how we visually represent Te Ohu Kaimoana as a proud Māori and iwi owned organisation.

We tackled this on two fronts. First we worked with our staff, Board, members of our kāhui, licensed translators and Tāmaki Makaurau based agency Said & Done to help us develop a brand strategy; an official and narrative in te reo Māori and English that we can use to consistently speak to who we are, what we do and most importantly – our why.

Then we engaged the exceptionally talented Kereama Taepa and Tim Walter Hansen to help redefine our visual identity. This involved the design of an evolved tohu, our own customary font and wider brand assets.

Our tohu hou is a marakihau – a taniwha of the ocean. The 58 pākati (knotches) etched into the brow and mouth represent our 58 iwi organisations, and by virtue, all tangata whenua in Aotearoa. This is symbolic of the collective influence our iwi hold and what we can achieve together when we are united on any kaupapa.

Our tohu is representative of the many great leaders we have been fortunate to have at our helm sine 1989, as well as those present and into the future. It speaks to our role in protecting the fisheries and aquaculture treaty settlements, as well as our natural environment. From our first tohu in1992 as the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and then from 2004 when we officially became Te Ohu Kaimoana – one visual element remains a constant; three waves. They now live in the haehae lines of our marakihau and form our custom font.

For a deeper understanding into the meaning behind our tohu, visit here: https://www.teohukaimoana.nz/about-us/our-tohu

We wish to acknowledge the members our iwi working group and their vision, Dave from Said and Done for facilitating and providing the pathway to developing a new narrative for our organisation, our staff and board (past and present) and last but certainly not least, the wonderfully talented Kereama Taepa, Tim (Walter) Hansen and Leanne (Fay) Molloy from Fay and Walter for bringing our new look to life. Kei runga noa atu koutou mā. Ngā mihi maioha.