RANGITANE TU MAI RA TRUST

Learning Te Reo Māori

Illustration and print design

Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā Trust has developed a programme to teach Te Reo Māori to our older generation, those who were discouraged to speak Te Reo Māori. All learners have access to an assigned Kaiāwhina who makes regular home-visits to interact with the learner as a way of practicing and enhancing the learning.

We were tasked with designing the workbooks through illustration and clear, easy to use layout. The resource book uses multiple stories as teaching tools to learn the history of creation from Ranginui and Papatūānuku, to Māui fishing up Aotearoa, to Kupes voyage to discover Aotearoa, through to Whātongas discovery of Rangitāne. We developed an illustration style that brings these stories to life through simple, stylised images. We used textures and shadows to add depth and created a rich, varied colour palette that links through the workbooks. Each illustration used a complimentary, limited range of colours to feel harmonious and not too complex.

We then used this style and applied to all small illustrations and icons throughout the book. It feels modern, with a lovely nod to the past and the rich stories being told.