Department of Internal Affairs
Showcase the stories and the journey people took to become New Zealanders
Role
Creative Direction
Art Direction
Publication Design
Illustration
Year
2018
Audience Graphic Design
Taking the step to become a New Zealand citizen is something that not a lot of people do. It's a special occasion for many who may have left troubled countries for a better life. Each year, citizenship ceremonies are held throughout the country for those special few who decide to take the next step and become a New Zealander.
The Department of Internal Affairs noticed that although there were so many ceremonies taking place, they were all different and unique to each other. They saw that the only consistent aspect of the ceremony was receiving the certificate.
We were asked to look into creating a high quality “coffee table” book which would be used as a gift from the government which people all around the country would be able to receive and take away with them.
It was to celebrate the culture and history of New Zealand, and include stories from people who had taken the journey to New Zealand, and had gone through the same citizenship process and ceremony.
Working closely with the team at the Department of Internal Affairs we discussed the the ideas of what we want the reader to take away from reading this book, and how we want the person receiving this book should feel. Ultimately, we wanted the book to have an "exclusive" feel, and something that could be valued, and shown off at home.
After working through the pagination, we came out with a book which chronologically detailed the history and key events of New Zealand.
We felt that it was important that we introduced imagery used in, or inspired by the New Zealand passport, as this was now something which new citizens were able to get. While the pages in the book was kept relatively clean, each profile page used a background found in the New Zealand passport, as the profile was always about their journey to become a New Zealander.
This was proudly printed and made in New Zealand, and won gold in the Pride in Print awards.
