Brand workshops | Brand Naming | Māori Cultural Consulting | Brand Design
The team at Growing Spaces reached out to us with a clear ambition: as a proud Māori owned and operated business, they were ready to embrace their whakapapa and leverage this part of their identity through their brand.
We first met with the team for a workshop in order to identify the business strengths and uniqueness.
Growing Spaces was all about “creating spaces that matter”. Their design flair and construction expertise was committed to reflect their clients lifestyle, culture and environment. From concept to completion they work alongside them, priding themselves on being solution driven and resourceful.
Growing Spaces was a generic term chosen to convey directly the team’s aspiration to become the ‘go to’ greenspace experts in New Zealand. The meaning behind the “growth” reference was critical, as this was driving both the space that was created and the relationships they were building with their clients. Not only were they “growing” green walls, for instance, but they were also cultivating mutual trust and respect with clients turning into real partners. This approach was strongly embedded in Māori ways of business.
Once we were clear on the business remit, the main motivation drivers for the team and as soon as we identified this singular way to work, we were ready to engage with our Māori translator and cultural advisor to guide us through a way to integrate more Reo in the Growing Spaces identity.
It was proposed a Te Reo translation that could convey the underlying meaning of this “growth” approach.
This drove us to “Whakatupu Ātea”, explaining that Whakatupu meant “to grow”, as in “raise”, “cultivate”, “produce” or even “farm”. This word was specifically bearing the connotation of “future”, which was decidedly key in Growing Spaces way of working.
“Ātea” was chosen to mean “space/area”. As it conveys the idea of being open, free from obstruction, it was perfectly adapted to the “external” aspect of Growing Spaces projects.
The research and naming phases naturally informed the brand design step. Our creative team built on this Te Reo name to visually express the company’s commitment to “spaces that matter”.
They reflected on the team’s will to elevate their Māori roots and decided to put both English and Māori names at the same level, simply separating them with an extended koru line.
Colour palette was decided around greens, from a darker to to lighter option, in order to keep the brand rooted in the ground and refer to their “green walls” key offer.
Our creative team designed a logo representing this partnership aspect. The linking shape attaching the two words was inspired by a Māori koru to signify authentic partnerships that result in growth.
We picked the green colour and full size environment photo style to support the brand commitments to deliver projects that tackle and solve real social problems, make lasting changes, and improve lives and livelihoods.
ConclusionHaving embraced their own identity and now conveying it through their brand, the Growing Spaces team felt more confident when competing in the critical tender space. Their unique approach and ways of working, perfectly expressed through their refreshed branding, helped them pitch more efficiently, ultimately increasing their appeal to clients.
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