WSP — Sonia Mijatov

Sonia Mijatov
Brand Designer
Tāmaki Makaurau

WSP New Zealand

Naming + brand identity

An 80-strong team of local architects, landscape designers, urban designers, heritage experts and cultural advisors sit within a global consultancy brand. How might we give this arm of WSP a local Aotearoa identity to speak to their flexibility from local roots to global expertise?

It starts with a name. Taupuni – a translation of “studio”, but also meaning to mark the surface of the land, and also to achieve the highest level of work. Visually, this identity is steeped in te ao Māori ideology; honouring the creation space [ātua], the land [whenua] and the people [tangata]. Looking to whakairo [carving patterns], particularly rauponga [symbolising genealogy] and niho taniwha [symbolsing leadership], and turning them into a type-based system.

Credits
Using Styrene by Commercial Type. Imagery via Death to Stock, Adobe Stock, National Library Archives, supplied project imagery. Created while at Strategy Creative.

For more adventures in letters, check out my instagram.

Cheers for lurking.