Wakaaranga School

Wakaaranga is a vibrant, multicultural primary school in Farm Cove, East Auckland, with a strong sense of community and a genuine pride in what its students achieve. Every child is affirmed and acknowledged, and that warmth runs through everything the school does.

When Caroline von Sierakowski came on board as principal, it was the right moment to bring the visual identity in line with where the school had arrived. The brief was a new website and a refreshed look, but the project grew into something more conceptual.

The school had developed a waka as the central visual metaphor. The values and vision of the school were mapped around it, creating something that worked both asd an art object on the wall and as a design foundation for everything that followed. Multiple murals featuring native birds supported the theme.

The result took a school with a somewhat dated presence and brought it firmly into the twenty-first century, warm, welcoming, and genuinely reflective of the community it serves. Alongside the website and brand refresh, I produced a prospectus that consolidated the school's position and gave them a confident, considered way to communicate with prospective families.

Wakaaranga now owns their website completely. The school manages and updates it themselves, which is exactly how it should be. My role is as a strategic lead, coming in for periodic reviews, the occasional photoshoot, and to make sure everything continues to work as the school evolves.

Concept & Design · Website Development · Photography · Copywriting · Prospectus · Visual Concepts