Iti Kōpara
Public Governance Aotearoa

Iti Kōpara – Public Governance Aotearoa

The newly formed charitable trust Iti Kōpara asked me to create a logo. The work the organisation does is developing and delivering competency development and refresher training for public sector governance Boards.

The concept was in the name. The kōpara is a small bird who’s actions of seeking food was observed by the ancestors. The kōpara would fly upwards, hover for a moment, sometimes floating down a bit then fly upwards again continuing this process until it reached the top of the kahikatea tree, which in early times were 50 metres or more in height. Once the kōpara reached the canopy it fed off the fruit.

This whakataukī is used to encourage each other with the thought that if a small bird can expend its energy to obtain food and achieve its goal then surely we can too.

“He iti kōpara pioi ana te tihi o te kahikatea”

“The small bellbird who aspires to reach the topmost branch of the kahikatea tree will set it swaying”

So the heart of the design was to be the bellbird. After researching images and considering how the bellbird could best represent the goals of the organisation, it was clear to me that it needed to be in flight, looking ahead with a positive feeling of forward motion. I made a series of pencil drawings and we agreed on the one with the best character and stance. I then converted it to a digital file, while still keeping the energy of the hand drawn image. The colours came from the bird and the natural environment. Next came the choice of font that suited the organisation and completed the look.

From here we have created print material and a website itikopara.org.nz