A book shouldn’t be judged by its cover, but hopefully this one will be picked up because of it.

Professor Edwina Pio, New Zealand’s first ever Professor of Diversity, has long explored the history of the relationship between Maori and Indian communities. Years of work culminated in a manuscript entitled ‘Aotearoa & Bharat, Māori-Indian,’ that she gifted to The Ministry of Ethnic Communities. We received an open brief from the ministry asking us to design up the paper, so it could be turned into a book that could serve generations to come.

To create the all important cover, we drew on what would continue to be enduring symbols of the two communities - the Maori national flag and Indian national flag. Merging the colour palettes of the two in a timeless, harmonious gradient that represents the blending of the two cultures. Complementary and fluid in their relationship, yet still distinct and recognisable as two parts of a whole. The book has now since been published with this very design and now lives on the shelves of the NZ National Library.