Description:

Purpose
As part of transforming the employee onboarding programme of One NZ, we set out to create a compelling visual design language using computer-generated imagery that would not only support creative idea of our work, but also embody One NZ’s purpose of ‘unlocking the magic of technology to create a more awesome Aotearoa’.

With an upcoming rebrand and focus on New Zealand, our client was looking for a bold and creative way to inspire and strengthen the connection their employees have with Aotearoa. Given our internal audience, there was freedom here for us to explore and push the creative boundaries of how this could be expressed and experienced.

Creative
Guided by the idea of ‘Growing Together’ and drawing inspiration from the vitality and interconnectedness of Aotearoa’s forest ecologies, we developed a series of captivating flower visuals. These represent five distinctively different styles of working, connecting and growing together as people. The selection of these native plants as archetypes was a collaborative effort with One NZ’s Learning and Capability team leaders and Head of Māori strategy.

Craft
Inspired by te ao Māori and drawing poetry from te ngāhere, our flowers blossom from te kore. Crafted to strike a balance between literal and metaphoric representation, to feel familiar yet transformed. The same is true for the bespoke soundscape we created, blending sounds of native birds with natural elements with the intention of creating an immersive atmosphere.

A central challenge for us was to retain enough of an authentic connection to these native flowers, whilst simultaneously taking them to a new realm. Imbuing a sense of hyper-realism, with intricate details that show our nature as extraordinary.

To achieve this, we made the custom models for each using Cinema 4D, enhancing them with texturing, lighting, and rendering in Octane (a physically accurate renderer). Meticulous attention was given to ethereal opacity, colour, and grading to heighten this visual impact. The colour shifts reflected One NZ’s world, with concentric compositions that evoke the togetherness of their people.

Result
These carefully crafted elements are critical to the One NZ onboarding experience. Beyond informing the visual language of their programme, they also serve as powerful storytelling tools within their own right. Inspiring individuals to see and feel their own role, and their collective impact as One NZ, for Aotearoa in a totally new light.

A successful launch at the internal ‘flip day’ for the One NZ brand saw over 4,300 employees experiencing a condensed version of the programme. It is now being run on a regular basis with both in-person and virtual experiences. This is just the beginning – the programme was designed with a long term perspective, with the ability to evolve, grow, and weave in additional elements year on year.