We are the among most travelled people on earth, have a reputation for living in a unique and unspoiled place and should hold a passport that reminds us of this, every time we use it.
In 2007 Te Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs, needed to completely update the New Zealand passport and travel documents, which had been in their existing form since 1991.
The process proved to be the most demanding and rewarding accepted by any creative organisation and started with a clean sheet of paper with words, not images. The goal was to get citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand, who viewed their passport merely as a document necessary for overseas travel to be proud to hold a passport with ‘Aotearoa New Zealand’ on its cover
The passport is the tangible symbol of what it means to be a citizen of Aotearoa New Zealand when travelling overseas. As an island nation, we are well known for exploration and seeking greater experiences by journeys overseas. We are the most travelled people on earth, have a reputation for living in a unique and unspoiled place and should hold a passport that reminds us of this, every time we use it.
This was summarised as ‘The Passport of the worlds greatest travellers’.
Armed with this insight and organising thought, we set out to make the passport mean something that reminded us where we have come from and where we are going, rather than a disconnected series of familiar flora and fauna or national symbols used by other countries in their passports.
I created a narrative for the document that seeks to draw a picture from the first sighting of Aotearoa by Māori explorers to the various forms of travel we experience through navigation; from sea, to our highest peaks - and as the document develops - moving through familiar geographic features. In parallel, I worked to ensure the major technical demands and security features of the new document were met without compromising its inherent message.
Given its national profile and the natural disposition to critique any national symbols among Kiwis, the new document has been met with universal praise by its holders. It crossed political boundaries during the change of Government in 2008 and is seen as a huge success, not only as a project, but for maximising the opportunity to contribute to a greater sense of nationhood among New Zealanders.