Ocean Design

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua — ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past’ This whakataukī (proverb) describes the te ao Māori view that to understand ourselves and walk confidently into our future, we need to understand our past and where we’ve come from. We need to understand our whakapapa (genealogy and relationships). At Ocean, we take a uniquely Aotearoa New Zealand approach to brand design. We build brands that are inclusive, open, and with te tāngata (people) at their heart. We call it the modern Aotearoa brand. We know that whakapapa creates emotional connections for people. It’s important for brands and organisations to understand where they’ve come from in order to understand where they can go in the future. Speaking of whakapapa, Ocean was founded in 1988 and our whānau are now scattered all around the world. While the scope of our work has changed over the years, our approach has stayed the same. No matter the client, no matter the project, we always rukuhia rētōtanga—dive deep—to find the tāonga that will set your brand and organisation apart.