Kia ora (hello) and welcome to Māori Fonts. We’re a small design studio, type foundry and online store based in Hamilton, New Zealand, producing display, custom and tattoo fonts based on iconic Māori art, tattoo and design motifs, but principally the curved, straight, spiral and split variants of the koru (or baby fern frond).
We don’t claim to have a mission, or a monopoly on Māori fonts, but it was a convenient domain name and we thought we would provide a few extra alternatives for people out there trying to promote Te Reo Māori (Māori language), Māori cultural, artistic and spiritual values and themes, and to promote New Zealand and New Zealand products more generally.
All of our stylish and contemporary display font families are perfect for individuals, designers and other creators out there looking for something bold, new, unique and fresh in the logo, polynesian, tribal, and tattoo genres. Open, outline and infill design variants are designed principally for display purposes, but would also be ideal for tattoo and t-shirt designs. No cheating using generic mixed Samoan/Polynesian brushes over Helvetica. Every stroke and glyph lovingly hand crafted and totally unique.
More about us (if interested)
Our chief designer, creator and bottle washer, John, is a Māori New Zealander and a former New Zealand public servant desperately trying to reinvent himself as a typeface/font and logo designer, amongst other things (rugby, tennis, and golf coach, entrepreneur).
“I’ve always had a strong fascination for languages and calligraphy, and spent years studying Japanese, Chinese, and more recently, Arabic. I also come from a talented and artistic family, and I guess you could say COvid gave me both the reason, and the opportunity, to combine some of my passions and meagre talents into a niche digital product that I hope many people will find useful, enjoy and appreciate.”
Down the Rabbit Hole
“About five years ago when I started the journey – well before I dived down this particular rabbit hole – I was based in Beijing helping an old high school friend invent, design and manufacture a new household product. Being lucky enough to have inherited a small amount of artistic and design talent, I volunteered to design a logo for our fledgling business. I wanted the logo to be innovative, striking and to scream “New Zealand”, so I hit upon the idea of using the iconic Māori cultural motif of the “koru” (baby fern frond) to develop the lettering for the logo. Pleased with the result, I wondered whether I might be able to create an entire font in a similar style – just out of interest – and spent months doodling and sketching in my spare time.”
A Font for the Māori Language?
“My original idea was simply to develop a limited font for the Māori language (which has only 14 letters), because there did not appear to be one (in common usage at least). But as the various original hand-drawn letter glyphs evolved – particularly after COvid began – I began to wonder whether a wider niche might also exist, particularly in the display/logo area, Māori language and Government publications, the trade and tourism promotion industry, and even perhaps the (global) tattoo industry.
My research confirmed that, while there were a few other “Māori” and koru-inspired fonts out there – notably those by Joseph Churchward and Otto Maurer – they did not appear to be popular and largely failed to fill the niche I was aiming for – a stylish, original, contemporary display font that was useable, completely unique, unmistakably Māori, incorporating both the iconic curves of the koru as the main structural design element, but also being flexible enough to accommodate a variety of traditional Māori “infill” patterns in open “tattoo” variants.
More of a Shed than a Foundry
“Anyway, after a very steep typography learning curve and about two years of hard work turning my drawings into hand crafted vector glyphs – with the help of the amazing Ifontmaker app, I have come up with four major font families already (including shorter Māori language sets) – and I’m working on two more.
I toyed with the idea of joining/teaming up with one of the global font foundries, but they weren’t very approachable and in the end I decided I might have a better chance of finding a wormhole portal in the vast font universe by setting up my own (backyard shed).
I hope you enjoy using the fonts. They are by no means perfect and I’d love to receive constructive feedback so I can improve and modify them as necessary. As a general rule I’m not expecting many users will want to use the (solid, closed) fonts for (small) reading/body text, so I haven’t matched upper and lower case glyph sets yet, or indeed included any punctuation glyphs, but I’d be happy to do so if I receive feedback to this effect. That’s the beauty of having a shed rather than a foundry – it’s pretty easy to tinker with things.”
Nga Hau e Wha New Zealand Logo
“During the creative process for the original font I discovered that, in a “square” format, the N and the Z could be drawn with rotational symmetry, which naturally led me to the basic logo pattern (of four rotating Ns and Zs).
As I experimented with the design I realised that in most iterations the eye was drawn away from the letters and refocused toward the koru pattern itself, especially when the koru pattern was emphasized and the letters de-emphasized.
It was then that I realised that the design was beginning to tick all the boxes of advanced logo design – it was striking and unforgettable; it was bold and yet stylish; the sinuous curves complemented the strength of the straight lines; it had rotational symmetry, and it had a hidden image that the eye is immediately drawn to (like the FedEx arrow).
I then realised that, again, like the FedEx logo and the best logos worldwide, most importantly it was beginning to portray and represent the best qualities and attributes of the brand – New Zealand – a young, vital, stylish and culturally tolerant nation with shared history and traditions.
That was when the last piece of the puzzle hit me. I realised that the koru design was also in the form of a quadrant, which I had seen before in some contemporary Māori art, and is used to denote and represent the concept of Nga Hau e Wha – the four winds.
In the Māori creation myth, the Nga Hau e Wha were summoned by Tawhirimatea (the god of wind and storms), to help him in his battle against Tane Mahuta (the god of forests and man), who was trying to separate their parents Rangi and Papa (sky father and earth mother) to create light and space for his children (the first humans).
In the modern context, however, the concept of Nga Hau e Wha is about inclusivity, and becoming one people (no matter which of the four “winds” you originally came from) – as embodied by the Nga Hau e Wha national marae in Christchurch.
There is also another layer of meaning and significance which adds to the mana of the logo as a whole. Most people know that the koru represents promise, new life, vitality and renewal.
Most people do not know, however, that “opposed” koru, especially in larger (kowhaiwhai) patterns, can physically represent eddies of wind or water, but normally metaphorically represent journeys, time, and the exchange of goods, knowledge and people.
The Nga Hau e Wha logo therefore not only represents an opportunity to embrace a new era of unity and inclusiveness, it is also aspirational. It speaks to the idea of being a young, vital, racially and culturally tolerant nation, full of promise and eager to trade with the rest of the world, and prosper. It stylishly and symbolically represents the people and nation of New Zealand, both past, present, and future.
It is a mesmerizing design that acknowledges our treaty partnership, honours both our Māori and European forebears, and also recognizes and embraces the importance, diversity, and vitality of our newer arrivals from the Pacific Islands and indeed from all (four) corners of the world.
Leaving aside the historical anomaly and the broader question of how and why our Government and people choose to continue to accept that our country was named (in passing) after a Dutch province, the reality is that for the time being most New Zealanders are still proud of the name and – if asked – would probably vote to retain it.
One thing is for sure – far and away our biggest brand internationally is “New Zealand”, and none of what we would consider to be national symbols, brands, or icons (such as the Kiwi and the fern leaf) come even remotely close.
Despite our best efforts – and thanks to Zespri’s brilliant marketing idea – at least 999 out of a thousand people in the world think a Kiwi is a furry brown fruit, and that the fern leaf is a feather.
In terms of international visibility the actual Kiwi (bird) is restricted to an American brand of shoe polish, and – hiding in plain sight – the swoosh above the McLaren F1 Racing logo.
In the international sporting world the fern leaf does have limited recognition – primarily because of its association with rugby and the All Blacks – but again, the ABs most valuable brand is actually “All Blacks”, if not “New Zealand All Blacks”.
I believe that the fern leaf is, and will continue to be, a New Zealand cultural icon of great significance to us as a sporting nation – a coveted and admired symbol of sporting excellence and national representation. But I firmly believe that any use of the fern leaf outside of this narrow sphere (and its long-standing use by the NZ military) cheapens its mana and significance .
I think it is important to note here that, especially compared to the fern leaf, it is the koru – not the fern leaf – that is the most prominent and important (and indeed internationally visible) cultural icon of New Zealand.
Although some would argue that the fern leaf itself has some symbolic meaning to Māori beyond its reflective usage to “light the way” in moonlight, my research would suggest that this is a stretch at best, and the complete absence of the fern leaf – as opposed to the koru – in traditional Māori art, carving and ta moko – supports this assertion.
The koru – in all its curved, straight and spiral variants – is now New Zealand’s most visible cultural motif internationally. Although it has graced the tail of New Zealand’s flagship airline for decades, it is actually the meteoric rise in popularity of koru-based Māori “tribal” tattoos in the last two decades following international exposure in the entertainment industry that account for its popularity and visibility. “
Versatility
“I have designed a number of variants of the logo which significantly increase its versatility:
- The fact that it is basically square makes it much easier to use from a graphic design perspective.
- The fact that it has rotational symmetry in both 2D and 3D (as demonstrated in the Cube animation) makes it absolutely unique (as far as I am aware) in the whole world.
- The different variants offer a wide range of possibilities for use by (for example) Government agencies to differentiate themselves through signage, livery, wall and floor coverings, letterhead and publications.
- The more “open” variants are better suited to larger fonts/ signage, whereas the more “closed” solid variants are better suited to smaller fonts/publications.
- In a grid pattern most of the variants would be perfectly suited to internal glass-walled offices and meeting rooms, depending on the amount of privacy required.”
And even a Flag
“To further demonstrate the versatility of the variants of the logo, I have also designed a couple of potential flag options (Southern Cross and Matariki). What do you think?”
