Te Aka is run by the Te Murumara Foundation, who uphold the legacy of the late John Moorfield’s work in Māori language education. As part of an effort to rebrand and redesign their entire umbrella of Te Whanake websites and apps, I was tasked with refreshing their popular Te Aka Māori Dictionary – both native mobile app and website.

With millions of visits per year from 217 countries, this established and trusted reference was in need of a brand refresh to give it more personality and bring the look in line with the foundation’s new visual language. I reinterpreted the Tui image found on the cover of the printed dictionary into a fun and memorable logo mark. Latham Arnott made that logo come to life with animation.

The app and website were both redesigned from the ground up, with a new contemporary visual language, consistent design system, moments of delight, and a few user experience improvements along the way. The result is a re-imagining of the app New Zealand already knows and loves, ready for many more years of enlivening Māori language.