Special Design creates new brand identity for The New Zealand Society

Special Design has crafted a brand identity for The New Zealand Society, as it prepares to celebrate its centenary.

The new identity aims to match the organisation’s historic legacy and place it legitimately within a British landscape, with longevity and foresight. 

Headquartered in London, UK, The New Zealand Society is a non-profit dedicated to using soft power diplomacy to celebrate and champion Aotearoa New Zealand through trade, sport, arts and culture. They are tied to the Monarchy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the New Zealand High Commission in London. His Majesty King Charles III serves as Patron. 

Genuine renewal

The brief called for an identity that could honour storied history while signalling genuine renewal. 

The Voyagers’ Embassy was the conceptual platform that Special built to reframe the Society as a living bridge between the two nations. The idea draws on New Zealand’s deep tradition of exploration and its enduring relationship with Britain, positioning the Society as an unofficial embassy for Kiwis making their lives abroad and New Zealand companies looking for market entry support. 

At the heart of the identity sits the invented Kiwi Griffin. This new symbol fuses the Kiwi – a name used to describe New Zealanders, as well as Aotearoa’s national bird – with the griffin, a heraldic British emblem. The griffin wings evoke the voyage itself, and the English rose anchors the mark in its adopted home. 

The typographic system holds the identity’s dual character, referencing the Society’s heritage while projecting future momentum for the organisation, establishing a visual language designed to flex across contexts without losing coherence. 

President of The New Zealand Society, Rachel Glucina, says: “The New Zealand Society operates as an unofficial embassy in London. Special created a brand image that is sophisticated, discerning, historic and with a touch of whimsy, employing a Kiwi Griffin emblem that represents Kiwis living in the United Kingdom – Kiwi who can fly! 

“Special encapsulated the brief perfectly, and ensured that our brand will stand the test of time, and has given the world’s second largest community of expat Kiwis something to be proud of.” 

Special co-founder and executive design director, Heath Lowe, says: “Great identity work finds the element that was always true about an organisation and imagines it into a more modern story. For The New Zealand Society, that truth was the voyage; the particular pride and resilience of Kiwis who carry Aotearoa New Zealand with them wherever they go.” 

“The Kiwi Griffin is our way of giving that concept a permanent form; heraldic enough to honour the Society’s history, but hybrid enough to reflect what it truly represents. We loved working alongside Rachel and her colleagues to bring this new chapter to life.”