Aro Ha came to us with the challenge of designing a set of 32 icons to identify their 32 individual guest accommodation suites. Not wanting to treat their customers like numbers, but needing to differentiate between room allocations, it seemed fitting that we create a set of flora and fauna icons to substitute the bog standard number. The icons needed to work in groups of four as this is how the rooms are clustered.
We came up with the concept that the 32 icons should be based on NZ native flora, fauna and species. And more importantly, that they could be found in the South Island. We felt it was important that their guests could possibly see their allocated icon in the flesh, enabling them to make a greater connection to this unique location. This led to the creation of eight beautiful sets of icons: flying birds, flightless birds, ferns, flowers, insects, shells, trees and coastal. These sets of icons have been used in signage, room key tags, staff uniforms and merchandise.
