The Design Practice.

Maria is a designer, storyteller, weaver of words, images, shadows, and colour, working in the space where image, story, and ancestral knowing converges, helping kaupapa-led people and organisations tell their story with clarity and depth.

This design practice is grounded in more than aesthetics. It’s about remembering — holding space for what matters, what endures, and what cannot be said in words.

Each design is layered and atmospheric. Each carries mauri. Each one is intentional — part of a wider conversation about who we are, where we come from, and what we believe in.

Āio centres indigenous narratives, with a focus on mātauranga and intergenerational knowledge, working carefully with what needs to be carried, clarified, or conveyed.

Strategy. Story. Structure.

We support people, groups and organisations to communicate with clarity, connection, and depth.

This is not corporate communications. This is strategy grounded in whakapapa, wānanga, and intention.

Led by a creative with experience across communications strategy, design, writing, voice, and kaupapa Māori practice — this is a space where your message isn’t just designed, it’s translated into flow. Flow that works. Flow that reaches. Flow that reflects who you are.

We build communications ecosystems.

That means more than a strategy document.

It means designing how your content moves — across your team, your platforms, and your audiences.
It means making sure your message lives in the right format, in the right place, at the right time — and in the right tone.

Because your kaupapa deserves more than one output.

An annual report, for example, isn’t a one-dimensional product. With Āio’s guidance and strategies, it becomes:

• A printed taonga to archive and share

• A video presentation to brief stakeholders or give depth to your web presence

• An article or case study to pitch to media

• A tailored campaign across digital social media platforms

• A direct mail pack for funders and partners

• An e-newsletter series that deepens understanding

• An audio walkthrough, accessible to those who prefer to listen

One kaupapa. Many forms. Maximum reach.

This is the kind of work that happens when your strategist is also your designer, your writer, your sound editor, your voice — and a Māori communicator who understands the cultural layers beneath your mahi.

From comms systems to brand storytelling, from design to delivery — everything is shaped with integrity, clarity, and kaupapa.

We can work in full immersion, bilingually, incorporate te reo Māori, and draw on mātauranga-informed frameworks that make sense to you, your people, and your audience.

If you're ready to bring structure to your strategy and life to your message — we're here to build with you.