Alan Tawhi-Amopiu, a graduate from the Whitireia Bachelor of Applied Arts (Visual Art and Design) has landed a design job at Māori health workforce development organisation Te Rau Matatini.

Alan has been working at Te Rau Matatini for two and a half months and says it’s a good place to be because of the people and the kaupapa. “I just put it down to being a Māori organisation, we all relate to each other and bounce things off each other. And of course there is the design factor - because I love what I do. It’s just good to be working in the design industry because at the moment it’s just not that easy to get into.”

“Going to Whitireia helped me up-skill and fine tune my skills and of course there was learning 3D. I learnt the basics in my first year at Whitireia and basically taught myself from there. I majored in digital 3D,” Alan says.

There is much to learn about Māori design because every little curve and koru has a different meaning, “you have to know how to compose the graphics so it makes sense,” says Alan. Alan’s work sees him in charge of design at Te Rau Matatini. His work so far includes publication design, graphics for: CD covers, posters and invites. “The kaupapa and tikanga within the job that we apply everyday is really good for me. It’s getting back to my roots, because I’ve been away from it for so long”