Project Jonah NZ

Project Jonah is a not-for-profit organisation focusing on marine mammal welfare that's been saving whales since 1974. Their work includes direct response to whale and dolphin strandings around the country, as well as raising awareness of potential negative impacts of our actions as a society on their environment. Another important aspect of their work is education in schools and training people to become Marine Mammal Medics to work with animals during a stranding.

I've long been an admirer of Project Jonah and the work they do in New Zealand. In 2020, the team asked if I could create a new, modern icon for their digital channels and social media. We collaborated on a variety of characters, sketches and design ideas, before public feedback revealed the true value of their current visual identity: there was a lot of love for the classic whale tail tucked into the O of Jonah.

The resulting new icon was created as a way to bring that tail design to the forefront: bold and highly visible, with colours assigned to represent the different facets of Project Jonah's work. The new icon initially sat alongside their existing logo as an extension of their visual identity, but over time has became the sole logo for the charity.

Since 2020, we have worked together on a number of projects, including hoodies for their 2023 fundraising efforts, retro designs for their 50th anniversary celebrations, a collaboration with StokedNZ and the Cool Store Gallery in Nelson to create an illustrated limited-edition Towelie product, and their 2025 Christmas cards and year-end infographics.