Regenerating bush, Quarantine Island Kamau TauruaUsed with permission by Claire Hagglund

Quarantine Island Kamau Taurua

Visitors are welcome at a small island reserve close to Dunedin.

Quarantine Island Kamau Taurua is a quiet retreat in the middle of Otago Harbour.  The island's name refers to a period of its history when it housed new immigrants temporarily in the event of infectious disease on their ship, but it has a longer history with tangata whenua. It is managed now by a community group which has a dual emphasis on conservation of the island's history and ecology. 

Teams of Communication Design students were asked to develop brand assets for the community group, to promote Quarantine Island Kamau Taurua to volunteers and visitors. The broad brief gave them scope to experiment with ideas and skills. Their work was hampered by the COVID-19 lockdown but eventually some did have the opportunity to visit the island and record interviews and scenery.

  • The students worked up several different logos for consideration, drawing on the profile of the island and the colour palette of earth, foliage, sky and sea.
  • Live video footage was edited, with old photographs, some animation, and bird calls used to create different effects.
  • A 3D map of the island draws attention to features and may function as a website navigation tool.
  • A complementary interactive website enhances the group's existing web presence.

Prototypes were presented to members of the community group, who felt that the students had done a great job of capturing the essence of people's experience of the island.