Well, well, well… Tamaki Makaura, Lockdown round TWO, baby!
I am sure you are also trying to find the silver lining in the current situation. But maybe you struggle a bit and that’s okay. Hopefully, this post will cheer you up somehow.
The lockdown can encourage us to get outdoors more often, organise a scavenger hunt in our local spaces. And I am sure that you got enough of that “playtime” in March – April. So what will you do now? Maybe you will be interested to get to know your neighbours or people who work in your area?
Over the last month, the Papaya Stories team got to know the Tamaki community inside-out. An award-winning orange book, originally designed for Birdman 2020, was given a chance to live the second life. To support the Support Local online campaign, in partnership with Tamaki Regeneration we designed the Support Local Guide Book that featured stories of local business owners. The book was displayed in various public space around Tamaki and became a point of attraction for everyone to check it out and enjoy!
Stories about the local sports centre and funky eateries, creative content agency, and automotive industry found its new home on pages of the Guide Book. Those eight stories were not enough, as strangers kept on wondering: “When is the second volume coming?”
We also invited the community to contribute to the book. They could share stories about secret spots, favourite place to shop or eat or tell us an interesting fact about Tamaki and the way it used to be back in the day.
Thanks to that collective wisdom the book truly transformed into a special installation that everyone could engage with.
The book’s first stop was at the heart centre of Glen Innes. Mayfair Place looked a bit different on that day thanks to the fictional characters that jumped out of the book – Oliver Twist, (reenacted by Yana Kirakovskaya) and Pippi Longstocking (reenacted by Anna Vasileva, photographer and Tamaki local).
The following weekend Oliver Twist and Pippi Longstocking were mingling in Panmure. Here is a list of things they did before Lockdown Round Two hit us:
Had yarns with the locals near Melina’s Takeaway
Entertained passengers on the bus while crossing the road with a 1.8m long book
Said “yes” to Tyson Hobson, an awesome guy from BikeHub who offered help and turned our duo into threesome
Caught up with MP Hon Jenny Salesa and invited her to share her story
Hanging out with Alex and Olivia from the Peach’s Hot Chicken
That’s how you should spend the weekend before COVID hits us again.
Nevertheless, let’s be grateful for what we have. The Papaya Stories team was extremely happy to deliver joy and inspiration through creativity and stories. We received a great response from proud Tamaki locals.
“I spotted you last weekend and was like “wow”, it’s totally something that GI hasn’t seen before. Your brought so much life to Mayfair Place. Now seeing you here and having this book makes me a proud Tamaki local.” – Chris, 70 years old
“So pleased to see your book here in Panmure. Safe travels and see you next time…where shall I find you next?” – Jason, 65 years old
The future is unknown.
The future of this book is also unknown.
However, if you are interested, we can give this book more chances to live and thrive. Check out how following elements that can be redesigned and adapted to your brand concept, campaign or community engagement activation.
- book colour – our design team can provide you with the best colour options to go well along with your campaign or branding
- book title & cover – you can provide us with the design OR our team can design the cover for the book
- book pages – you can provide us with the content for the book OR our team provides the content creation services too – photography, creative writing, stories featuring local businesses, people, or services.
If you are keen to see how this book can be repurposed to maximise the effect of your upcoming campaign or used as the great community engagement tool, please get in touch with the team to discuss it further – papayastories@gmail.com or call on 022 438 78 06
