28-6-2012

Forum logo competition winning design

The winner of the 43rd Pacific Islands Forum Logo Competition was announced earlier today by the Prime Minister Hon Henry Puna at his office. "I'm delighted to be able to introduce you all to the logo that has been chosen by myself with assistance from my Cabinet colleagues", said Mr Puna. "This was a very hard chore I was tasked with doing, very hard indeed. All thirteen entries were worthy logo winners, all thirteen entries were well thought through and creative. “I'm told the entries received were submitted from a cross section of the community, I was given the entries without any reference as to the designers identity. I am thrilled to advise that in recognition of the amount of effort and thought that went into each entry, every individual who submitted an entry will be recognised. That said, we all know that there can be only one winner. "I'm pleased to announce that Edna Torea-Allan from Titikaveka designed the winning logo. A logo designed with economy and flexibility in mind; her two colour only approach will reproduce well on all surfaces. Blue being reflective of the ocean and sky and Brown reflective of earth/nature, seen in many island art/craft elements - carving, tapa, weaving. Edna's logo contains all the vital elements and symbols representative of "island" life; community, economy, environment, culture. Edna's explanation of her logo is attached, along with some potential applications of the logo. Edna began her graphic design career in Rarotonga in 1991 when she was employed by Spectrum Pageworks. "Thanks to the guidance of Phil and Wendy Evans I learned by listening, reading, experimenting, and I was lucky enough to go to the SPC media centre for further training. In 1999 I completed my diploma of computer graphic design in Christchurch and went on to work for various organisations in NZ. I have been back and forth to Rarotonga, but even from NZ I never stopped doing graphics work for the Cook Islands whenever I could" said a very happy Edna Torea-Allan. "My logo is based on the presupposition that at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders will make decisions that impact positively on all four pillars of society - community, economy, environment, culture; decisions that impact not just their own nation, but all the Pacific, and ultimately, a global stage. These pillars are discreet, they constantly interact, and have a part to play in the formation of our beliefs and values and in turn who we become as individuals, without our families and as a nation , and globally" Edna explained. "I retrained as a counsellor in NZ and went on to work with older people for 3 years until after the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch when I lost my counselling job due to Canterbury DHB funding changes. Although I still do some work with people who have dementia, it was at that point I decided to return to my main passion, graphic design. I have continued to do Cook Islands work for Mauke, Lagoon Day, NES and odd jobs for those who have asked. I was excited to get the opportunity to submit my ideas for the Pacific Islands Forum logo and feel blessed to have won". The Prime Minister concluded the announcement by presenting Edna with her winner’s cheque of $500