ARTIST
Mata’afā Pio Mulipola, Graphic Designer
From the villages of Lepea and Vailoa Palauli, Samoa. Pio graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Graphic Design, and went onto work in the print and signage industry. Having an interest in working with digital media led to roles at an educational publishing company, creating learning resources for kids, and as a designer for Tertiary organisations, mainly in marketing and comms. Experience in this area led to a passion in exploring ways Māori and Pasifika tell their stories through art and design. This became a motivating factor in much of Pio's work. Ranging from brand design for events, to creating a Samoan/English bilingual children's book. As the designer in this project, Pio was able to draw from the wisdom of the staff team at Laidlaw, to visualise the story of the Bible in a way unique to Laidlaw, here in Henderson.
PROJECT LEAD
Sasha McPherson, Communications Lead
After graduating from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Graphic Design, Sasha began her design career in a tourism publishing company. She went on to work in Brand and Retail Marketing design before stopping to raise a family. Having developed an interest in communications over this period she started her own creative communications endeavour and also joined her church as Communications Director, covering all areas of print and digital design, alongside social media content and marketing strategy. Being able to serve the Church of Aotearoa through design and marcomms was more fully realised when the opportunity arose to join Laidlaw College as Communications Lead in 2020. Sasha brings her experience in design, project management and passion for worship through all of life to this project.