At the end of 2021, Megan Salole worked with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to create Covid-19 communications especially for rangatahi and tamariki. She shares her engaging story and accessible infographics with us.
Megan Salole is a resident of Ames Street with hubby Francis and their daughter Aurora. They have lived in Paekākāriki for 12 years.
Megan calls herself a visual futurist. “That’s a fancy way of saying that I help my clients to communicate the future vision their organisations are working to achieve – with illustration”.
“The majority of my work is about visualising preferable futures and strategic horizons through illustration.”
“I start by grounding them in a visual metaphor that resonates with the mahi of the organisation. Together we conceptualise the scenarios, and then I draw them out. Literally and figuratively…!”
“I’ve discovered not everyone has a well-developed imagination – I guess I am helping to bridge that gap.”
Her background is in strategy, design, social innovation and campaigning, all of which she says touch on her desire to create positive social and environmental change.
In the latter part of last year, she worked with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to create some Covid-19 communications especially for rangatahi and tamariki.
Megan, working alongside rangatahi, developed a series of cartoons about Covid-19. “The rangatahi weren’t likely to pick up and read a brochure cover to cover, so we had to get creative with how to communicate these ideas to them. The cartoons were well received.”
“We wanted to show how manaakitanga could express itself in this challenging situation. We visualised how vaccination is about protecting whakapapa. Whānau was centred as the primary reason for taking action. Young people were shown to be making decisions based on the well-being of their whānāu and the wider whānui.”
“Through a series of cartoons, we demystified the process of how the vaccine works for tamariki, how to prepare you and your whānau, and what to do if you got it.“
Megan is also currently working on anti-racism work with Tokona Te Raki – the Maori Futures Collective from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu based in Christchurch, all from the village.
“I love being able to work all over Aotearoa, from the working from the comfort of home. I actually draw a lot of inspiration from how this village solves problems together. It’s an incredible Petrie dish – lots of clever, engaged, caring folk who share a can-do attitude. There are lots of little solutions being generated here that have great potential in the wider world”.
Her favourite Paekākāriki things? “Catching up with locals while drinking coffee with my whānau, swimming with the Sea Goddesses through winter, climbing the gum tree in QE11 park, running up the Kohekohe track, and the secret swing! She wouldn’t reveal more…
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