The second-largest confectionary brand in the world has teamed up with a Māori art duo for a redesign of its Roses chocolate box in time for Mother’s Day.
Lissy Cole (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) and Rudi Robinson (Te Arawa, Ngāti Pāoa ki Tai) are the artists behind the box and are well known for creating a full-sized woollen wharenui.
Cole said they were really happy with the end result despite the to and fro-ing during the process.
“Gosh, if only our little kid selves could have seen in the future we would design a box for Cadbury. It was a very collaborative process as we had to figure out how this was going to work.”
Both wanted to incorporate te reo Māori and their signature motifs into the design.
“It’s all about aroha and the aroha that we have for our mothers on Mother’s Day. We see it on the box here that it’s all about crochet. When you’re crocheting [and] when you see a crochet blanket, ‘oh, that’s Nanny or that was Mum’s type of thing’.
“We also wanted to introduce just a little bit of te reo [like] aroha, atu arohamai [and it means] love, give and love, receive. That was a way for us to incorporate us being Māori and artists.”
She hopes the bright colours will draw people to the box.
“They aren’t just pink and blue or yellow. Our special fluorescent pink that we use is harikoa. Our yellow is named waimarie and our blue is paki. People can expect to see these really vibrant colours that are fun and playful and really do draw the viewer in.
“People’s mums are going to get a lovely surprise when they get these chocolates this year.”
