BB Kotahitanga is a hand-crafted NZ typeface anchored in Tairāwhiti, Aotearoa, NZ

BB Kotahitanga is a hand-crafted typeface by Broker Brothers Design Co. It is inspired by and connected to Te Kotahitanga - Unity Hall, in Nuhaka near Mahia Peninsula in Tairāwhiti, Aotearoa, NZ as. There is something about it, not just the letter forms, the building, the place, the meaning of the word… there’s something deeply magical about it all.

Personal background: “Me and my mate Cy would drive past this old hall / wharenui in Nuhaka on surfing trips to Mahia from Gisborne. It is an indicator that you are getting close and there’d be this building anticipation, I’d always become mesmerised by this beautiful old building and the hand-painted KOTAHITANGA sign…. Everytime I went past I made a mental note to photograph the building and it’s name… and the next time… and the next time. One day I did stop, spoke with local folk and spent some time with the building… and with that experience my journey into sense-of-place maps (and type design) and wanting things to be more deeply connected to the physical places and spaces of Aotearoa, NZ was born.” - API

I do love this BB Kotahitanga typeface, over the years I have re-crafted it, honed and extended it to include; macrons, upper and lower cases, italics and all manner of embellishments, punctuations and ligatures as well as many map-crafting and Sense-of-Aotearoa do-dads.

It means a lot to me that the maps and artwork that are created using BB Kotahitanga have depth and are connected to this place and these memories of Tairāwhiti.