Monsoon Creative helped design and deliver the Ministry of Youth Development’s Youth Plan for 2020-2022: Turning Voice Into Action – Rebuilding and Recovery.

Designed to help youth respond to Covid-19, we were asked to engage youth through striking design. During the project, we worked closely with the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD) and the Minister’s office to deliver this vital document.

The Youth Plan outlines steps the Government will take (in partnership with others) to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on young people, who have been adversely affected by the global pandemic.  The Youth Plan is for all New Zealand youth and has a specific focus on Rangatahi Māori, Pacific youth, Rainbow Youth and Disabled youth aged 17-24 years.

Monsoon Creative was honoured to be a part of this complex and multi-layered project.  Our team worked closely with Government Ministers, Officials, Social workers and representatives of the youth community to deliver the project.  We kept the Youth Plan’s strategic areas of focus to the fore at all times while bringing it to life: voice, wellbeing, leadership and transformative change.

We used our creative flair and design expertise to create vibrant digital and physical resources for young people and present the Youth Plan in an engaging and diverse way.  We designed a look and feel that is respectful and culturally appropriate while resonating with youth and meeting the needs of MYD.

Bringing the Vision to Life

Our team created a strikingly different design, a departure from previous documents, and including material in both English and Te Reo Māori.  It was vital to ensure the voice of New Zealand youth informed the design, photos, videos and illustrations in the plan, and we embraced this challenge.

Our creative team held workshops to understand and engage a diverse range of young people and take them on a journey – ensuring they can relate to (and have a positive connection) with the content of the Youth Plan.   This approach was highly beneficial to simplify and streamline the feedback and design process for MYD.

We used workshop insights to guide our design; creating bright and bold colours to create illustrations which appeal to young people. We wanted to ensure they could see themselves represented in photos and images we used, to connect them with the plan and its outcomes.

MYD loved our creative, inclusive, and striking design approach, which hit just the right note for the Youth Plan audience.  They appreciated our professionalism, personal service, and responsiveness – particularly our ability to translate many layers of feedback, deliver invaluable insights while working to tight deadlines.

Monsoon Creative’s entire team found working with MYD and New Zealand’s youth community to be fulfilling and incredibly positive.  By harnessing our expertise and design insight, we brought a complex project to life, which will have a measurable impact on youth as they navigate COVID-19.