Flagstaff Community Church

Flagstaff Community Church is a Presbyterian church located in Wakari, Dunedin. We were delighted to redesign their logo and website into one that would inspire, inform, and be a true reflection of the bicultural nature of their community and services.

Colours and Branding

The Flagstaff Community Church logo interweaves several elements which represent the church. Tui and other native birds are often found at the local creek, which was the focus of a restoration project. Harakeke grows profusely around the church grounds and across the slopes of the Flagstaff maunga. The branding colours of green and purple were drawn directly from these elements of harakeke leaves, upright flower stems, and tui feathers, as well as the tui’s distinctive white throat tuft. The ‘t’ of Flagstaff is elongated into a cross shape, as a reminder that they are a Christ-centred creative community.

The harakeke is described by Maori as a whānau or family, from tiny inner ‘baby’ leaves to established outer ‘grandparent’ leaves. The whānau share common roots and derive strength and stability from forming part of a larger whole.

At Flagstaff our hope, our desire is to see the harakeke metaphor come alive on two levels: one being our shared commitment to the renewal of God’s creation, expressed in the creek restoration project and other new initiatives; the other being our sense of call to being a welcoming community where people of all ages, stages and backgrounds can find a place of rest, celebration and abundance in God.

— Flagstaff Community Church

Resources Kete

Most churches record their sermons and have these available on their website. Some do this with their weekly newsletter as well. Flagstaff’s Resources Kete (meaning a traditional Maori basket) goes above and beyond this, showcasing songs, prayers, liturgies, and other resources for anyone to use at home or in their own churches.

The integrated search bar makes it fast for a visitor to find what they’re looking for. A drop-down list allows easy filtering of subcategories. Each post also gives credit, not to Flagstaff Community Church as a whole, but to each talented congregation member who created the resource.

Accessibility

Along with an acknowledgement of Te Tiriti O Waitangi, the language throughout the site is consistently bicultural – using both English and Maori phrases. As an extension of this, it was important to ensure terms are used in context. At times, phrases are also translated for those who may not understand them, such as migrants or other ESOL speakers.

I roto ki tēnei hui Matariki
I te ingoa o Ihu Karaiti
We gather under the southern stars
in Christ who calls us together

— Flagstaff Community Church Mihimihi

There are also wider accessibility features built in to the website. Examples of these are:

• Including written song lyrics beside a music video to improve the experience for the hard of hearing.
• Adding audio features such as voiceovers for those who are sight-impaired.
• Maintaining clean metadata and captions on images, as this hugely helps anyone using a screenreader.
• Generally keeping a clean, open aesthetic to make the site as visually welcoming as possible.

Flagstaff also displays a range of Life Groups on the site to make it clear they welcome everyone — from dedicated youth events, to a relaxed Coffee Group, to an active Walking Group that enjoys getting out in nature.

We loved working with Flagstaff Community Church on their revamped website design and new logo, and are proud of final products which capture the Christ-centred, creative, and community focus of the church.