September 2025
Role
The Beginning
Book design, visual identity, layout, print, and marketing strategy in collaboration with Ananya Ojha and Niranjana Nair, facilitated through RMIT.
From our first conversation, we knew this book was meant to be experienced, not just read.
The goal is for anyone, especially young adults, to feel drawn in from the moment they see it in a bookstore.
Even before reading a word, the design should spark curiosity, invite people to flip through, and make them want to discover the stories within.
We want every page to feel visually alive and full of movement, so the book isn’t just read, it’s experienced. Our approach is about making I Am Not Your Coconut stand out as something you can’t help but pick up, explore, and connect with.
The goal is for anyone, especially young adults, to feel drawn in from the moment they see it in a bookstore.
Even before reading a word, the design should spark curiosity, invite people to flip through, and make them want to discover the stories within.
We want every page to feel visually alive and full of movement, so the book isn’t just read, it’s experienced. Our approach is about making I Am Not Your Coconut stand out as something you can’t help but pick up, explore, and connect with.
This collection moves from ancestral Pacific knowledge to today’s lived realities, ocean navigation, urban migration, rituals, and resilience. The poems catalogue what’s been held onto and what’s been lost, shifting from connection, to protest, to hope. Your writing is layered and oral in rhythm, combining list, chant, memory, and storytelling.
Through this medium, ink becomes more than just a visual choice, it does what the poetry itself does.
It stains and lingers, refusing to be erased, just like the stories and memories the poems fight to preserve.
Ink moves in unpredictable ways, echoing migration, loss, adaptation, and survival.
It carries the spirit of Pacific mark-making, inking skin, cloth, and paper, bridging oral tradition and written word.
And, just like the poetry, every mark of ink is a moment in time,
a presence on the page that endures.
Wholeness and connection
Life before colonisation communities are united, sharing knowledge, traditions, and resources.
Displacement and fracture
Colonisation and migration break families apart and disrupt culture, leading to loss and hardship.
Ritual and survival
Culture is kept alive through everyday rituals, objects, and acts of care even in hard times.
Ritual and survival
Culture is kept alive through everyday rituals, objects, and acts of care even in hard times.
Reimagining and reclamation
A hopeful new chapter: Pacific identity is reclaimed, redefined, and carried forward into the future.
1. Content Bucket 1 — "Stories with Daren"
Content Bucket 2 — “Between the pages”
Content Bucket 3 — “Lines That Linger”
Marketing Poster
This content strategy builds a cohesive digital presence for Daren Kamali, connecting his poetry with Pacific audiences and the wider literary community and new audiences. The goal is to amplify Daren’s voice, celebrate Pacific heritage, and spark conversations around identity, memory, and colonial histories through a curated mix of storytelling, context, and interaction.
Personal, conversational, and direct-to-camera moments where Daren speaks to his audience.
Format: Instagram Stories / Reels (30–60 seconds)
Tone: Authentic, conversational, and reflective
5 Episode Ideas
- The Heart Behind the Book — Daren talks about why he wrote the collection and what inspired it.
- Growing Up in Suva — Memories from his childhood in Fiji and how they shaped his writing.
- The Ocean as Ancestry — The role of the ocean in his poetry and what it represents for Pacific peoples.
- Decolonising Through Poetry — How his work challenges colonial narratives and reclaims Pacific identity.
- Language, Memory, and Loss — Daren reflects on preserving Fijian language and stories through poetry.
Examples of Post Themes
- Insights into Fiji’s colonial past and its echoes today.
- Profiles and pictures of people, places, and community rituals that shaped the poems.
- Explainers of Fijian idioms, metaphors, and imagery featured in the collection.
Evocative excerpts from the poetry paired with deeper context and emotional storytelling.