ZaZa’s Legacy:
building a gentle, credible system for choking safety
ZaZa’s Legacy began with a family story and a decision to protect others. My role was to translate that mission into a brand and communications system that stays calm, clear, and easy to act on.
At a glance
- Role: brand and identity, web design direction, content system, campaign assets
- Deliverables: brand kit, templates, web and email structure, council and partner-ready collateral
- Goal: honour the story and make it simple for families, schools, venues and councils to take the next step
Make the next step obvious, not overwhelming.
A tone that is calm, respectful and action-focused.
Templates and rules that keep comms consistent.
Assets that work for community venues and government.
ZaZa’s story
On 15 January 2024, Zaire “ZaZa” Bwoga was at Iluka Foreshore Park with his dad, Brian, his older brother, and friends. It was a normal summer day, the kind you file away as simple and safe.
In a moment of innocent sharing, ZaZa was given grapes and began to choke. Brian moved fast. He managed to remove one grape, but another remained lodged. Police arrived first and did everything they could, but they did not have the specialised tools required to clear the airway obstruction.
ZaZa died that day.
Afterward, Brian made a decision. If the right tools and knowledge can prevent this for another family, then that is what the work has to become. ZaZa’s Legacy carries that mission forward through choking awareness, prevention, and practical action that people can follow in real life, not just agree with online.
This page holds the story with care, but it is built for outcomes. The objective is simple: reduce risk, shorten response time, and put life-saving tools where families actually live and gather.
Why this work mattered
Choking is fast and often quiet. It can happen in seconds, and it does not always look dramatic from the outside. That is why people freeze. Not because they do not care, but because they are not sure what to do or they assume someone else will know.
The stats in the graphic make the problem plain: choking risk shows up in everyday places, with everyday food, and the window for effective response is short. When traditional first aid methods do not work, the difference comes down to whether the right tools are close by and whether people feel confident enough to act.
That is where design becomes operational. The job was to protect the integrity of ZaZa’s story and build a comms system that works at scale. Clear pathways, plain language, and a visual identity that feels safe in schools, credible in council conversations, and practical in community venues.
In other words: reduce hesitation, reduce confusion, and make action feel possible in the moment that counts.
Logo
The logo had to do three jobs at once: honour ZaZa, feel welcoming to families, and still look credible in formal settings like council decks, venue signage, and partner documents. It needed a strong silhouette that people recognise instantly, even when they only see it for a second.
The mark was built to stay steady across different contexts. It supports a flexible lock-up, so it can appear with the full name and descriptor when needed, or stand alone as a simple emblem when space is tight.
The outcome is a logo that carries warmth without feeling juvenile, and clarity without feeling clinical. It supports the mission, then gets out of the way so the message can do the work.
Identity system
The identity system needed to behave like a public safety brand, not a charity aesthetic. That meant clear hierarchy, a steady tone, and layouts that keep information simple under pressure.
The design direction focused on consistency across channels so the message stays recognisable whether it is a social post, a flyer, a council slide, or a venue sign. The look is approachable for families and educators, while still holding weight in stakeholder conversations.
Design requirements
- Readable anywhere: phones, posters, decks, and signage.
- Calm and credible: no panic, no shock, no clutter.
- Easy to repeat: templates that keep the message consistent.
- Respect-first storytelling: the story leads, the visuals support.
The system was designed to be carried by a small team. Clear rules, repeatable formats, and a visual structure that keeps comms steady even as the work grows.
Programs, systems and tools
The goal was momentum that outlives a single campaign. I created the full brand strategy and website for ZaZa’s Legacy to turn awareness into a repeatable, practical system people can actually use. It is designed to educate without overwhelming, celebrate progress without performative hype, and keep the mission clear across every touchpoint.
The platform brings together choking awareness and prevention education in plain language, highlights community wins to build confidence and participation, and supports law change through petitions and stakeholder-ready messaging. It also directs people to life-saving tools and gives families clear pathways to get involved, even when time, capacity, or confidence is limited.
A key piece of the system is the letter generation tool shown on the right. It allows families to generate a ready-to-send message in minutes, so they can contact their council, request LifeVac installations, and help push for life-saving tools to be available in the everyday venues where people gather.
Under the hood, the strategy is straightforward: reduce friction, make the next step obvious, and build tools that real humans can repeat without needing a professional team behind them. That is how awareness becomes infrastructure.
Templates that keep the message steady
Advocacy does not scale on inspiration alone. It scales on repeatable content ops. Templates reduce decision fatigue, keep information consistent, and make it easier for a small team to publish without burning out.
This is also brand governance in practice. When the format is stable, the message stays clean even when different people are writing, posting, or presenting. That consistency is what builds trust at community level and at stakeholder level.
- Education posts: one concept per slide, written for calm clarity.
- Community updates: what happened, what it means, what is next.
- Partner spotlights: model good practice and make participation visible.
The key is hierarchy. Headlines, key facts, and calls to action land in the same places every time, so people learn how to scan quickly and act.
Outcomes
City by city, councils are making choking prevention standard in public spaces.
The image above represents the councils in Western Australia that are now carrying LifeVac devices across their community venues and council-managed buildings. It is a visible shift from awareness to infrastructure. The work is landing in the places that matter: parks, libraries, beaches, and public facilities where families spend real time.
From a systems perspective, the outcomes are not just installs. It is a repeatable pathway that councils and venues can adopt, funded and maintained like any other public safety measure. That is how a movement turns into a standard.
Work with schools, councils, and community hubs to locate the places where choking risk is highest.
Place LifeVac devices alongside AEDs and support venue teams with clear, practical emergency response readiness.
Use education, storytelling and community training to make choking prevention public knowledge, not insider knowledge.
See our work in action
Reflection
This project needed a steady hand. The story is emotionally real, but the system cannot be emotionally messy. If people feel overwhelmed, they do nothing. If it reads as cold, people disengage. The balance is calm clarity, consistent hierarchy, and a brand that holds up in both community and council contexts.
The best signal of success is behaviour change you can actually see: a parent saves a post, a teacher shares a guide, a venue installs a device, a council commits to rollout. That is impact. Not loud, but measurable and repeatable.
Design principle I kept coming back to: hold the heart, keep the pathway clear, and build a system other people can carry.
