No ‘I’ in Wellington promotional sign a hit on social media

Mayor Andy Foster being the “I” in Welington. Photo / Georgina Campbell

Wellington’s new giant sculptural sign on the waterfront, which has an intentional spelling mistake in it, is proving a hit.

The WELL_NGTON sculpture is missing the letter “I” so that one person at a time can stand in the middle of the sign to become the “I” and get their photo snapped.

It arrived on the waterfront near Te Papa in January and was designed to foster a feeling of belonging in Wellington, while showcasing the capital to the world via social media.

WellingtonNZ, the region’s economic development agency, pitched the sign as being one of the city’s Instagram-able moments of the year.

Chief executive John Allen said the sign has reached about 500,000 people on social media platforms.

“I’m not saying it’s a sensational result, but it is a really good result. Especially in a time when we’ve been constrained by Covid-19 and closed borders, so we’re really happy with that.”

Allen said the sign had attracted thousands of “likes” online and lots of positive comments.

“The no ‘I’ in Wellington created social media conversation and engagement about our city, but it also created a lot of conversation amongst Wellingtonians.”

The sculpture is just over 2.2m high and 8.9m wide. Each letter weighs between 80kg and 120kg.

It’s currently painted in three colours: yellow, red and teal.

Allen said the sign would continue to promote the city for years to come as it could be “re-skinned” and moved to other locations.

It will be moved to a yet-to-be-decided location for the World of Wearable Art (WOW) show later this year.

Allen said this was because WOW planned to install its own sign in that location.

The budget for the project was $130,000, which included design, manufacture, initial installation, two re-skins of the sign as well as removal from the waterfront and installation at a different location.

Allen said there were lots of events coming up in the city including WOW, Wellington on a Plate, Beervana, the All Blacks v Ireland test, and Teeks with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as part of the St James Theatre reopening.

“There’s heaps going on in our city. There is a lot here for people to come into Wellington and you can visit the sign at the same time.”