The story of how The Smithy came to be starts when my brother Jeremy and I were still kids. Our dad, who worked in education and held a Master in History, took every opportunity to talk to us about the past. Whether it was at the dinner table or on the morning drive to school, Dad would discuss what was going on in the world — and the historical context behind it. Authors like King, Belich, and Orange filled our living room bookcase, and we were always reminded that the 5th of November wasn’t just Guy Fawkes Day but also the anniversary of Parihaka.

It seems inevitable now that we would start a family business in history and education, but it wasn’t until 2017 that our shared love of history formed into an idea. During this time, Jeremy was completing his Master in Teaching, and over a cup of tea, Dad and I started chatting about creating something for him to hang in his future History and Social Studies classroom. I was studying design at the time, so together, Dad and I thought we had the perfect pairing of skills and interests to create something unique.

Inspired by metro maps from around the world, we created A History of Aotearoa New Zealand, a visual timeline of our nation from Kupe’s first landing through to Covid-19, and everything in

between. When we gifted the map to Jeremy, it caught the attention of others who soon asked for copies. We quickly realised we had something special. We began selling the maps, and before long, released our second one: A History of Sport in New Zealand.

Since sharing our first map, we’ve had countless conversations with teachers and educators, hearing similar stories about the challenges they face teaching the Histories curriculum. Towards the end of last year, we began thinking about how we could help address these challenges. While Chapter 1 of The Smithy focused on creating maps, Chapter 2 has become about serving the needs of teachers. At the start of this year, we set out to create resources focused exclusively on education. These have taken two forms: primary school history packs and infographic sets. Both are still in development — particularly as we align them with upcoming curriculum changes — but we’re poised to release them in 2026.

Matt Smith
Founder and designer @ The Smithy