#grad604

Who are the local and global creatives, designers, illustrators, photographers, that you want to connect with?

I want to connect to studios in NZ. Studios like Studio South, Milk, ThoughtFull Design.

What are the influences on them and what engages you in their work?

The running theme of influences among all three studios is kiwi culture and the environmental, or community foundation. These influences come as no surprise to me as Aotearoa is a small place in which people are very connected to the communities and land we live on. 

In what (if any) ways as they collaborative and engaging communities?

What is the nature of my Communication Design practice and research?

I really struggle with time management and procrastination / organisation. At times, I find researching boring and what to make / design things.

How do my environmental, social, cultural, sub-cultural, and political contexts and influences show up in my work?

I take a lot of inspiration from my environment. I walk down Queen Street to Britomart to catch the train home and look at posters, like concert posters, etc. If I see something appealing and exciting, I will take a picture of it. I have a whole album on my phone of pictures.

What specialist subject knowledge do I want my work to convey

I want my work to convey personality. I view into my mind.

Are there specific techniques and crafts I want to hone within my practice?

What/who excites you in the design and creative communities you are investigating?

ThoughtFull design studio excites me the most. I like their work with big NZ companies (KiwiBank, Air New Zealand, AT) and take inspiration from them.

Who would you want to share a meal with?

Someone I would like to share a meal with and pick the brain of is Olt Aicher. Some of my favorite ever were the designs from the 1972 Munich Olympics with its posters and pictograms.

Who would you want to work with?

Who would you want to mentor you?

Added insight of Chinese culture

Coming into university, I was a shy and unconfident designer who often hid away from my lecturers and peers, fearing what they would say about my designs. However, during my time at university, I have built more and more confidence. Now, in the second year of my studies, I have started embracing myself in the graphic design world with the help of my like-minded peers at university. I have learned that graphic design is not only about making cool and visually appealing designs, but it is about the service of the public. In terms of branding, we only relay the information given to us, we are only the middleman in the process.

During my time at university, I have learnt many different skills like design conventions and the best tools you use to undertake research. With design conventions, I was drawn most to publications like magazines, bookmaking, and posters. One of my earliest assignments was to design a magazine in the style of Josef Müller-Brockmann. This led me down a path of researching his design journey and how he became one of the most influential designers of all time. That assignment was a turning point in my design journey, as I discovered the Swiss design technique: grid systems. Müller-Brockmann was one of the pioneers of this technique, and it changed my view on graphic design and how I saw books and magazines. The best method I have found to expand my vocabulary as a designer was to take pictures in my environment. After class every day, I walk down Queen Street to Britomart to catch the train home, and I always find myself looking at signage on storefronts, event posters, and billboards. If I see something visually appealing and exciting, I take a shot of it and, when I get home, look at it, try to understand it and research it, what conventions they used and so on. I have an album full of pictures that I have collected, and they serve as a great source of inspiration for my design projects.

I am not in any communities myself, but I see AUT as a community. I am surrounded by like-minded friends and knowledgeable lecturers and I feel like I growing as a designer myself every week.

In terms of studios and agencies that I am most interested in is studios like Extended Whanau, where they celebrate respective cultures. In Aotearoa, in my opinion, it is impressive that a country of 5 million has world-famous design studios. Studios like Alt Group and Weta Digital/Workshop punch above their respective weights.

ThoughtFull Design Studio

A part from publication, an inspiration I constantly return to is the branding for KiwiBank. Designed by ThoughtFull Design Studio, an Auckland-based studio, it is a prime example of branding. As you can see, KiwiBank’s design system shows throughout the system, from the logo, the iconography, and EFTPOS cards to the physical sites. The design is inspired by Harakeke, flax. In Māori culture, Harakeke symbolises a thriving whānau and community. This branding respects the Māori culture that it is in, as KiwiBank is one of the only New Zealand-owned banks.

Kalee Jackson

Kalee Jackson is an independent Kiwi designer. She does publication/editorial design, and I look at her work for inspiration. After my formative assignment and voicing my liking for publication/editorial design, my lecturer, Emil, pointed me in the direction of Kalee. She has been in and won many awards in New Zealand for her books. What attracted me to her was that she was a Kiwi. As a Kiwi designer, I constantly look at designers overseas for inspiration. But looking at people like her or Tyrone Ohia, as I mentioned, and other designers in New Zealand, I find it inspiring.

Tyrone Ohia

Tyrone Ohia is a Kiwi designer. He is the creative director and founder of Extended Whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. I want to focus on Extended Whānau’s Toi Tū Toi Ora book, edited by Nigel Borell. It discusses and celebrates the dynamic, ever-changing expression of contemporary Māori art. This was for the Auckland Art Gallery. As a Chinese-born Kiwi, I find it inspiring that Tyrone and Extended Whānau focus on their Māori culture, and I strive to celebrate my Chinese culture just like them.