Field Guide 2020: Karl Wixon
This Field Guide podcast is the fifth in a series of commissioned essays, interviews, podcasts and artworks to be published over 16 weeks on designassembly.org.nz and culminate in a downloadable PDF publication which will be distributed nationally.
We are incredibly grateful to Creative New Zealand who funded this 2020 Field Guide, which actively investigates, celebrates, nurtures and challenges current design thinking, methodology and practitioners in the Aotearoa design community. The project is “a multidisciplinary exploration of New Zealand’s post-COVID design practice”. It is produced by five authors, six illustrators, with art direction, design, editorial, publishing and production support from the Design Assembly team & RUN Agency.
Supported by Creative New Zealand
The Artwork to accompany this podcast is by Lisa Baudry, an illustrator and designer with over 20 years experience in the creative industries. Lisa grew up in a small rural area on the Hauraki Plains and came to Auckland to study graphic design at Auckland University of Technology in the early ’90s. Since then she has worked in the commercial graphic design, ceramics, fine arts and environmental sectors. Her passion for the human and the handmade motivates her work. Lisa loves making illustrations using a mash-up of pencil drawing, painterly collage and ink work. Her practice also contains a strong element of experimentation with new techniques.
In this special series, we’ll hear from leaders in the NZ design community and further our discourse around the creative and economic wellbeing of our community, identify opportunities for positive change, speculate on the future of our practice and critically examine the post-Covid design landscape in Aotearoa.
Tēnā koutou I’m Louise, Design Assembly Founder and Director and today I’m talking to Karl Wixon.
Karl is the director of Arahia in which he works as a Māori co-design facilitator to weave together complex collaborations spanning cultures, sectors, entities and interests to develop shared visions, find direction, and co-design solutions.
Karl has held a number of leadership roles in the past – president of the Designers Institute of NZ, a founder of Ngā Aho Inc Māori Design Society, a member of the NZ Story Advisory board, responsible for how NZ projects itself in offshore markets and a member of Te Mana Whakahaere, the governing council of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
