5 Minutes with Chris Flack

Ahead of Autumn Conversations: Design & Discovery in Ōtautahi on 14 May, we sat down with one of our featured speakers, Chris Flack.

This season we’re discussing what happens when you have the freedom to play, make and discover without client or commercial boundaries. Our speakers will share the stories behind their side projects, hobbies or community involvement that have led them to transformative discoveries.

Join us at the final 2025 Design Assembly Autumn Conversations event in Ōtautahi. Register for your ticket to attend the event here.

Kia ora Chris. Can you share a bit about your background and your day job?

I’m one of the Design Directors at Strategy Creative, based in our Ōtautahi Christchurch studio within the Arts Centre. Originally from Dunedin, I moved here for design school and have grown to love the city.

On a typical day I work on a range of branding projects. I also dedicate a significant portion of my time to nurturing the Strategy brand—ensuring our work continues to evolve and attract passionate, talented individuals who share our enthusiasm for design’s potential.

What role does curiosity play in your creative process, and how do you cultivate it when there are no external constraints?

Curiosity is everything. It’s the spark that ignites big ideas—whether it’s a random meme, an offhand comment online, or a quiet moment during a run around Hagley Park. I make space for unstructured thinking, whether that’s setting personal challenges like my old “Comfort Zone Challenge” or simply finding a different perspective on a problem. That space—between a thought and an action—often holds the key to great ideas.

A recent example is the Run72 campaign, where we supported a mental health fundraising initiative. The campaign successfully raised almost $37,000 to fund counselling support. This project exemplified how curiosity and unstructured creativity can lead to impactful, real-world results.

If you could remove all limitations—time, budget, expectations—what would be the next thing you’d create purely for yourself or the world or a community?

I’d delve deeper into projects that blend creative storytelling with social impact. Projects like Mate Act Now—which leveraged the 50th anniversary of Earth Day to drive a global, creative climate call-to-action and raise funds for the Australian Bushfire Relief Fund—are perfect examples of what design can achieve when free from convention.

More recently, I had the pleasure of working on a project with Enterprise Dunedin—a bold campaign encouraging city-weary individuals to consider moving south. This work wasn’t just about marketing Dunedin; it was about standing out in a cluttered marketplace. We challenged the typical “dull campaigns” and flipped traditional statistics-based campaigns on their head.

Outside of commercial briefs and projects, what do you believe the purpose or role of design is and could be in the future?

I remember hearing a saying a couple of years ago: “It’s not about the design, but what the design can do.” That sentiment has stuck with me. It encapsulates my belief that design should be a catalyst for change—not just something that looks great, but something that resonates, inspires, and sometimes even transforms.

Design is a powerful tool to articulate challenges and foster dialogues about everything from mental health to sustainability and community. I see the future of design as a space where creative solutions aren’t the final step but the very beginning of a conversation about making the world a better place.

Ahead of the Autumn Conversations Tāmaki Ōtautahi event coming up on 14 May, can you give us a teaser into the project/topic you’ll be presenting?

Absolutely. I’ll be sharing some old and new stories about embracing the unexpected, finding inspiration in overlooked moments—like internet memes and off-the-cuff Facebook comments—and discovering that some of the best creative breakthroughs happen when you play. It’s a creative journey that I hope inspires others to find ways to play more.

Lastly, what’s the best way for folks to see more of your work and connect with you?

Work
strategy.co.nz
https://www.instagram.com/strategycreative/

Personal
I don’t have a website, as such. The best place to check out is probably my Instagram – it’s where I post anything interesting that I’m doing both personally and work-related.
https://www.instagram.com/chris_flack/

Mate Act Now
www.mateactnow.com
https://www.instagram.com/mateactnow