Fresh From The Field: Too Precious to Mine – By Bryce Groves

Fresh from the field

Fresh From The Field: Too Precious to Mine – By Bryce Groves

3 weeks ago by Iris Kalff

Bryce Groves takes us inside Too Precious to Mine, an intimate design response that turns advocacy, collaboration and native fauna into a small-format but big-impact project.

Fresh from the Field is a weekly article series sharing fresh and inspiring work from the Design Assembly community. Want to submit your work to Fresh From The Field? Fill out the form here.

The brief

Several unique ecosystems in Aotearoa are under threat by huge open-cast coal mines proposed under the Fast Track Bill. Particularly, the remarkable Denniston Plateau in the South Island.

Green Party MP Steve Abel approached me to create a series of impactful stickers for Green members, supporters, and activists to show their passion for protecting the native species that inhabit these areas.

The brief evolved as we went. The format changed from an initial rectangle ‘bumper-sticker’ idea to a 70mm circular design, after feedback that a sticker that could fit on a phone or drink bottle was far more desirable. Steve had a very considered and thoughtful view – the fauna had to feel ‘relatable’ with a sense of intimacy and connection.

One of the challenges was choosing which animals to depict across all six stickers. We figured out a mix between charismatic and recognisable ones like the Kiwi, and ‘creepy-crawlies’ like the Wēta. Plus, how they would fit in the format. For instance, the pygmy blue whale is at threat by seabed mining in Taranaki, but its long thin shape just doesn’t suit a circular sticker.

The design response

For a brief moment, I considered whether this could be a project I could do with AI. But only for a moment.

I could foresee the technical hassles generating a consistent style over six very different animals. Some, like the Weta and moth depicted here, have only just been discovered too, so there are very few images on the internet. But beyond that, to me it seemed disingenuous to use energy-intensive generative AI for a cause like this.

Besides which, I’d rather work with another human. Not only for the joy of a shared creative process, but to do my little part in keeping the NZ design community active.

So this was a good old-fashioned collaborative relationship; between designer/art director (myself), illustrator Ezra Whittaker, and client, Steve Abel. Ezra’s nimble, iterative pencil roughs made for a super smooth process. Then between us, we sought a balance between recognisable details, and impactful graphic style. I also had one eye on creating a ‘collectible set’ vibe, a bit like old-school stamp collecting.

The colour palette needed a similar balancing act. 1950s-kitchen-tones had visual appeal, but the animals needed to stay broadly plausible in their colouring. Ezra put great thought into how light and shadow might fall on an animal, and shape the colour choice. Meanwhile I grappled with how the illustrations balanced with the typography and branding.

At a Green Party event in Wellington the sticker were launched, and swiftly distributed by MPs and supporters. It’s gratifying how popular they’ve proven to be. My hope is that the Greens can find the budget in 2026 to do more with these designs. It’s remarkable how much satisfaction can come from such a small format, but so much aroha went into this project, I’d love to see these precious species – and their message – larger than life (or at least, larger than 70mm!)