2026 Hot New Things: Ash McFarlane, Otago Polytechnic School of Design
Design Assembly profiles a selection of the top graduates from the best Art and Design Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. We welcome these talented emerging professionals to our industry, learn about their passions, final projects, developing creative confidence and ambitions for the future.
Today we speak with Ash McFarlane who recently graduated from the Communication Design at Otago Polytechnic School of Design. Find out more about tertiary study options across Aotearoa New Zealand on our Design Schools page.
Tell us a bit about yourself
Kia ora! I’m Ash, and I grew up in the small harbour town of Ōamaru, eventually moving to Ōtepoti Dunedin to study. This transition happened to lead me towards becoming a full-time groupie within the local alternative music scene. I’m not a muso, so design is my way of accessing and giving back to this wonderful community.
My design philosophy is simple: make designs that stand out and bring people together. I tend to work best in the realm of gig posters, street art, and real community-driven projects, with my skills centred around experimenting with hands-on design methods. I am now lucky enough to be a recent graduate of Otago Polytechnic’s School of Design.
What was the focus of your graduating project?
My studio major project Stapled Noise grew out of my experiences here in Ōtepoti. A not-for-profit publication capturing the local current alternative music scene — printed for mass distribution across campus, venues, and cafes, and free to anyone who stumbles upon it. Working alongside Radio One’s kaupapa, I’ve focused on advocating and supporting this community. These were the first steps along a multidisciplinary journey of experimenting with mixed media design and utilising the restrictions of risographic printing.
Everything I’ve learned as a designer has come together naturally through Stapled Noise. In designing gig posters in the past for local bands, I experimented with physical textures from old gig posters, collaging and editing band photos. I worked with the intent of letting the music inform the visual design, so the sounds echo through the design’s mood and textures to complement it. This project aims to embody the local music scene through research and design techniques I’ve previously explored, emphasising photographic, typographic and illustrative graphics within this risographic project to give back to the music scene and push the DIY zine ethos.
The result is a 36-page handbook for students and creatives new to Dunedin — packed with venue guides, band interviews, and all the things that make this local music scene special.
What did you choose to study Communication Design at Otago Polytechnic School of Design?
I heard about the Communication Design course towards the end of high school, and being the only student taking a design class in my year, it felt like the natural move. I loved the fact that I could turn visual ideas into something tangible, so this course of study seemed like the obvious move to strengthen that.
What did you enjoy most about the programme?
I’ve picked up so many skills here at Otago Polytechnic. One thing I appreciate is the real creative opportunities that this course offers. Especially in my final year, when I picked up an internship through the course. It’s an amazing way to get your foot in the door and network with fellow designers and creatives. This also shaped how the rest of my year went. I landed an internship with the local student magazine (Critic Te Ārohi) in the first half of the year. Here, I developed my publication design skills, balancing editorial and visual graphics within a well-distributed magazine, directly targeted towards the students of Dunedin. This heavily influenced Stapled Noise in terms of its collaborative ethos and gave me important insights into the specifics of creating a publication from start to finish.
What was your biggest challenge while studying?
A challenge that I am (retrospectively) grateful for was a setback during Stapled Noise. I lost stakeholder funding for the print production costs midway through the project. This led me to go full force into developing a marketing and fundraising campaign to make it happen. This was a huuuuge success, the production became fully funded through local support, receiving amazing contributions from a Boosted campaign and an all-ages fundraiser gig that I hosted. The name quickly became known, and the scope of it being for the community, by the community, was super appealing to the local audiences.
Who (or what) inspired you to pick design as a career path?
I’ve always been a huge fan of media, whether it be movies, comic books, music videos, street art, gig posters, paintings, or cartoons. I take a real sense of comfort in it, and I’ve always wanted to be part of that. I’m an amalgamation of all the media I consume, so I need an outlet to get my own out. Design as a career path felt like the right route to go.
Who is your favourite designer?
I am a huge fan of Shaun Tan. He has a background in illustrating, writing and designing, most known for his surreal and thought-provoking picture books that explore themes of isolation, belonging and imagination. His work always resonated with me from a visual sense and my style would not be the same without him. His values and messages play a big part of it too.
“You discover how confounding the world is when you try to draw it.”
This really stuck with me. Being a creative is about being an observer and finding the weird and awesome details in it whether it be painting a beautiful landscape or a curbside rubbish bin.
What is next for you?
I want to go further with Stapled Noise. In a way, this studio major project was a pilot for the campaign and seeing the public traction, I feel it has potential to keep going. Whether it be doing a second issue, partnerships or working on its brand identity. But for now, I am set to do a bigger production batch of this zine for the beginning of 2026, which has been made possible by the success of the crowdfunding campaign through Boosted — super excited!
Long term, I would like to continue working on community-centred projects or in areas that align with my values. Finding a place in a design studio that prioritises a creative space and positive mahi would be so great too.
Where can we see more of your work?
Check out my Instagram @ash_designs._ to see what I’m up to and feel free to message me there too.
You can also visit my LinkedIn
Portfolio website – https://readymag.website/u3288372116/5424462/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ash_designs._/
Stapled Noise Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/stapled_noise/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-mcfarlane-1b4484272/
Email – ash.t.mcfarlane@gmail.com
Phone – +64 21 234 2333
Ash McFarlane
