Autumn Conversations offers a warm, welcoming space to connect, learn, and spark conversation across our creative communities.

This season’s theme: Design & Discovery

Imagine having the freedom to play, create, and discover beyond client and commercial constraints. What can we learn about ourselves, our values, our passions, and our design practices through this kind of exploration?

Engaging in play and discovery outside of our daily work can spark new ideas, refine our craft, and even open doors to unexpected opportunities, career shifts, or personal growth, helping us shape our design journey.

Join us at the upcoming Autumn Conversations to hear from three designers in three different locations as they share the stories behind their side projects, hobbies, or community involvement that led to transformative discoveries.

Design Assembly Conversations are all about connecting people to people and people to ideas. The format for the evening will include talks from our featured speakers followed by a Q&A session. We look forward to seeing you there.

Featured Speakers:

Chris Flack | Chris’s career has taken him from one side of the world to the other. Along the way, he helped put a small town on the map by creating a new time zone and launched TEDx in New Zealand by exploding over 1,000 ping pong balls. He’s also rebranded Christmas, convinced the design world to embrace Comic Sans (for a good cause!), and made statistics humorous to get everyone talking about his hometown of Dunedin. Chris’s recent project, ‘Mate Act Now,’ used a digital protest to raise awareness for climate action.His work has been featured in everything from Mashable to Creative Review, and his designs are displayed at the Mexican Museum of Design. He regularly writes, judges, and talks (a lot) about design.

Kate Darby | Kate is Design Partner at Recreational Studio, a creative studio that specialises in brand, digital and communications. Kate was named one of “50 under 30: Outstanding Global Women in Creative & Digital 2019” by industry publication, The Drum. In the same year, Kate was named “one of eight creative New Zealanders you need to know about” by Idealog magazine. She is a highly regarded strategist, skilled designer and creative director.

Ticket Prices:

Members: $20 (+GST and BF) with discount code

Non-Members: $45  (+GST and BF)

Thank you to our event sponsors:

https://www.bjball.co.nz/

https://www.finerycocktails.co.nz/