DA Conversations Podcast with Kaan Hiini

Kia ora and welcome to Design Assembly Conversations. In this series we talk to Aotearoa NZ designers, hear their stories and celebrate their work. I’m Louise and today with designer […]

3 years ago by

DA Conversations Podcast with Matt Power

Kia ora and welcome to Design Assembly Conversations. In this series we talk to Aotearoa NZ designers, hear their stories and celebrate their work. I’m Louise and today I’m talking […]

3 years ago by

DA Conversations Podcast with Sam Haehae

Kia ora and welcome to Design Assembly Conversations. In this series we talk to Aotearoa NZ designers, hear their stories and celebrate their work. I’m Louise and today I’m talking […]

3 years ago by

DA Conversations Podcast with Will Bardebes – Lecturer at Unitec

Kia ora and welcome to Design Assembly Conversations. In this series we talk to Aotearoa NZ designers, hear their stories and celebrate their work. I’m Louise and today I’m talking […]

3 years ago by

Auckland 2021 DA Pub Quiz Results

What a night we had last week in Auckland at the Ellen Melville Centre! We beat the last pub quiz limit with 19 teams registered and once again, Team NFD/Curative […]

3 years ago by

DA Conversations Podcast with Laura Cibilich

Kia ora and welcome to Design Assembly Conversations. In this series we talk to Aotearoa New Zealand designers, hear their stories and celebrate their work. I’m Louise and today I’m […]

4 years ago by

DA Conversations Podcast with Louise Kellerman

Kia ora and welcome to Design Assembly Conversations. In this series we talk to Aotearoa NZ designers, hear their stories and celebrate their work. This podcast is a little different […]

4 years ago by

Fresh From The Field — Everyday Horrors by Method

This Fresh from the Field features Method‘s recent work on their own project Everyday Horrors Halloween game. If you have new or recent work that you would like to share in […]

4 years ago by

Auckland – DA Spring Conversations 2019 : Meet the panel

Design Assembly is delighted to present our DA Spring Conversations 2019 series taking place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in September. Planet centric design – What is the role and responsibility of the […]

5 years ago by

DA Women In Design Evenings – Auckland

Join us for an informal evening of drinks and food as we come together for relationships to be made, nurtured and supported.

Free to attend, spaces are limited.
Everyone is welcome.

Thursday 28 February 2019
6pm – 8pm
Hello Beasty

95_97 Customs Street West, Viaduct Harbour

                 Eventbrite - DA Women In Design Evenings - Auckland

If you would like to hold DA Women In Design events in your local region please contact louise@designassembly.org.nz

Design Assembly – connecting all New Zealand visual designers since 2008

 

Auckland: DA Conversations Spring series — Meet the panel

This Spring’s DA Conversations are back to discuss ‘Diversity in Aotearoa, New Zealand Design — what does it mean and why does it matter?’. In October Judith Thompson — design […]

6 years ago by

Auckland: DA Conversations — Spring 2018

Join us for our DA Conversations Spring series in Auckland and Wellington, where we look at ‘Diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand Design— what does it mean and why does it matter?’ With a very special lineup of panellists including:

Desna Whaanga-Schollum (Rongomaiwahine, Kahungunu, Pahauwera) — Chairperson & Founding Member of Ngā Aho Māori Design Professionals and Artspace NZ
Kaan Hiini (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa) — Multi-disciplinary Designer at Curative
Raymond McKay (Ngāti Kahungunu Ki Wairoa, Ngāti Porou) — Creative Director and Partner at RUN
Jade Tang-Taylor — associate of the Centre for Social Impact, deputy chair of Auckland Council’s Ethnic People’s Advisory Panel and lecturer at AUT
Beth O’Brien — Group Creative Head at Colenso BBDO, New Zealand
Anzac Tereihana Tasker
— Design Director at
Designworks.

Our convener for this session will be Judith Thompson — design advocate, member of AUT University Council and Chair of the University’s Property Committee.

At Thievery Studio — 16th October from 6pm onwards, with the conversation kick-starting at 6:30pm.

Tickets: $25 Professional / $20 Design Assembly Friend / $15 Design Assembly Student Friend + GST (not a DA Friend? Sign up here)

Tickets on Eventbrite

If you would like to get yourself ready for the conversation and explore the topic beforehand, here’s a few links you may find useful:

 

Design Assembly wouldn’t exist without the support of our amazing DA Partners:
BF Papers  | Portfolio Recruitment  | mychillybin

With special thanks to our refreshment partners:

 

 

Auckland: DA Masterclass — Packaging Design with Matt Grantham

5th October
9:30am — 12:30pm
Objectspace
13 Rose Rd, Ponsonby
Auckland

$350 Professional / $250 Design Assembly Friend / $150 Design Assembly Student Friend + GST
(Not a DA Friend? Details on how to sign up can be found here).

Eventbrite


Recommended for Designers, all levels.

If you have had little or no experience in packaging design and need an introduction to the field or would like to strengthen your skills and creative process, this class is for you.

About Matt and his Masterclass:

With over 20+ years of experience in brand and packaging design, Matt has worked on large-scale international brands through to small-scale ‘garage’ projects. Gaining a wide breadth of experience, covering brand and name creation, brand story building, copywriting, packaging, NPD, digital and corporate identity. As Creative Director of Onfire Design in Auckland, Matt currently oversees projects through the studio, taking the lead on project research and design strategy while proactively working with each client to get the most out of their brands — his experience is undoubtedly first-hand.

Through his own journey, Matt will guide you through the importance of developing and communicating a compelling brand story on ‘pack’. Understanding the client / their business, their products and consumers, to be empathic to them as well as the retail environment the product will live in. To dissect what the client wants to achieve while keeping an eye on opportunities they might have overlooked.

Case studies will give you examples of how to tackle a new product with a ‘fuzzy’ brief, and what to do when goalposts move (Matt tell us they always do!). We will finish the session by discussing where the future of packaging is heading to.


Terms and Conditions: If you cancel your ticket more than 8 days ahead of this event, 100% of your ticket will be refunded. Within 7 days of the event, 50% of the ticket price will be refunded or you can transfer your ticket to another Design Assembly workshop within a year.

Fresh from the Field – Waitemata Honey Face Cream by Onfire Design

This week’s Fresh from the Field features the brand and packaging for Waitemata Honey Face Cream by Onfire Design. If you have new or recent work that you would like to […]

6 years ago by

UX Gym Workshop Auckland: UX Intensive Week — A week long introduction to user experience design

This course combines all our one day courses into a week long deep-dive into experience design. It takes you through a full digital UX project from initial research to finished design. The week is designed to give you an understanding of the principles behind a modern user centered design process and practical experience of some of the most common activities you will encounter in a typical user experience project. With this course you can apply what you learn immediately to your current projects, use what you learn as a base for further study, or develop a case study to showcase for potential employers. No previous design or digital experience is required.

Schedule

  • Day 1 | Introduction to User Research More details
  • Day 2 | Introduction to Information Architecture More details
  • Day 3 | Design Part I Designing for people More details
  • Day 4 | Design Part II Designing for systems More details
  • Day 5 | Introduction to Prototyping & usability testing More details

Who is it for

No prior knowledge is required to do this course, it is suitable for absolute beginners. However the course is primarily aimed at:

Digital designers

Web, interaction and UX designers who want to build on their UX skills, put into practice approaches they have read about, adopt a user centered design approach or better their understanding of the principles behind common UX design methods.

Graphic designers

Traditional designers who want to transition into digital design or learn how to work better with their UX colleagues.

Novices and graduates

People new to the industry looking for the opportunity to learn and practice user experience design and use that experience to gain a foothold into the industry.

Strategists and analysts

Senior practitioners who want to gain an understanding of the principles of user experience design and experience how those principles are practiced on the ground.

Developers

Developers who want to build on their UX skills or learn how to work better with their UX colleagues.

Product owners and project managers

Product owners and project managers who want a better understanding of how a user experience design approach can get them better outcomes on their products and projects.

For full details click here.

Fresh from the Field — Creating a Buzz for Pharmapac by Onfire Design

This week’s Fresh from the Field features a new brand positioning, collateral and exhibition design for Pharmapac by Onfire Design. If you have new or recent work that you would […]

7 years ago by

DA Workshop Auckland: ‘Wine & Type’ with Nicole Arnett Phillips and Craig Black — Thursday 17th May

‘Wine & Type’
with Nicole Arnett Phillips and Craig Black
17th May
6—9pm
Thievery Studio
203 Karangahape Road, Newton
Auckland

Early bird (ends 3rd May) $85 Professional / $65 Design Assembly Friend (+ GST)
$99 Professional / $79 Design Assembly Friend (+ GST)
(Not a DA Friend? Details on how to sign up can be found here).

Eventbrite - Wine & Type' with Nicole Arnett Phillips and Craig Black

With thanks to  Crafters Union  for being our refreshment partner


Typography (like language) is expressive as well as functional. We most often think of the expressive qualities regarding volume, tone and voice. But type can equally convey a mood, an event, a sense of place, time and culture. Type also expresses sensory characteristics like taste and smell.*

So, what lettering style comes to mind when indulging in your favourite wines? Think about the robust boldness of Shiraz, the crisp refreshment of a Sauvignon blanc, the light spice of a Pinot Noir, the smoothness of a Merlot, or the delicacy of sparkling Pinot? All of these sensory characteristics have their own aesthetic.

After a brief introduction of themselves and their work, Nicole and Craig will guide participants through a wine tasting, drawing based workshop where they will use visual language to convey the characteristics of New Zealand’s wine culture in a series of guided briefs (to design a sequence of wine labels). It is a social and interactive evening, sure to delight the senses!

You’ll learn lettering techniques, some of the science behind typographic allusion, play with identity ideas, and get insight into a leading agencies approach to beverage branding. You’ll swill, sniff (and probably slug!) a few wines over nibbles, meet other designers, have the ability to ask questions and visually explore the qualities of four Crafters Union wines we will sample through the event.


About the facilitators: Nicole Arnett Phillips (TypographHer) introduces herself as loving letters, layout and ink, but the accomplished document designer and printmaker confesses she enjoys wine *almost* as much as type & print! After collaborating with Sarah Hyndman on gathering data for her type tasting research in 2015.  Nicole hosted three food, wine and type matching dinners in Australia, and two wine & design drawing workshops before she moved home to New Zealand in December 2017 (where she has spent the summer reacquainting herself with her favourite NZ wines)!

Craig Black is a talented illustrator, passionate letterer and energetic design advocate based in Glasgow. As well as running Craig Black Design, he is also the Lead Designer at Thirst Craft — a specialist drinks packaging design agency that builds creatively rare, commercially sound, brands for the beverage industry. Over the last two years, Craig has created some of the most memorable and celebrated wine and beer labels in the design industry. Craig will be speaking at The Design Conference 2018 in Brisbane.

Despite being on opposite sides of the globe, Nicole and Craig have been collaborating on Artwork since 2016, including their acclaimed lettering meets letterpress series.


 


 

*Based on the groundbreaking research by Sarah Hyndman (Type Tasting), in collaboration with Charles Spence’s (Professor of Experimental Psychology & University Lecturer, Somerville College, UK). 


Terms and Conditions: If you cancel your ticket more than 8 days ahead of the workshop, 100% of your ticket will be refunded. Within 7 days of the workshop, 50% of the ticket price will be refunded or you can transfer your ticket to another Design Assembly workshop within a year.

 

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UX Gym Workshop Auckland: User Testing & Prototyping

User testing designs through prototyping helps us to safely explore risky ideas, get a feel for how real people will respond to our designs and most importantly lets us fail cheaply and privately instead of publicly and expensively. But how many users do we need? How do we identify what to test? How do we know the way we designed and ran the test is producing valid results? How do we recruit people? How do we integrate user testing into a project without adding unsustainable expense and time to a project?

This 6 hour course teaches current best practice for user testing digital products and services. It gives you hands on experience of designing and running effective user testing sessions suitable for both new designs and existing products and services.

It covers:

    Current user testing theory

  • How to identify when user testing is required
  • Common user testing techniques
  • Identifying the most appropriate technique for your needs
  • How to ascertain the number of users you need for valid results
  • How to recruit users
  • How to design effective tests
  • Common prototyping tools
  • Using modern prototyping tools
  • How to create prototypes
  • How to interpret test results

You get practical experience in:

  • Identifying areas for testing
  • Designing user tests
  • Creating low fidelity paper prototypes
  • Creating prototypes using a modern prototyping tool
  • Running user tests
  • Interpreting test results
  • Iterating your design based on your test results

Who is this course for?

This course is suitable for anyone looking for an evidence based approach to validating their existing digital products or new design ideas. It is particularly suitable for:

  • Designers and developers
  • Product owners
  • Project managers
  • Entrepreneurs and startups

 

No previous design or coding experience is required.

You will need a laptop capable of connecting to a wireless network. We may be able to provide you with a laptop if you don’t have one – please contact us at least two weeks before the course date.

All other materials are provided.

Auckland: DA Conversations Autumn series — Meet the panel

This years DA Conversations are back to discuss pertinent issues for the New Zealand graphic design community. In 2018 Sean McGarry, Creative Director at Voice will convene the conversation in Auckland between Donna […]

7 years ago by

2017 PANZ Book Design Awards Winners

On Thursday 20 July the 2017 winners of the PANZ Book Design Awards were announced. Cazador: game, offal and the rest, written by Dariush Lolaiy and Rebecca Smidt, designed by Tim Donaldson and […]

7 years ago by

Auckland 2017 DA Pub Quiz

What a night we had in Auckland on the 15th June at The Bluestone Room! The biggest ever pub quiz in Auckland with 18 teams entered. The winners on the […]

7 years ago by

Creative Spaces – Material Brand & Design Agency.

Creative Spaces is a new series exploring New Zealand creative and design workplaces, giving you a sneak peak into the space and behind-the-scenes. This series is proudly brought to you […]

8 years ago by

Make Something 2016

After a successful return in 2015, Make Something is back this November at Allpress Studio, Auckland with yet another impressive line-up of creative collaborations.
In the creative industries it’s often rare that we get the opportunity to collaborate without the common interest of a client brief. And, even more rare, that our potential collaborators themselves come from an industry not often associated with the creative arts.

8 years ago by

DA End of Year Wrap Party, Auckland

Join your fellow designers and creatives and celebrate the end of the year and the start of summer! Design Assembly End of Year Wrap Party, Auckland At Atomic Coffee Roasters […]

8 years ago by