The four Pou (principles and values) that express the Institute’s tikanga are:

• Whakamana Te Toi (Elevating our craft);
• Whakamana Te Tiriti (Fostering healthy relationships)
• Whakamana Te Ao (Maximising positive impact); and
• Whakamana Te Tangata (Uplifting our people).

Whakamana Tangata - Uplifting our people
Our Vision - We Design the Future
That professional designers are valued and rewarded for the contribution they make to the economic, cultural and social growth of New Zealand.

Our Mission 
Bring the different design disciplines together under a united front
- Improve the standards of professional service.
- Increase demand for design excellence
- Increase the profile of design
- Encourage the development of professional skills within the          membership

We believe a strong design industry is at the heart of Aotearoa New Zealand’s economic, cultural and creative future. That is at the heart of our kaupapa. Together, we will build up our industry and our designers, at every stage of their careers.

As a DINZ member, we can help build your success by supporting the advancement of you and your practice’s professional standards.

Whakamana Te Tiriti  - Fostering healthy relationships
We represent the best interests of all New Zealand designers practicing design in:
- Graphics
- Digital
- Spatial
- Product
- Motion
- Design in Business
- Education

Meet like-minded colleagues within our membership, whether you’re a studio seeking new talent or a younger member starting your life of design.

We also have the best reach. DINZ is the only organisation in Aotearoa providing a voice for all designers, across all disciplines, and representing design as a profession and industry.

We’re here to grow community and collegiality between members, because people are the heart and soul of great design work and a thriving industry.

DINZ provides member benefits, events, celebration, acknowledgments and korero that help you value yourself and each other.

DINZ Student Council
The core aim of the DINZ Student Council (incepted in 2015) is to give students a voice within the industry and helping them forge lasting relationships between students and industry professionals.

Mentorship - Peer to Peer
At DINZ we’re about helping make connections to better our industry. We figure if we chat, discuss and share our collective knowledge we’ll help our design community thrive.

D. Card - Friends Don't let Friends Pay Retail
Reap the benefits of friendship thanks to some of
New Zealand’s best design companies.

Your Membership comes with a D.Card that acts like a secret handshake, paying loyalty forward when you spend with our friends at Resene, Fisher & Paykel Appliance, noho, IMO, Simon James Design or Tim Webber Design.

In The World
We’re proud and passionate advocates for the industry, promoting and speaking up for the kaupapa of New Zealand design locally and globally.

Memorandums of Understanding
DINZ is a member of the WDO and ico-D.
We also have MOUs with; Good Design; Industrial Design Society of America, IDSA; Design Institute Australia, DIA; Cumulus; and the Australian Graphic Design Association, AGDA.

Whakamana Toi - Elevating our craft
We champion the exceptional, pursuing and promoting excellence in design. We believe that New Zealand’s best design can be the world’s best too. That means committing to raising the bar, year after year.

PDINZ
Fly the flag as a professional member, using the PDINZ appellation to indicate your commitment to your profession

DINZ Student Council
- Folio Night
- Best of the Best Student Speak
- Studio Interviews
- Student Only Open Studio
- Designers Speak® Secondary Schools

DINZ Means Business
- Open StudioTM
- Designers Speak®
- Designers Speak® - Across the Ditch
- Best of the Best Designers Speak®"
- Design in Business - Value of Design
- Design in Business -0 Value of Collaboration
- No Borders
- Pixel to Product
- Designing for Impact
- The Form Forum®
- The Graphic Forum
- The Product Forum

D.Casts
Through the D.Cast series we bring you insights, stories and reflections from our community.

DINZ Interviews
When the opportunity arises, DINZ interviews leading designers from here and overseas. These interviews seek to dig beneath the surface to address the common and uncommon challenges, problems and opportunities the design community faces.

DINZ Means Business Video  
DINZ events give access to designers at the top of their game as they share their knowledge and insights. 

The audiovisual recordings from some of these gatherings can be found under this Video category and are archived there as a reference resource to Aotearoa’s rich design history.

Legal support
Streamline and protect yourself with our full suite of industry specific legal, business and contract documents. These are available to all members at no charge.

Insurance Advise and Package 
Protect yourself with an industry specific insurance policy.

Best Awards
DINZ recognises the best of the industry each year at Australasia’s biggest and best design awards. The Best Awards is the brightest night in the design calendar, bringing together friends, colleagues and rivals in a night of celebration. This is a night to be recognised for your mahi, your graft, your vision. Members can enter their work at a reduced rate.

Acknowledgement
We acknowledge those that help push the boundaries of design, both inside and out.

• The John Britten Black Pin is awarded each year to a designer for their leadership, vision and achievement both in New Zealand and internationally.
• The Designers Institute Black Pin is awarded each year to a member of the Institute who has made a lasting and valuable contribution to the design profession and design culture in New Zealand.

Whakamana Te Ao - Maximising positive impact
Advocacy
Our work happens everyday via our members’ contribution to the promotion of design:
- Media commentary on topical design issues
- Representation at national and international events
- Forming relationships with corporations, government and ministerial departments that help advance our design culture.