The Best Design Awards are a major feature of the local design calendar and some of last year's winners have toured the country to offer first-hand insights into their projects.
The 2021 series was recorded on video. Here is one from the series of twenty recorded.
DINZ Interview
Best of the Best Designers Speak® - Video - Special Group
Special Group
Arnya Karaitiana, Sarah Shepherd, Heath Lowe, PDINZ
RUA Bioscience
Heath Lowe took the stage to explore the branding work behind RUA Bioscience: a “Māori owned social-commercial enterprise based in Ruatoria that uses sustainable growing practices to cultivate pharmaceutical-grade cannabis.”
The presentation focused mostly on the people behind the enterprise and how their stories - both individual and collective - lead to the founding and brand development of RUA. The inventiveness of the community (i.e using an old car to power a mixer) and their cultural background (i.e the process of weaving tukutuku) served as a strong narrative to the brand.
This was a story of a small town in New Zealand going from dreadlocks and illegality to lab coats, an IPO and a first, legal exportation of a cannabis sample.
Heath Lowe PDINZ
Thanks Designworks for the pre-drinks venue
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