Organised by the Toi Manahau / Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ), the Best Design Awards were held on Sunday, October 9, at Auckland’s Aotea Centre. The most prestigious event of the Australasian design calendar recognised the strongest work across nine core categories: Digital, Product, Toitanga, Graphic, Moving Image, Spatial, Value of Design, Public Good, and User Experience. The awards were attended by over 1,000 designers, with 1,381 entries for the competition this year.
FMCG winners at the event included Burly Gin by DDMMYY, Boring Oat Milk by DDMMYY, Duck Islands Ice Cream Cake Box by Think Packaging, Six Barrel Soda by Marx Design and Tipple Topper by Marx Design.
“The entries for 2022 were typically diverse like our New Zealand design scene - we had everything from highly technical products, beautifully crafted designed objects and emotive and whimsical consumer solutions. We really enjoyed seeing new brands, designers and teams enter for the first time as it shows the ever-growing nature of the design scene,” said Convenor for the Product category and Design Director at Vivid Origin, Jesse Keith.
Jamie McLellan won the John Britten Black Pin, Jef Wong the DINZ Black Pin and EMirates Team New Zealand the Value of Design Black Pin.
“With the heightened engagement from our industry towards Te Ao Māori, we’re seeing a lot more considered kaupapa māori creativity simmer to the surface. It was important for us to approach the entries with a lens of guardianship, to maintain the integrity of Te Ao Māori,” said Co-navigator for the Toitanga category and Co-President of DINZ, Anzac Tasker.
Finalists were presented with a purple or gold pin for superb achievements in their field. The supreme winners were awarded the illustrious black pin to honour an enduring commitment to the design world.
“The DINZ community is stronger than ever, and we hope that even more studios will be entering next year. 2022’s Best Awards has highlighted a great opportunity for winning projects and design teams to celebrate, learn, exchange ideas and be inspired,” said Convenor for the Spatial category and Associate Principal at Warren and Mahoney, Valentina Machina.
