AREA is a friendly, boutique design studio producing sustainable, thoughtful solutions regardless of scale or budget. We are passionate about the arts, the value of design, crafting quality work, communicating clearly and creating enduring relationships with audience and clients.
We have worked on a broad range of projects across many sectors from the prestigious to the prosaic. In its diversity, our work shares a common thread: a love for communicating personal stories, design and typography, along with attention to detail and clarity in execution.
What we do
Book / Publication Design
Brand Identity
Exhibition / Event Branding
Motion Graphics
Packaging
Signage and Wayfinding
Visual Communications
Web and Digital Design
Awards
2024
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Flora: Celebrating Our Botanical World / Published by Te Papa Press Best Illustrated / Finalist
- Flora: Celebrating Our Botanical World / Published by Te Papa Press Best Cover / Finalist
- Plated: A lifetime love affair with food / Published by Camberdown Press Best Cookbook / Finalist
2023
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand / Published by Auckland University Press Best Cover / Finalist
New Zealand Book Awards
- Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand / Published by Auckland University Press Illustrated Non-Fiction / Winner
2022
Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards
- SLT by Mark Purdom / Published by Ramp Press Editorial and Books / Bronze
- Duck Island Ice Cream Small Brand Identity / Silver
- Duck Island Ice Cream Colour Award Graphics / Silver
The New Zealand Photo Book of The Year Awards
- SLT by Mark Purdom / Published by Ramp Press Best Photobook / Winner
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Hei Taonga mā ngā Uri Whakatipu | Treasures for the Rising Generation by multiple authors / Published by Te Papa Press Best Typography / Highly Commended
- Kelcy Taratoa: Who am I, Episode 001 by Warren Feeney, Alice Hutchison and Hēni Jacob / Published by Quentin Wilson Publishing Best Cover / Highly Commended
Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards
- Hei Taonga mā ngā Uri Whakatipu | Treasures for the Rising Generation by multiple authors / Published by Te Papa Press Best Book Level A / Highly Commended
2021
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Endless Sea: Stories told through the taonga of the New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui te Ananui a Tangaroa by Frances Walsh / Photography by Jane Ussher / Published by Massey University Press Best Illustrated / Highly Commended
- Māori Made Easy Workbooks | For everyday learners of the Māori language | Kete 1–8 by Scotty Morrison / Published by Penguin Best Educational Book Series Secondary/Tertiary (Covers) / Finalist
Pride in Print Awards
- He Piko He Paerongo 100 River Sensors by Eco Detection Innovation in Publication / Winner
- Lines of Flight by Sarah Munro and Gail Pittaway / Published by Ramp Press Books over 32 Pages / Winner
2020
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Crafting Aotearoa by Karl Chitham, Kolokesa U Māhina-Tuai and Damian Skinner / Published by Te Papa Press Best Typography / Finalist / Winner
- Crafting Aotearoa by Karl Chitham, Kolokesa U Māhina-Tuai and Damian Skinner / Published by Te Papa Press Best Illustrated / Finalist / Highly Commended
- One Year Drawn by Pete Bossley / Published by Point Press Best Illustrated and Typography / Finalist / Highly Commended
2018
The New Zealand Photo Book of The Year Awards
- Mimetic by Mark Purdom / Published by Ramp Press Book Finalist / Commended
2017
Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards
- Intellectual Fashion Show 2016 / Published by New Zealand Fashion Museum and Blikfang Editorial and Books / Bronze
2016
Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards
- From Certainty to Doubt by Mark Purdom / Published by Ramp Press Editorial and Books / Gold
2015
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Beyond the State by Bill McKay, Andrea Stevens, photography Simon Devitt / Published by Penguin Best Illustrated Book Finalist / Highly Commended
- Essential New Zealand Poems selected by Siobhan Harvey, James Norcliffe and Harry Ricketts / Published by Random House New Zealand Best Non-Illustrated Book Cover Design Finalist / Highly Commended
The New Zealand Photo Book of The Year Awards
- From Certainty to Doubt by Mark Purdom / Published by Ramp Press Trade Published / Winner
- New Zealand Photography Collected Photography, by Athol McCredie / Published by Te Papa Press Trade Published / Finalist
2014
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- Peter McLeavey: The Life and Times of a New Zealand Art Dealer, by Jill Trevelyan / Published by Te Papa Press Best Cover / Winner
- Cut by Josh Emett, photography by Kieran Scott / Published by Random House New Zealand Best Cookbook / Winner
Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards
- Peter McLeavey: The Life and Times of a New Zealand Art Dealer, by Jill Trevelyan / Published by Te Papa Press Best Book Level A / Highly Commended
2013
Publishers Association of New Zealand
- OnSong by Simon Sweetman / Published by Penguin Best Overall Book / Winner
- OnSong by Simon Sweetman / Published by Penguin Best Illustrated Book / Winner
- Hunter from the Heartland: Recipes and Stories from Masterchef Favourite Cameron Petley by Cameron Petley, photography by Kieran Scott / Published by Random House Best Cookbook / Winner