21st annual Best Design awards

Clive Fugill, Annie Dow and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare to be honoured with coveted Black Pins at tonight’s Best Design Awards

At the 21st annual Best Design awards, to be held tonight in Auckland, the Designers Institute of NZ (DINZ) will recognise three very different yet equally pioneering contributions to New Zealand’s design industry.

The Institute’s highest honour – the Black Pin – will be awarded to Annie Dow, Clive Fugill and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare; the latter’s award being the first time a coveted Black Pin will have been awarded to an organisation, rather than an individual.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

The decision to award a Value of Design Black Pin reflects the contribution design makes to our country’s economy, says DINZ CEO Cathy Veninga.

“Design contributes to a resilient, thriving economy – a contribution we calculated in 2017 at over $10 billion annually. Recognising and celebrating our design champions is important so that we don’t take this contribution for granted.”

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was chosen for the inaugural Value of Design Black Pin from a shortlist of organisations that had previously been recognised in the ‘Best Effect’ category, including Goodnature, Rinnai, BNZ, Barkers, Les Mills and TVNZ.

Judge Noel Blackwell says that collectively all seven demonstrate the characteristics that make organisations who deploy design holistically so successful.

“Understanding how people, especially customers and users, think and feel, whether it’s about fire or fitness, clothing or conservation, is at the core of these organisations’ design intent.”

F&P get really close to their users, for example watching them sleep at their sleep labs to understand how to make the sleep apnoea masks more comfortable and effective.

“This characterises their focus and motivation to help patients; it’s very easy to see how invested they are in design outcome – literally saving lives. It is this drive and design intent that has seen their global customer base grow to over 14 million,” says Noel.

“Theirs is a story of New Zealand success on the world stage, and the heart of this success is a commitment to care by design.”

Annie Dow

In awarding the DINZ Black Pin for Outstanding Achievement to Annie Dow, Cathy Veninga says it is an honour to turn the tables and give something back to someone who has given so much to the design industry over the last 25 years.

“Annie’s tenacity, her passion for design, her smarts and her generosity have not only enabled her to grow her own business, but provided opportunities for generations of New Zealand designers to grow their own talents. At 25 years young, Dow Goodfolk is a highly awarded studio, a highly regarded strategic business and a highly respected ‘proving ground’ for many, many committed designers.”

“Annie is a survivor who’s fought hard for the respect she has as a business woman, and is valued by our industry as a strong advocate for design generally, and also for women in design – notably by walking the talk as an employer and also hosting her inspiring Ladies Nights,” says Cathy.

“Tonight we will honour one of our own who has advocated and educated on our behalves and reminds us that ‘we’re worth it!’”

Clive Fugill

Clive Fugill has devoted over half a century of service to the New Zealand Māori Arts and Craft Institute; the last 36 of these as Tumu Whakarae, or Master Carver. One of the first seven successful applicants accepted to the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute’s carver training course in 1967, Clive credits his longevity to the teaching of his own teacher.

“I’ve stayed on with the Institute over the years only because our master, John Taiapa, who was the first master of the school, said to us that you’ve come here to learn the art and to pass it on. And that’s what’s kept me inspired to do what I do.”

Clive has worked on over 12 meeting houses, supervising the carving on at least six. He has travelled to Japan, New Guinea, Hawaii, Nova Scotia, the United States and Thailand demonstrating his art and has completed carvings for Royalty and Heads of State and for many embassies around the world.

Cathy Veninga says that given the strong sense of place that emanates from this year’s finalist work, it is entirely fitting that the Institute should be awarding the John Britten Black Pin for the first time for outstanding leadership, vision and achievement to a Māori artist.

“As Te Puia’s Master Carver since 1983, Clive has not only taken Māori art to the world, but embraced the responsibility of ensuring that the skills, knowledge and tikanga of Māori design are not lost here at home,” says Cathy.

“He is an inspiration not only for carvers, but for all designers who seek to retain the kaupapa of design as they employ new technology to work across a variety of new media. And it is the privilege of our Institute to honour Clive tonight with the John Britten Black Pin.”

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