Me

Kia ora. Hello.

I’m a senior creative with over two decades of experience in brand, design, and creative direction.

My background began in graphic design and art direction, but over time my focus has increasingly shifted toward the thinking that sits underneath the work. I’m most interested in how organisations define themselves, how they articulate what matters, and how that translates into clear and consistent expression that truly connects and inspires.

I’m known for my arts-led approach to brand and communication, where storytelling is central to strategy. I see narrative not as decoration, but as structure, meaning, and direction for how brands are built and ultimately experienced in the real world.

I work with clients across commercial, cultural, and purpose-led sectors, often at moments of change or growth. My role is to help bring clarity, strategy, and direction before creative execution begins.

That might involve facilitating conversations with stakeholders, shaping brand positioning, defining messaging frameworks, or guiding the creative direction of identity systems across multiple touchpoints.

While I still work closely with design, it's the thinking that happens before the making that I love most. My sweet spot is helping teams align early so the work that follows is more coherent, intentional, and does what it needs to; making sure strategy feels aligned internally so it can resonate externally.

I value simplicity, clarity, and ideas that connect artfully to inspire change.

Currently based in Wellington, I’m open to strategic brand, creative direction, and advisory roles, as well as select project work where clarity and creativity are needed most.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with many great designers over the years and Vanessa tops them all due to being so well rounded. She has the design skills, people skills and the professionalism of a master. Her work enabled easier discussions with the internal team as they became excited about the new designs. We’ve had great feedback from customers and staff alike. The whole team loved working with Vanessa and I would recommend her to anyone seeking fantastic design work.”

Bryony Hall
UX Creative Director & UX Manager at BBC

“Not only does she produce amazing creative work but Vanessa is one of the most professional designers I have worked with. Vanessa always provides a full rationale alongside her creative work. This has made the decision making (between multiple awesome concepts) easier and helped communicate designs and concepts to stakeholders smoothly. Her work is so good we have also framed many of her designs and hung them on our wall.”

Tui Te Hau
Director of Public Engagement at National Library of New Zealand

“The best quality of Vanessa is her ability to efficiently gain an understanding of your organisation and what you are trying to achieve, so she is very clear on the objectives. From there she would present us with a variety of high level concepts of which one or more would be ‘pushing our boundaries’ or challenging us in a positive way. Often we would use some or all of a concept to enhance our proposition and challenge the norm in our market.”

Alex Bamford
General Manager, Bamford

American Express

ACC

ANZ Bank

Bacardi Martini

Converse

Foodstuffs

Floating Rock

Goodnature

Inland Revenue Department

Kiwibank

Lacoste

Loyalty NZ

Lexus

Manatu Wahine Ministry for Women

Meta (Facebook)

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

National Library of New Zealand

New Zealand Post

Nixon

Pacific Cooperation Foundation

Proctor & Gamble

Reebok

Spark (Telecom)

Tiger Beer

Trilogy

Toyota

Vodafone

W. M. Bamford & Co.