Kiwi Bacon is, well, uniquely Kiwi…  That’s why we were so proud when their key partner Patoa Farms were awarded a top New Zealand honour and named South Island Farm of the Year for 2014.

As the chief judge Nicky Hyslop put it “They (Steve & Josie Sterne) demonstrated it is possible to achieve at the highest levels of farming technology and business management in an outdoor free-roaming stock operation.”

But that’s nothing Kiwi Bacon didn’t already know, as they source all their product from Patoa Farms, using it to make their delicious top quality New Zealand free-farmed bacon.  And to hammer home that point, and to remind all Kiwi’s just how good Kiwi Bacon is, we also gave the pack a bit of a facelift.

Nothing too radical.  A bit of simplification, de-cluttering and a lighter, brighter touch to give it the respect it deserves. Just like their award winning farming partners, Patoa Farms, really.

More to the story, coming soon.

We partnered up with Q Theatre recently to work on an identity for their new membership program, The Q Heroes. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed working with them. I think its safe to say we all think Q is a wonderful part of the Auckland creative community and we love supporting them any way we can. Here's some shots from the night, find out more on Q's website, here.

Sticking to their traditional ice cream making techniques and staying close to New Zealand’s fruit bowl that is the Hawke’s Bay, has really paid off. Not only has Rush Munro’s been accepted into Foodstuffs South Island and Progressive Supermarkets for the first time, it has also been crowned the Supreme Award winner for a Boutique Manufacturer at the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards 2014.

For anyone who has tried Rush Munro’s, none of this comes as a surprise. And for us at Dow, it makes us so proud that a few more New Zealanders will now get the chance to taste what all the fuss is about. Once you have, we’re confident you’ll never go back.

Orb was crowned Supreme Winner at the Huhtamaki New Zealand Coffee Awards 2014. Our congratulations to Scott Pepler, Sean Wiggans and the team at Cerebos, it is a triumph of creativity, imagination and conviction.

The idea for Orb from Scott and Sean was pretty simple, to create a coffee range perfectly tailored to what coffee lovers wanted, and how they used it. Just the best beans, grown at a global sweet spot of latitude, longitude and altitude. No expense or effort was spared in the process. And in the words of Instaurator, the head judge of the Huhtamaki New Zealand Coffee Awards, “New Zealand coffees could hold their head high when compared to the rest of the world”. We think so too, and are so proud to have had a little hand in helping to create, one of the world’s best damn coffees. Look for the packaging, that’s nearly as striking as the coffee inside, next time you’re in a supermarket. Like all things precious, it’s the one in the small packs.

For a full list of the awards won by Orb — see the announcement here.

Dow Design is now 21 years old. Can you tell me why you set up the business at that time?

My late husband Greg and I saw a gap in the New Zealand market for a boutique brand design business. Greg had an account service background and I had a design background and we saw that as a complementary match, covering the two key skills needed for a brand design business.

We grew quickly and established some key clients who've been with us for the entire ride. It's been a fantastic journey growing and evolving alongside them.

How has the company changed or adapted over the years?

The marketing industry has changed dramatically and we've really fought to stay ahead of the curve. For our clients and the agencies we work alongside, the changes have been even more profound. The internet has brought fast-paced communications channels like social media, the mobile web and mobile apps, which have all had a big impact on the way we design.

But I think this has led to us producing some of our most innovative and creative work, too.

Something we do every five to seven years is employ an external strategic research partner to carry out market research for us. The scope of the research is to really rigorously examine our business, talk to business leaders to identify their challenges and look at international trends in marketing and design. The information we get from these research projects really informs our business on new opportunities and ways we can better our offering.

The most recent research led us to work on our own rebrand, which we're going to launch any day now, and we've also also adopted a content marketing strategy so we're 'walking our talk'.

Another thing I've done is brought in an advisory group to support us, and I've found that a really valuable way to work on the business rather than just in it.

There's no question we've found some of the shifts in the industry challenging, but I see that as an opportunity because it's meant we've had to look seriously at our offering and point of difference in the marketplace. This is what we do with our clients daily, and I think we'd be hypocrites if we weren't prepared to go under the microscope ourselves.

What factors do you think have contributed to your business' longevity?

We rigorously attend to our reputation, and as a service partner I think that's absolutely vital. No matter what industry our clients work in - the service sector, retail, FMCG, fashion or agriculture - we want to to deliver design that enables businesses to succeed in their markets. We take a lot of time to understand our clients issues and opportunities and we use design to be their problem solver.

We've grown and evolved alongside some of our key clients, sharing in their successes and nurturing sustainable, long term relationships. A number of our clients have worked with us for our entire 21 years and many have been with us for well over a decade.

What does the next phase of the business hold?

At present it does feel like we're a bit more short-term focused, because our clients face a world of flux themselves. I think that's even more reason to stick to our strengths, and so we're continually conveying the message that brand design is an ultimate driver of success in a fast moving and customer focused world.

We're looking to grow locally, going after the opportunities we identified in our research. We're also pitching to international clients on the back of recognition gained from some international awards. Most of our brand work is exported, and some reaches over 60 different markets so we're confident we have the abilities.

Source: NZ Herald.

The Auckland restaurant has been owned by the husband-and-wife team - chef Simon Wright and restaurant manager Creghan Molloy Wright - since 1999.

Mr Wright said although the award added to a string of accolades, this was one of the most important.

"It might turn out to be the biggest we've ever won," he said.

Because it was based on customer reviews, it made them feel they were on the right track.

"We've always prided ourselves on being a very customer-focused restaurant and never really worried about fashions."

Mr Wright said his staff, numbering about 27 including a beekeeper and a gardener, were amazing.

"Everyone who works here deserves this as much as me and Cregh, we certainly couldn't do this without them, it's very much a team effort."

In March, Herald writer Carroll du Chateau gave the restaurant a 10/10 review, saying it "occupies a category of its own for ambience, cuisine, wine and a brilliant team of French waiters who make you feel a million dollars".

The French Cafe's fourth place TripAdvisor rating meant its contemporary European cuisine was rated ahead of many Michelin-starred heavyweights.

"When I go down that list and I see all the people who are below us or with us they're all the people I truly admire," Mr Wright said. "I feel very privileged to be on it."

Born in England, Mr Wright trained in London working in some "very fashionable restaurants" and doing time at hotels, Michelin-star restaurants and with world-class chefs such as Marco Pierre White, before moving to New Zealand in his early 20s.

The French Cafe has won countless domestic awards, including the supreme award in the 2013 Restaurant of the Year Awards.

Source: NZ Herald.

In any New Zealand supermarket, the coffee aisle is a busy one, and there is no shortage of selection for the coffee-loving consumer. Beyond the aromas being squeezed from air locked packages, the array of brands, colours and hyperbolic claims is a heady mix.

The latest coffee brand to hit retail shelves is Cerebos Gregg’s ORB. Their aim for ORB is to push the boundaries and be “the best damn coffee in the civilised world”. ORB is established in cafes as a premium speciality coffee and the opportunity was there to take it into the growing premium fresh coffee category in supermarkets.

To establish ORB as a premium product “inside and out” Dow Design were briefed to ensure ORB packaging conveyed substance over style, standing out from the crowd. The ORB range needed prominent brand and packaging presence to achieve cut-through and also communicate the premium positioning it deserved.

“Starting with the blank canvas of a foil packaged trade-only product delivered to baristas who know their roasts, we eschewed fanciful graphics and dazzling colours,” 

“Instead the packaging is white, the font black, and branding uncomplicated. Space on the pack is utilised for informative and authentic information, communicating with the connoisseur, much like labels on fine wine.”

— Donna McCort, Creative Director

Rush Munro’s ice cream company was started in the Hawkes Bay, back in 1926 and today the ingredients and methods of manufacture have barely changed at all. Their all natural ice cream is still handmade, using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible.

With the owners looking to lift the profile, they wanted to ensure they had a strong brand foundation to drive their marketing. Having identified that premium ice cream packaging was extremely competitive, we noted most essentially said the same things in the same colours; “New Zealand”, “natural” and “premium”.  So we set out to create unique and authentic packaging that was true to the Rush Munro history.

Dow Senior Designer Tony Masterantonio visited Rush Munro’s production team and the company’s historic Ice Cream Gardens in Hastings, discovering all about their history and traditions. Driving around the Hawkes Bay, Tony was inspired by rustic hand-painted and chalkboard signs outside the orchards which supply ingredients for the ice cream and this was the starting point for the design.

New brand and packaging design will help Rush Munro’s to stand out and send a strong message of New Zealand made history and honest small business integrity.

For more details check out the article on NBR—Rebrand opens Foodstuffs' freezers

This L&P Sour Lemon project continues our relationship with L&P. Last year we designed an updated look for New Zealand’s iconic L&P, helping reposition it from laid back Kiwiana, to refreshing and contemporary kiwi icon (see left). The new design and associated campaign have proved very successful and sales have flourished.

For the new L&P Sour Lemon, a limited-release product designed to further drive awareness of L&P, our designers were unleashed and really got their creative juices flowing. We researched and selected the colour synonymous with sour, green! And to communicate the sour “kick” you get from drinking it, created the images of a lemon grenade and spikey-metal pierced lemon, images which say it all and more!

The street poster campaign to promote the limited release product, features our hero lemon wearing various “masks” as a playful campaign developed by L&P’s ad agency, Saatchi and Saatchi.