The creative team at WOODS Agency have been named as finalists for an unprecedented eight entries across five categories at the Best Design Awards 2022.
The awards, presented by the Designers Institute of New Zealand, recognise the best creative work produced throughout Aotearoa and Australia in the past 12 months.
Based in Mount Maunganui and Tairāwhiti Gisborne, WOODS Agency is the only regional agency to place as a finalist.
Founder and Managing Director, Reuben Woods, says the team is delighted to be shortlisted for many award categories during what has been a challenging year for the economy.
“Entering these awards was important for our team and our clients. We know that we create world-class strategies and creative, and the results for our clients have been outstanding. This is a testament to our teams’ talent and the willingness of the businesses we work with. It also shows how successful the business environment is in the regions,” he says.
“Key to this success is our open and collaborative relationships with our awesome clients. This established trust allows the team to push the boundaries and create outstanding creative with real impact,” says Woods.
WOODS Agency specialises in partnering with brands driving meaningful social and behavioural change in Aotearoa.
“The organisations that we’ve worked with on the projects in the finals are purpose and impact driven, these are the brands and the people that we love to work alongside. They share our aims to take action around culture, community, people, well-being and sustainability. We’re setting out to use our creativity to be a catalyst for good, to build a better future for whānau and whenua,” says Woods.
Some of the clients included in the awards entries this year include the Western Bay of Plenty District Council whose colourful rebrand by WOODS, the first in 30 years for the organisation, is a finalist in the Large Brand Identity and the Colour Award Graphics categories. The team created an inspirational, timeless brand which reimagined the Kiwiana concepts central to the WBOPDC’s original look while adding a human feel to link the organisation to the community.
Woods is particularly proud of the work the team put into branding for the Young Innovator Award (YIA), a finalist for both the Small Brand Identity and the Public Good Award.
“YIA is close to our hearts. We co-founded the programme 12 years ago to foster a culture of innovation amongst rangatahi in our region and remain major sponsors of the annual event.
“We were excited to have the chance to rebrand YIA for the first time since its inception. We wanted to reflect both the changing world our rangatahi are living in and the opportunities these changes create to express themselves through innovation,” says Woods.
“It’s the icing on the cake to be placed in the finals for this type of mahi, and this means so much to our whole team.”
The WOODS team will have to wait until early October when the Best Awards are presented to find out if their eight finals placings evolve into category wins.
“Placing as the only finalists outside of the main centres is a huge honour. We’d love to take the win too – but we’re just excited for our clients to see their brands come out on top of so many others throughout the country,” says Woods.
WOODS are finalists for their work in the following categories:
- Western Bay of Plenty District Council: Finalist Large Brand Identity & Colour Award Graphics
- Ōtūmoetai College: Finalist Large Brand Identity & Colour Award Graphics
- Young Innovator Awards: Finalist Small Brand Identity & Public Good Award
- Pāpāmoa Boardriders Club: Finalist Small Brand Identity
- WOODS Christmas Gift 2021: Finalist Self Promotion
