Catherine Griffiths b.1966

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An independent designer with a passion for typography, I work in both Wellington, New Zealand and Paris, France, for selected clients and on my own projects. I graduated in 1986 with a diploma in Visual Communication Design from Wellington Polytechnic’s School of Design, then spent my first nine years as a designer in London and Wellington. Since opening my own studio in 1995, projects have included a mix of exhibition and book design, arts-related projects, corporate branding and design, and working with typography in public spaces, architecture and the landscape.

My work extends into education – workshops, lectures and assessments. Occasional panelist, juror (including for the 2007 D&AD Global Awards for typography), and speaker at design and typography conferences in New Zealand, Australia ((x)periment), Finland (ATypI Helsinki), UK (Fast Type, Slow Type) and the Alaska Design Forum lecture series. In collaboration with Typevents Italy, I organised TypeSHED11, a boutique five-day international typography symposium held in Wellington, New Zealand, during February 2009.

My response as a typographer and designer is shaped by an appreciation for content and meaning, the written word, and the image. Space, light, sound, materials and the landscape environment are recurring elements in my recent projects. I work with people who are passionate about what they do and are supportive of good ideas, where the relationship is based on mutual trust and respect, resulting in work that is intuitive and goes beyond the expected.