Annie Dow, the founder and owner of two of NZ’s leading brand and design agencies Dow Goodfolk and Brother Design, was awarded the DINZ Black Pin for Outstanding Achievement to design at the Best Awards in Auckland. The Designers Institute Black Pin for Outstanding Achievement is given to the individual who has made a lasting contribution to the design profession and to design in general.
In making the award to Annie Dow, Cathy Veninga, CEO of FDINZ, 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 has been a leading industry voice championing the work of the design community, and her mantra of ‘Design delivers value’ is legendary within the industry. Annie is a passionate and vocal expert on the value of branding and believes creative and strategic excellence brings clients a healthy return on their investment.
Prior to founding Dow Goodfolk in 1994 with her late husband Greg, Annie worked in Sydney and London. This international experience included a period as Art Director at the London Stock Exchange and at Pentagram, where she discovered her passion for product and brand. Dow Goodfolk originally specialised in the FMCG space and over the years they have designed some of NZ’s most well-known brands, many of which were profiled during their recent 25th anniversary celebrations. Today they continue to be seen as a highly regarded strategic brand and design agency, consistently delivering commercially and creatively successful work for their wide roster of clients across the FMCG, consumer and corporate sectors.
Ten years after founding Dow Goodfolk, Annie and Greg started Brother Design as a sister agency to Dow Goodfolk with a mandate to deliver world-class brand and packaging design. To this day it remains true to its original focus on the FMCG environment, using design to help brands succeed by giving them a genuine competitive edge. Brother is today a highly awarded agency, working on some of NZ’s most loved grocery brands.
Like one of her favourite designers Phillipe Starck, Annie Dow feels privileged to be working in the creative services industry, where she aims to make life easier for people. Through their simplicity, Starck’s designs are user-friendly Annie says. “He likes to create simplicity and being simple and effective with little clutter is the Dow Goodfolk philosophy”.
She adds: “Through this clarity of approach, combined with an insights-led philosophy that puts the customer at the heart of everything we do, we have developed a method of working with our clients that consistently delivers on their investment.”
A final word, from Cathy Veninga, who has admired Annie throughout her career. “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.”
