Expertise in creative leadership, design & brand experience
Kia ora, I’m Michael Kelly, a Creative Lead and Marketing Designer with a passion for bringing ideas to life. My approach to design has been shaped by curiosity, problem-solving, and understanding how to craft purpose-driven stories.
Creative upbringing
Creativity has always been my way of making sense of the world. My earliest paintings—ocean blue, vibrant green, and earthy brown—reflected my respect for the environment before I could even put it into words. Art, storytelling, and problem-solving were always intertwined through painting, theatre, or large-scale creative projects.
A formative experience came during primary school when we collected and recycled aluminium cans to raise money for our end-of-year activity. A classroom leaderboard tracked who collected the most, and I was determined to stay ahead. After watching rugby games in New Plymouth with my father, we’d gather discarded beer cans, stuffing them into large black bags to bring home. At first, I crushed them manually with my foot, but when we got a hand-lever crusher, I found ways to make the process even more efficient—stacking three or four crushed cans on top of each other to condense them down further.
Each can was carefully counted and recorded on the classroom blackboard weekly, reinforcing a sense of competitiveness and strategy. Without realising it, I developed problem-solving skills—thinking about processing efficiency, supply and demand, and alternative ways to collect more. This experience also sparked an early awareness of sustainability and the value of repurposing waste, an idea that would later resurface in my design work.
By the time I reached high school, I was unknowingly developing my visual storytelling skills. In 1998, I won the cover design competition for our school’s yearbook, Peak. Our school’s Māori studies block, Te Hāpai Ō, was tragically destroyed in a fire that year. My design—a torn white surface revealing layers of koru underneath—became more than just an illustration; it symbolised resilience and remembrance. Without realising it at the time, I was learning how design could evoke emotion and tell a deeper story.
High school expanded my creative toolkit
In 1999, I developed a four-panel visual arts board themed around children’s toys, refining my sense of form and composition. By 2001, my mixed-media work explored the Taranaki landscape, integrating topographic mapping and contour lines to visualise identity and connection to place. These projects weren’t just technical exercises but explorations of how design could express ideas and engage an audience. My efforts were recognised academically, earning me first in Art during Year 11 and again in Year 13, alongside first in Graphics and another Peak magazine cover design award.
Theatre became another avenue for storytelling and developing my leadership skills
I performed in Badjelly the Witch, and There Was an Old Woman, stepping into these roles and learning how movement, costume, and stage design could bring a story to life. Later, I participated in the Smokefree Stage Challenge—a national competition where high school teams choreographed performances to contemporary music. In 2001, I played a key role in shaping the overall production, contributing to the creative direction, costume design, and painting the backdrops and props. I even experienced working with a local radio station to mix our soundtrack professionally. The competition recognised my contributions with a Student Achievement Award for Design. These moments taught me the power of collaboration—how creative ideas could come together through teamwork, planning, and execution.
That hands-on approach extended to event design. For our school ball, themed A Night at the Oscars, I transformed the venue into a Hollywood-inspired setting, painting palm tree cut-outs and crafting a custom Walk of Fame with every senior’s name etched into a star. It was another lesson in how design can shape an experience, create engagement, and leave a lasting impression.
These formative experiences shaped my creative mindset—one that values problem-solving, storytelling, and design as a communication tool. They set the foundation for my career, leading me to Massey University’s Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, where I spent four years refining my craft in visual communication.
My Honours project further developed these themes, exploring capitalism and sustainable living. I designed and developed four seed packaging concepts, each featuring a unique plant variety that would intrigue growers with its shape, colour, or texture. The packaging reflected circular design principles, unfolding in a motion, revealing different layers of the growing process—biodegradable strips, planting conditions, harvesting, and composting. It was a tangible expression of my interest in how design can inform, engage, and inspire action.
Looking back, there’s a clear throughline
My first painting used a nature-inspired colour palette. My high school artworks expressed identity through painted landscapes, and later in my professional career, I worked on environmental projects like LAWA and Wildbase.
Each step reinforced my belief that design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about shaping understanding, fostering connection, and driving change.
Awards
2024 New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards
Supreme Award and Impact Award
Kāhui Irarau visual identity was recognised as a contributing initiative alongside others.
2021 Best Design Awards
Public Good Award – Finalist
A message from 2040
2019 Red Dot
Design Concept Award
Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery
2019 Best Design Awards
Nga Aho Award – Finalist
Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery
Public Good Award – Finalist
Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery
User Experience Award:
Empowering – Finalist
Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery