While it can be demanding and hectic at times, Designer Christine Barraud says being part of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples Communications Media and Marketing team is hugely worthwhile.
The Senior Advisor for Design says her team laughs a lot and is constantly learning.
“I have learned so much about Pacific cultures – it’s a busy, yet, rewarding place to work,” Christine says.
While she was born in the United States, Christine’s parents stem from Taiwan.
Having majored in in Communication Design in New York, Christine says she has always been drawn to storytelling through design.
“This led me to working in television, film and continuing to branch out across all design disciplines.
“The common theme for me has been engagement with the viewer and the audience.”
Having worked with bicultural visitor experiences in New Zealand over the past eight years, Christine became intrigued by the challenge of leading communication design across multiple channels in nine Pacific languages at MPP.
She says MPP is the most culturally diverse place at which she has ever worked.
“The brand tells a tremendous story of migration which I personally relate to – with my parents migrating to the United States and me to New Zealand.
“I especially, love the work programmes for Pacific youth – these are truly motivating as I can visualise who our future leaders will be through some of our work.
“Coupled with what I would say is ‘the most vibrant brand guidelines of any New Zealand Ministry’ it allows for a lot of creativity in my work.”
Christine feels the work MPP – and the Communications and Marketing team – does, contributes to a more integrated and multicultural Aotearoa.
From a creative standpoint, Christine says she wants to continue carving out design systems which communicate clearly what the policy teams at MPP are working so hard to achieve.
“I feel like this is achieved daily.
“It can be a complex work programme, so establishing order and clarity through design, to connect to as many people as possible in and out of government, is my constant goal.”
The MPP Communications and Marketing team has vacancies up for grabs.
Roles are advertised here, and keep watching as our team will be growing over the coming months. If you, or someone you know is interested in working at MPP – reach out to us at [email protected]