ELLEN&COMPANY TOPS DESIGN CATEGORY AT AUT AWARDS
BOUTIQUE DESIGN AGENCY ellen&company were awarded the Design and Creative Technology Support Award at this year’s AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards.
Founder-owner Mary Davy knows design reaps rewards. The eclectic studio space the company operates from in Newmarket’s café and design precinct holds a team with a huge depth of expertise. They live and breathe design, and their enthusiasm is evident in everything they do, she says.
Ellen&company differs from the usual design firm by really getting into what makes a client company tick. “We work by going deep into the customer’s needs, then using design thinking to engage with users to define any opportunities and potential problems,” explains Mary.
“This follows with exploration, ideation, prototyping and testing of solutions. This process can lead to a change in the way a business operates.”
The company then uses these findings, turning them into powerful tools for growing a business.
Brands, products and services bring a return on investment created through the articulation of strategies and key messaging that are true for all stakeholders – customers, owners, managers, staff, investors. Ellen&company create brands that have depth, meaning and truth – using both visual and verbal messages that resonate with everyone in an organisation and, importantly, pull the right people to a product or service.
So, recognising the value design brings to business, why do many businesses still fail to properly invest in design-led thinking?
Mary says a recent Value of Design report commissioned by the Designers Institute of New Zealand showed design brings $10.1 billion to New Zealand’s economy, or 4.2 percent of GDP. To put this in perspective, agriculture contributes $8.1 billion.
AUT Business School believes high quality support, such as ellen&company offers, is pivotal in enhancing business excellence in New Zealand.
“With such support, organisations are able to create more value in more sustainable ways, improving key points of difference – an important consideration in today’s ever-competitive business arena,” says Professor Kate Kearins, Dean of AUT Faculty of Business, Economics and Law.