Maraea is a recent graduate from Victoria University’s design school with a string of accolades: she was the recipient of both a Victoria University of Wellington Taihonoa Scholarship and a Victoria Achiever Scholarship. After seeing her impressive portfolio, Ocean snatched her up and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. She has a bucket load of raw talent across design and illustration. Watch this space - she’ll tell us something funny once she’s settled in more.

Sam defies labels. Ocean's renaissance man, he is equally at home helping a client formulate a complex digital brief as he is building a wall in our offices. Nearing 15 years at Ocean, Sam has built an unmatched level of trust and respect with our clients as an agile and dedicated problem solver. Extremely pragmatic, Sam holds an unerring eye on the future and the implications this may hold for Ocean and our clients. He once had a pet chicken called Chooky. Don't ask.

Frances has applied her great attention to detail over a broad range of clients: from not-for-profits such as Sir Peter Blake Trust and Paralympics New Zealand, to large corporates like Westpac, DB Breweries and Hotels.com. She also had a stint working client side at Unilever developing account strategy plans for some of their biggest brands. She’s now lending her Project Management skillset to Ocean and our clients to facilitate great relationships and above all, results.

Our Cultural Consultant, Anthony is highly skilled in Tikanga and fluent in Te Reo. He helps Ocean and our clients to engage with Mana Whenua and Iwi where needed to gain Māori community input and insights. His wisdom, mana and inclusiveness creates powerful connections. From the small town of Pōrangahau, population 250, Anthony grew up with a love of Elvis. ‘All shook up?’. We are!

Anna brings a wealth of experience in client liaison and account services to our Ocean team. She’s honed her talents over a diverse and highly practical background: from marketing farm machinery, to managing a YouTube account for an electrical manufacturer - she’s done it all. Anna’s a highly skilled communicator who works with a calm, attentive and meticulous approach. Originally from Denmark, she boarded the wrong ferry one day and ended up in New Zealand. We’re extremely grateful.

Designer, Matt works effortlessly across design and technology. Matt's work transcends established forms of design. His creative problem-solving is helping our clients communicate in more innovative and spellbinding ways. Matt loves creative coding as a means to explore and bring data, digital, and design together. Matt is a surfer. Enough said.

Frankie loves a good story. An exceptional storyteller, her special sauce is a mix of curiosity and asking questions, but most of all, listening. As Ocean’s in-house writer she’s here to solve complex design challenges with smart strategic content. Experienced at creating content for different channels and platforms, she’s written for websites, social media and eDMs and print. Frankie loves nothing more than a kōrero about kai – don’t be surprised if she asks you what you’re making for dinner.

Design Advisor, Clare is a deeply experienced designer who works alongside our clients to help them define and solve their problems. So while you won’t see Clare on the tools, you will see her questioning, listening and understanding. A deep thinker, Clare is a reliable and trusted sounding board for our clients. A second time mum, Clare fills her non-working time looking after her her three children. Sorry Brett, her two children.

Taylor comes to us from Victoria University of Wellington, with a diverse background in International Business, Marketing Management, Education and hip-hop dance. She brings this unique melange of skills to Ocean as Executive Assistant and all-round Ocean Activator, hustling the everyday rhythm of the office and the team.

Rhueben’s an alumni of Ngā Pae Māhutonga - the Massey School of Design. He brings an intuitive approach to his practice, with a strong belief in the power of prototyping through scribbles and sketching. This makes him adept at conveying complex ideas through compelling narrative - bringing our clients stories to life through their visual identity. Outside of work, he’s a spear-fishing free diver. We’d call him our Aquaman but that seems too obvious.

Darryl is an experienced creative and brand strategist who has worked for some of the world’s largest creative agencies. He cares deeply about developing solutions that drive results for our clients. With a huge talent in bridging brand thinking with Tikanga Māori value sets to develop powerful, effective and meaningful brands, Darryl brings enormous depth to our kaupapa. We are so privileged to have him as part of the team. Ka mau te wehi DJ!

Designer, Hannah honed her design skills working in different studios around the world, before coming full circle back to Wellington. She’s pretty keen on all things design - from a beautiful typeface through to a carefully considered annual report. She loves the small details of design craft and the creativity required to solve problems through design. Hannah is currently renovating her house and spends her free time making things from clay. You could say she is a bit potty. We wouldn’t dare.

Matt is Ocean’s creative leader. He brings the depth of critical design thinking and design craft needed for brand or product development, yet also understands the creative vision required for large, complex communication campaigns. Matt works effortlessly across mediums and disciplines, from animation and film, branding and packaging, to event and spatial design. While he may be a boy from the country, Kaipara in fact, he is a bit of a renaissance man. With a taste for craft beer.

Jaz is our Account Director, responsible for building stellar client relationships. Over 11 years in the creative industry with previous clients from FinTech to fashion, her wide range of experience is matched only by her smile. She’s got a real knack for managing creative teams and is skilled in delivering solutions across the whole branding gamut - all the way from identity to execution. She delivers excellent work and - as a dyed-in-the-wool millennial - is passionate about smashed avocado.

Owner of Ocean, Blair has over 25 years' experience as a designer. He believes that design in its purest form is a problem-solving process, and that is what our clients need from us. Be it branding or communication design, the principles remain the same. Focus on and understand the people who the design will touch, and then, and only then, may you actually have a chance of succeeding. Speaking of success, Blair is a lifelong Liverpool supporter.