Johannes Bay

I am an independent designer, qualitative researcher and strategist specialising in locally-grounded brands, products and services.

I work freelance with clients across consumer goods, culture and technology.

My strategic design practice is grounded in deep, ethnographic research, humanist synthesis and a medium-agnostic approach to prototyping, meeting consumer needs meaningfully and granularly enough to compete in the extreme market conditions of today.

Most recently I worked with DayMonthYear, building their strategy and research practice, and for clients including Anew, Hedera, Bridgewest Ventures, WE-AR, Standard Issue and Eternal Blue.

Previously, as 21e8’s first Product Design Lead, I researched and developed next-generation interface and infrastructure form-factors for the company’s distributed network technology.

I spent my early career working in high-end food and beverage, including at Empirical Spirits, restaurant Noma’s MAD symposium, for Master of Wine Stephen Wong, and at Restaurant Amass, Relae and Attica.

I continue to be involved through orium.earth, LONDO and Table Wine.

I hold a Bachelor of Design degree in Visual Communication Design from Toi Rauwhārangi Massey University and a Master of Science in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

I am a part of Phenomenon 1, an insights and strategy outfit, estate, an office for software design, and the Southern Institute, a design company incubating Aotearoa New Zealand-specific consumer goods.

I am a member of the Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa (ASAA) and form­erly a co-organiser of POST.design and the Society for Experiential Graphic Design’s (SEGD) Off Grid conference.

I have given guest lectures in food design and on ethnographic research for design at the University of Auckland as well as in product design at the University of Canterbury.