Designworks Wellington Appoints Dan Mercer as Creative Director

Designworks Wellington – part of STW - has added to its creative firepower with the appointment of Dan Mercer as Creative Director.

Mercer starts at the Wellington agency on January 5 next year, and will partner with Managing Director Guy Vasey and Head of Innovation Chris McDermott to ensure continued growth of the Wellington office.

Vasey said the past 12 months had seen the studio in Wellington “significantly enhance its experience design and service innovation capability”.

“Identifying a strong creative leader aligned to this strategy and the rapidly changing client needs was critical for success,” he said.

“It’s been an exhaustive search but patience has paid off. In Dan we've found a genuine design thinker who shares our passion for creating brilliant user experiences. Dan’s diverse experience will be an exciting addition to the re-energised Wellington team and brings valuable experience for clients across the Designworks group.”

In his new role, Mercer will be responsible for leading the Wellington design team, bringing more than 20 years of experience.  He most recently worked as Creative Director with independent consultancy Purpose in Sydney, and has also been Team Leader with STW’s Moon Group, Head of Art at Naked Communications and spent more than 10 years at Seven in Auckland. His category experience is broad and includes the full spectrum of large corporates, small boutique brands and not-for-profit.

Says Jef Wong, Group Creative Director: "We see Dan as the total designer, ideas driven, business savvy with a real unique ability to simply capture the essence of a brand with a beautiful aesthetic. It’s great to have Dan as part of the team.”

Mercer said he has admired the Designworks ethos and commitment to not sit still or accept the status quo, and relentlessly craft every job big or small from start to finish.

“Designworks never stops pursuing excellence for brands and embracing innovation and fresh thinking. I can’t wait to get stuck in with Jef, Guy and Chris and the whole team in Wellington and the other five offices across the region.”

Designworks, the region's leading strategic design and customer experience practice with offices across New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia, is part of the STW Group, Australasia's leading marketing content and communications group.