Unique hand drawn illustrations lend an almost whimsical aspect to Kate Cregoe’s stunning design work. This young designer and illustrator is making a name for herself with her newly launched bespoke design studio.
Living in Mangamahu, Whanganui, where she and partner Grahame are leasing a block, Kate hasn’t let the remote location stop her from chasing her dreams. When the couple first moved to the property there was no internet and Kate made a daily trek to the top of a hill, where she had a tent set up, in order to hotspot her laptop and check emails.
Growing up on a sheep and beef farm in Hawke’s Bay, Kate says she has always been a bit of a free spirit, and loved roaming and exploring the hills. “I wasn’t the healthiest of kids and spent a lot of time helping dad on the farm and reading National Geographics and books – that got the ball rolling wanting to explore and create.”
She studied design at Massey University in Wellington and did an exchange to the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee, Scotland, which further fuelled her desire to travel and discover new things.
Graduating amidst a COVID affected world, Kate knew she was a country girl at heart and didn’t want to give up her dogs and horses to move to the city. A stint shepherding followed and she decided to launch her own design business, which gives her the opportunity to work from the environment she loves so much.
This coincided with the move to Mangamahu at Christmas last year, and Kate thrives on the mix of design and farm work. “Just doing design work all the time isn’t very sustainable for my creativity to flow. I’ve found all my creative ideas come to me when I’m mustering or shifting breaks. When I’m thinking and moving outdoors is where I get my best creative output.”
Describe yourself in 3 words: Adventurous, creative, caring
Tell us about your design style and medium of choice? I’m very much an illustrative-based graphic designer. I love to bring in an authentic nature to make graphic design more personal and unique. Story telling through the whole journey of making marks and making it one-off. I do ink illustrations and scan them into the computer. I’ve been exploring woodcuts and paint, water colour and ink. I’m still working out my favourite medium. I sometimes find a certain medium is better for different clients, so I’m navigating it as I go.
Favourite part of the design process? That’s a tricky one. Each process is so different, sometimes I go off into little pathways, but I do love the concepts stage. Getting to know the person and their story, and working out how I can incorporate everything through the concept and design stages, and experimenting with the best one to tell their story.
What inspires you? I love going on adventures, which comes back to where I get a lot of my ideas, reflecting in my own space. Being outdoors, reading books, and a lot of art history. When I was overseas, I used to spend hours in natural history museums looking at colours and form. It sounds quite nerdy, but I love them! If I wasn’t a designer I think I’d explore the natural history pathway.
Best advice you’ve ever received? Mum and dad reinforced the belief that if there’s a will, there’s a way. If you really want to do something, just go out and make it happen.
Life’s too short to pursue something you don’t want to do. A lot of my family have had quite intense health journeys and that led me to jump straight in and go off on my own. I love that every day I feel like I’m learning so much through trial and error.
What are the challenges of working remotely? Wifi has been the biggest hurdle. I was determined to make it work, but connecting to people and checking emails is the only way I can do my job. We are smack bang in the middle of nowhere, so rural connectivity is definitely a challenge. I ended up hot-spotting my phone to my laptop in a tent on top of a hill, which allowed me to check emails, do my online marketing and form those connections you need. Often a tree would come down and I’d have to walk to the top of the hill, a 2km hike, because I couldn’t take the quad, and I would question what I was doing! Once I got wifi everything became easier and I really appreciated the ability to have an online connection.
I actually enjoy the isolation, from a creative perspective. I’m a very introverted person, being in nature and being in space is good for me.
What have you learned from starting a business? I feel like I’ve learned so much just from doing, and the process of working it out. There’s no right time, I feel, you just have to jump in and that’s when it works itself out. I was shepherding and at my age and stage it probably didn’t seem like the best time to start my own business but I just thought, why not?
I got a business mentor, which has been so helpful. It’s easy to get caught up in the detail and having someone looking in from the outside, they can see the bigger picture. I’m more creative and visual than financial or business minded and I knew that was an area I needed guidance in. I Googled business courses and advice locally when we were still in Hawke’s Bay, and the Hawke’s Bay Business Hub at Ahuriri was amazing. They helped me with my business plan and when I moved to Mangamahu they suggested I register with Business Mentors New Zealand, who connected me with someone locally. My mentor, Greg Nixon, is in the tech business space and was great with setting up Xero and focusing me on practical elements of business. I’m quite an emotional person and can overlook important details. He’s great at holding me accountable to my goals, too.
Also, try to absorb as much information about your industry as possible, whether it’s through reading books or keeping in touch with industry developments.
What’s one thing you can’t live without? My horses. It’s like my form of meditation. If I’m tired or stressed or a bit overwhelmed they just seem to fix all my problems.
What are you reading/listening to? I love podcasts, books and audio books. I enjoy the Tom Bilyeu podcasts, the topics range from business to health to personal growth, and also the Rich Roll podcast.
My favourite book that I’ve re-read a few times is The 5am Club by Robin Sharma. It’s really cheesy, but really good.
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