Public Engagement

The public engagement campaign for the flag consideration project officially kicked off with the launch of the standfor.co.nz site this week.

The site is primarily set up to collate answers from New Zealanders responding to the question “what do we stand for?” The purpose of which, it appears, will allow trends and common values to rise, reflecting the sentiment around the possible change in flag. The intention is then, that these insights could help guide designs for those considering submitting a concept.

By highlighting key values you can already search and discover popular terms such as; “equality”, “freedom” and “change”. There’s a diverse range of responses associated to each term ranging from the eloquent to the offensive, as well as some especially hilarious posts, as any public internet forum will attract. It is no doubt keeping the team behind the site busy, as one post mentions; “You’re gonna get awfully tired moderating an entire nation of trolls”.

Kris Sowersby also made this comment about the process thus far:

This is like those cop shows where they ask people to phone in with details about a crime for reward money, and spend weeks dealing with the crank callers and bullshit artists.

Despite the rush of posts surrounding the launch, one of the secondary goals of the site appears to be the sharing function of suggested flag designs. A section of standfor.co.nz allows a user to upload a design and see it on a flag pole.

The Flag Pole

Speaking of flag poles, you can also get your name engraved on one as part of the engagement process. If you submit a response to the question “what do we stand for?” you get an option to have your name engraved on Te Pou Herenga Tangata: Our nation’s flagpole.

UPDATE 1: Despite conflicting opinions on the typeface used in the mock-up, the Stand For NZ Twitter account confirmed it is using Guardian Egyptian Headline¹. Sadly, that was not the news I was hoping for. I’m also still not convinced. Either way, it’s a weird choice considering the origins of the font.

UPDATE 2: The Stand For NZ Twitter account responded again with a further update clarifying the mock-up had defaulted to another font. It appears the intention was to use Guardian Egyptian Headline, however another typeface was displayed instead by error.

At this point it is fortunately still an artists impression of what the sculpture might look like. Hopefully a more appropriate typeface that reflects New Zealanders can be used to etch what we stand for into history.

Roadshows & Resources

Alongside the launch of the standfor.co.nz site, other details have been provided about the flag consideration project on the flag.govt.nz site.

The Flag Consideration Panel (FCP) will be travelling the country in a Toyota Hiace “to encourage all New Zealanders to share what they stand for at the nationwide roadshow, public workshops and hui.” Nothing is more New Zealand than Toyota, right? Barry Crump would be proud.

Considering the $640 per day rate the panel will get, that’s an expensive tour. I’ll be going along to the Wellington sessions in June to see what happens.

Find out when the Toyota Hiace and FCP will be visiting your town.

On a more positive note, it was impressive to see the material provided for schools to use in classrooms to encourage conversations about national identity, symbolism and the use of flags in our society.

In the resource document there’s also a timeline suggesting schools recreate the process by establishing their own judging panel, designing concepts and voting in their own referendums. I think this a great way to encourage and involve the generation likely to be most affected by a potential change. Involving the youth of New Zealand is an important and critical part of this process. They’re also represented on the Flag Consideration Panel by Stephen Jones, an Invercargill Youth Councillor.

You can read the document on the Ministry of Education site.

Finally, if after all of that it’s not clear what the difference between the two sites is; standfor.co.nz is for public engagement and flag.govt.nz is for submissions / general information.

The Flag Consideration Panel

In February the Flag Consideration Panel (FCP) was announced by the Government. The panel of sports stars, business leaders and individuals, representing Maori, the military, New Zealand youth and academia will somewhat controversially be paid $640 per day to help select up to four flag designs from public submissions.

A group of MPs provided nominations for the FCP in December last year. Details about the criteria and make-up of the panel were outlined in the cabinet paper quoted below:

The FCP members will be the “face” of the New Zealand Flag discussion (well-known New Zealanders are likely members), and should represent a cross-section of New Zealand society, with members reflecting the following criteria, and having an understanding of all that goes to make up New Zealand’s sense of national identity:

national geographic coverage;
Maori representation;
representation of Pacific Island and ethnic communities;
a variety of age groups; and
gender balance.

The most controversial part of the announcement from the design industry’s point of view was not seeing one of our own on the panel. The Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) expressed their concern about the lack of design representation on the FCP, however their written request to the Government was unsuccessful. You can read more about their efforts in this email sent to DINZ members.

As DINZ state in their email, it is disappointing, however there are some positive signs in the appendix outlining the process the Government will take regarding design representation. Throughout the submission phase (May 4th – August 21st 2015) the FCP will “seek input from flag and other design and Tikanga Maori experts” before presenting designs and preparing them for the referendum in November.

A great place for the FCP to find design professionals with appropriate experience would be the Best Awards judging panel. The experience of critiquing design work and judging the submissions quality and craftsmanship seems like an excellent skill to add to the process.

Below is the announcement and list of people on the FCP.

The Government has appointed 12 New Zealanders as members of the Flag Consideration Panel which will engage with the public about a possible new New Zealand flag, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English says.

The panel will be chaired by former deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Canterbury Emeritus Professor John Burrows, ONZM, QC of Christchurch who was co-chair of the Constitutional Advisory Panel. Writer and reviewer Kate de Goldi of Wellington will be the deputy chair of the Flag Consideration Panel.

The other 10 members are:

Nicky Bell – CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and board director, Auckland
Peter Chin, CNZM – Former Mayor of Dunedin, director and trustee, Dunedin
Julie Christie, ONZM – Director of Julie Christie Inc. and board member, Auckland
Rod Drury – CEO of Xero and technology entrepreneur, Havelock North
Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM – Olympian, Commonwealth gold medallist, ASB Head of Talent & People Strategy, board member and trustee, Waitakere
Lt Gen (Rtd) Rhys Jones, CNZM – Former Chief of NZ Defence Force, Wellington
Stephen Jones – Invercargill Youth Councillor, Invercargill
Sir Brian Lochore, ONZ, KNZM, OBE – Former All Blacks captain, coach and administrator, Masterton
Malcolm Mulholland – Academic and flag historian, Palmerston North
Hana O’Regan – Academic, Maori studies and the reo Maori, Christchurch

— https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/flag-consideration-panel-members-announced

Guiding Principles

In the cabinet paper outlining the New Zealand flag redesign process, nine guiding principles are defined. They aren’t specifically principles to judge the flag design with, however they are suitable to use in critiquing the process.

I would have added a tenth point about excellence: the design must represent the very best of New Zealand culture and creativity.

The following principles should guide the overall process to consider changing the New Zealand Flag. The process should be:

independent: the process is as apolitical as possible, with multi-party support and public input into decision-making;
inclusive: all perspectives are invited and considered from within New Zealand’s diverse communities, including Maori as tangata whenua;
enduring: the outcome (whether change or status quo) is upheld and not revisited for a significant period;
well-informed: the public has access to information to enable it to make decisions;
practical: the process is workable, cost-effective, and implementation is possible;
community-driven: designs and suggestions come from the community;
dignified: the process upholds the importance of the flag as a symbol of our nationhood;
legitimate: all legislative and other requirements are followed; and
consistent with the Crown’s Treaty obligations.

— http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/all/files/publications/nzflag-process-cabinet-paper-october2014.pdf

Timeline

After a little bit of digging I’ve compiled a timeline of events surrounding the flag redesign process. There are plenty of steps required to redesign a country’s flag, so where possible I’ve summarised and grouped points by month.

To summarise, there is a consultation and legislation phase (to pass law), a design submission phase (to accept submissions), a judging phase (to shortlist designs), an education and advertising phase (to promote the designs / referendum) and a referendum phase (to vote).

2014

October: Cabinet paper submitted.
November: Cross party MP’s group (CPG) and project team (Secretariat) formed.
December: Flag consideration panel nominations submitted.

2015

January: CPG reviews draft bill / legislation.
February: Flag consideration panel announced.
March: Flag referendums bill passes first reading in parliment.
April: Public engagement process is approved.

★ May 4th – August 21st: Design Submissions

May – August: Input from design and Tikanga Maori experts provided.
May – August: Due diligence undertaken on potential designs.
August: Design submissions presented to FCP and Cabinet.
September: Cabinet approves flag designs and referendum ballot.
September – October: Public education campaign encouraging enrolment and advising New Zealanders on flag options.
October – December: Referendum advertising period.

★ November 20th – December 11th: Postal Referendum 1

2016

February – April: Public education campaign continues.
March – April: Referendum advertising period continues.

★ April 1st – April 22nd: Postal Referendum 2

You can see the above timeline in more detail in this appendix on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) website.

The key people and groups involved are the Minister responsible for the project, Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English, the Cross Party MP’s Group (CPG), the Flag Consideration Panel (FCP) and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretariat team.

Somewhat less interesting is my timeline and what I’ve been up to! Earlier in the year I left Xero and was fortunately able to time that with watching the Cricket World Cup in March. For most of April I’ve been researching and working on this site, so I’m excited about what I’ve got to share. From May I’ll be posting updates on a more regular basis as the submissions and flag redesign process ramps up.

Until then, you can follow me on Twitter or keep up-to-date with posts via the RSS Feed.

Introduction

Welcome to flagdesign.nz – a site dedicated to documenting the redesign of New Zealand’s flag. Curated by Dan Newman & Co. this site will collate examples, research and articles about the redesign in the lead-up to the referendums.

TL;DR – Everything to do with the redesign of the New Zealand flag. Hopefully.

Scene Setting

Whether or not a change of flag occurs, this site will document the process and share insights and opinions on the submitted designs, as well as the judging panel and their decisions. The role New Zealand’s design community and institutions like DINZ (Designers Institute of New Zealand) should play will also be discussed and no doubt debated at length due to currently being absent from representation on the panel and throughout the process so far.

The Design Process

The potential of a new flag provides a wonderful opportunity for a behind-the-scenes view into the design process. I hope that being transparent about how design can solve problems and create visual solutions to complex challenges will not only educate those who are unfamiliar with the process, but also help change perceptions about design; explain why crowdsourcing and spec work are controversial; and show that designers can have a significant impact in business and cultural institutions.

Design can be hard to appreciate and is often subjective. There’s also nothing like a flag to evoke differing opinions. Thankfully there are many ways to measure the success of design, which I’ll write about closer to the time of judging.

To give an example of what the design process looks like, I’ll share my attempt at a solution as openly as possible. I’m lucky to be in a position where designing something for no payment is financially manageable. However, for many people this isn’t the case. Most of the time, undertaking design work for free is not possible or recommended. That won’t stop plenty of people entering what is ultimately a competition for the reward of glory and exposure.

If the design community works together there’s a chance that the flag design process can take a different path from New Zealand’s recent currency and passport redesigns. If you’re part of the community, I hope you’ll speak up.

Cultural Research

I’ll be looking into the symbols that capture and reflect the culture and nation of New Zealand as part of the design process. These symbols no doubt will be seen in many of the submissions and some background on their importance and relevance will be an interesting way to partially judge the validity of a design. If you’re an expert in New Zealand culture and symbolism, I’d love to hear from you!

Previous Designs & Submissions

Over the last few years there have been several high profile attempts to promote new designs for the New Zealand flag. Some of these are worthy of consideration and will be reviewed and critiqued here. Many of these designers have made their research and approach public – this serves as a great resource for anyone who’s interested in the flag design process or is considering submitting a concept.

There will no doubt be an official site documenting submissions, but I’ll also highlight some of the flags submitted here.

The Panel & Politics

So far the National Government has announced the judging panel and the process that will be followed to review and vote on a new flag through two referendums. Thoughts on the panel and judging process have rightly struck a nerve with the design community in that there is currently no representation by a practising designer, or even better one who’s an expert in vexillography (the art of designing flags). To the Government’s credit, there is one flag historian amongst a range of New Zealand celebrities, sports stars and business leaders. Many have already commented it is comparable to creating a new national anthem without having a musician involved or commissioning a national stadium without an architect’s input.

I’ll do my best to avoid discussing individual party politics, instead looking at how the current climate has impacted on this process. For example, why do we need a change in flag now? Is it distracting us from other important decisions we should be voting on?

Whilst the flag design is considered, the governance of New Zealand continues day-to-day and like any other day it’s important to be aware of what our politicians are up to, what laws they are passing, and how they are representing our individual electorates. I encourage you to keep your eyes open and not just look at the shiny colours and fluttering of a new flag, but also the direction our country is heading in.

Finally, if there are any errors or information missing from any posts, please get in touch with your feedback and support. If you would like to contribute articles, ideas or anything related to the site, I’d love your help.