Prof Anna Brown staff profile picture

Contact details +6449793348

Prof Anna Brown BA(Hons), BFA, MDes

Director, Toi Aria - Design for Public Good

CoCA - Partnerships and Projects

 

Anna Brown is the founder and research lead of Toi Āria: Design for Public Good at Toi Rauwhārangi, College of Creative Arts. She believes design has a role to play in delivering public good and is interested in how conversations and community engagement can drive social change.

Toi Āria aims to connect organisations, communities and government with the views and needs of the ‘people most affected’. She is a Principal Investigator at Te Punaha Mātatini, Centre of Research Excellence. Professor Brown is a practising designer. She has completed commissions nationally and internationally with visual artists, curators, editors and musicians. 

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Professional

Contact details

  • Ph: +64 21 511 515
    Location: Shared CoCA workspace, Block 1 Te Whare Pūkākā
    Campus: Wellington

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Victoria University (1998)
  • Bachelor of Fine Arts - University of Canterbury (2002)
  • Master of Design - Massey University (2012)

Prizes and Awards

  • CHI 2019 Honourable Mention Award for paper: Toward Algorithmic Accountability in Public Services: A Qualitative Study of Affected Community Perspectives on Algorithmic Decision-Making in Child Welfare Services Anna Brown, Alexandra Chouldechova, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Andrew Tobin, Rhema Vaithianathan - ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems is the premier international conference of (2019)
  • Awarded USD 50,000 from the Social Impact Programme at SIGKDD to explore 'Community perspectives on the use of algorithms by Government: A pilot study of New Zealanders’ and Americans’ comfort with algorithmic decision-making in public services'. - SIGKDD (2018)

Research Expertise

Research Interests

I am a design researcher, educator and practitioner. Working across disciplines, subjects and forms my design research is articulated through diverse partnerships and varied collaborations. Recent explorations into how design for public good can be utilised for citizen engagement and as an agent of social change has expanded my practice to participatory design, public good, citizen engagement and design for deliberative democracy. I am the founder/director of the Toi Āria: Design for Public Good, a research group in the College of Creative Arts. I lead a small, adaptable team engaged in applied research projects, working with, or alongside, government agencies, and in partnership with community providers. 

I am a practising designer with an international profile in book design. My work investigates through iterative processes, form, materials and typography how the vehicle of the book can animate and amplify the content it contains. I have completed significant commissions to collaborate nationally and internationally with visual artists, curators, editors and musicians. 

Thematics

Design – for Commerce, Community and Culture

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Built Environment And Design (120000): Design Innovation (120302): Design Practice and Management (120300): Visual Communication Design (incl. Graphic Design) (120307)

Keywords

Participatory design; co-design; co-production; system design; trusted data; fairness & accountability; community acceptance; social licence

Book design, typography, narrative forms

Research Projects

Current Projects

Project Title: Te Pūnaha Matatini – PhD Scholarship for Coproduction project - Anjuli Muller

Date Range: 2022 - 2025

Funding Body: University of Auckland

Project Team:

Completed Projects

Project Title: Toi Mai – Toi Whānui Workforce Development Plan

Date Range: 2023 - 2023

Funding Body: Toi Mai Workforce Development Council

Project Team:

Research Outputs

Conference

Brown, A., & Muller, A. (2024, January). ‘Wrestling an octopus into a string bag' — the many tentacles of co-producing research. Presented at Limit / No Limit Art and Design Conference. Paris.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Brown, A.
Tan, M., Prasanna, R., Becker, J., Brown, A., Kenney, C., Lambie, E., . . . De Alwis, D.Outlook for earthquake early warning for Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from initiating a community-of-practice. . Christchurch
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Becker, J., Brown, A., Johnston, D., Kenney, C., Rahubadde Kankanamge, R., Stock, K., Tan, M.
Lambie, E., Brown, A., Mark, S., Parkin, T., Tobin, A., & Campbell, E.Participatory design approaches to city-shaping and building resilience. : 12th International Urban Design Conference
[Conference Paper in Published Proceedings]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Parkin, T.
Brown, A., Chouldechova, A., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Tobin, A., & Vaithianathan, R.(2019). Toward Algorithmic Accountability in Public Services A Qualitative Study of Affected Community Perspectives on Algorithmic Decision-Making in Child Welfare Services. Paper presented at the meeting of https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3290605.3300271. Glasgow, Scotland
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Brown, A.
Robinson, C., & Brown, A. (2018, March). New Zealand Value of Design Project. Presented at National Design Summit – Museum Applied Arts and Sciences
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., Bailey, J., & Kane, K. (2015, November). Public sector design. Presented at Helix: A symposium on the New Zealand Design DNA project. Wellington, New Zealand.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.Contributed to by: Bailey, J.
Brown, AE. (2014, October). Conversations in Book Design — Designing 'for' and designing 'with'. Presented at Art And Book Symposium. Dunedin School of Art.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., & Bailey, J. (2013, November). Design conversations: Design conservation. Presented at Design for Conservation Symposium. Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Brown, AE., & Thomas, PA. (2013, August). Brown, AE and Thomas, PA ‘Teaching book futures’. Impact 8; Borders and Crossings: The artist as explorer. International printmaking conference, 28 August – 1 September 2013, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland.. Presented at Impact 8; Borders and Crossings: The artist as explorer. International printmaking conference. Dundee, Scotland.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE., & Thomas, PA. (2013, August). When is a book not a book?. Presented at Impact 8; Borders and Crossings: The artist as explorer. International printmaking conference. Dundee, Scotland.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2012, November). The Social Book. Presented at Bibliographic Society of Australia and New Zealand Conference 2012. Centre for the Book, University of Otago.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Brown, A.

Journal

Martin, RA., Baker, AP., Smiler, K., Middleton, L., Hay-Smith, J., Kayes, N., . . . Brown, AE. (2022). Flourishing together: research protocol for developing methods to better include disabled people’s knowledge in health policy development. BMC Health Services Research. 22(1)
[Journal article]Authored by: Brown, A.
Tan, ML., Becker, JS., Stock, K., Prasanna, R., Brown, A., Kenney, C., . . . Lambie, E. (2022). Understanding the social aspects of earthquake early warning: A literature review. Frontiers in Communication. 7
[Journal article]Authored by: Becker, J., Brown, A., Kenney, C., Rahubadde Kankanamge, R., Stock, K., Tan, M.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., Mark, S., & Petty, MM. (2020). Assessing the economic value of New Zealand design. Journal of Design, Business and Society. 6(1), 7-20
[Journal article]Authored by: Brown, A.

Report

Brown, A., Smith, H., Parkin, T., & Donaldson, J. (2024). Te Pae Hononga: a journey of connection, 2022-2023.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A., Donaldson, J., Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Parkin, T.
Parkin, T., Tobin, A., Reade, A., Mark, S., & Law, M. (2021). Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand. (2020). Towards trustworthy and trusted automated decision-making in Aotearoa.. New Zealand.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., Mark, S., Millers, J., Parkin, T., Reade, A., & Tobin, A. (2019). Better later life: a pilot study of life experiences of New Zealand people aged 65+.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Parkin, T.
Mark, S., & Brown, A.(2019). Design's role in the New Zealand of the Future.
[Technical Report]Authored by: Brown, A.
Robinson, C., Mark, S., & Brown, A. (2017). The value of design to New Zealand summary report.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A.
Mark, S., Robinson, C., & Brown, A. (2017). The value of design to New Zealand. PwC.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., & Parkin, T. (2016). Designing for all: a national design challenge. Workshops summary and action plan produced in conjunction with Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Open Lab.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.
Tilley, EN., Page, W., Balasubramanian, R., O'Meara, R., Gee, S., Hazou, R., . . . Soma, J. (2014). It's my life: Evaluation report. School of English & Media Studies, Massey University.
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A., Hazou, R., Page, W., Tilley, E.Edited by: Tilley, E.
Brown, AE. (2013). Commissioned by Head of Digital at Radio New Zealand to produce a report based on research findings from a one week intensive 'Digital Presence Design Workshop' exploring how 'Radio New Zealand can become a truly live, multi-media web experience'..
[Commissioned Report]Authored by: Brown, A.

Creative Work

Brown, A., Cook, D., & Amery, M. (2023, February 20). Ko te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata / The People's Voice. (No. of Pieces: 16 exhibition panels, and a 32-page tabloid newspaper (print run of 30,000)) [Prints on light boxes 2668mm x 1065mm, newsprint 350mm x 280mm (closed)]. Wellington, New Zealand: Courtenay Place Light Boxes, 20 Feb 2023 - 2 July 2023.
[Exhibition]Authored by: Brown, A., Cook, D.
Brown, A., & Noble, A. (2023, September 19). whiteout whitenoise. [Multiple pages]. Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China, 19 Sep -25 Sep 2023.
[Exhibition]Authored by: Brown, A.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2023). Cover and internal system design for In the Temple by Catherine Bagnall and Jane Sayle. New Zealand: Massey University Press
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Parkin, T., Brown, A., & Tobin, A. (2022). Get vocal in your local: get loud about how decisions are made in your community.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.
Brown, A. (2021). Conversātīo — in the company of bees. New Zealand: Massey University Press
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., & Bailey, J. (2021). Cover and internal system design for On We Go by Catherine Bagnall and Jane Sayle. New Zealand: Massey University Press
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Brown, A., Parkin, T., Tobin, A., & Le Bas, T. (2017). Our Data, Our Way: What New Zealand people expect from guidelines for data use and sharing. New Zealand: Data Futures Partnership
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., & Parkin, T. (2017). Select All: a practical introduction to Inclusive Design for the New Zealand design community.. Wellington, New Zealand: Open Lab
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Parkin, T.
Brown, A. (2015). Grow Waitaha: Learners at the centre of change. Christchurch: Grow Waitaha and the Ministry of Education
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Brown, A., Boyd, N, ., Jerram, S, ., & Amery, M, . (2017). Our Future Masterton — Ahutahi ki mua.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE., & Boyd, G. (2016). Our Future Masterton.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2014). LAWA: Land Air Water Aotearoa. New Zealand
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.Edited by: Bailey, J.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2019). Environmental graphics for The body of the work / It does no harm to wonder Richard Reddaway retrospective exhibition at Aratoi, Masterton.
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Noble, A., & BROWN, A. (2017) 'whiteout whitenoise' (3). [Exhibition] IMAS / Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies Gallery, HOBART, Tasmania, Australia
[Artwork]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2017). No Vertical Song: Anne Noble. Melbourne: Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2017). Title design for The Changeover.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2016). The Glass Archive by Wayne Barrar. : Forrester Gallery, Oamaru and Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, Wellington
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2016). Abeille / Abbaye. Abbaye de Noirlac, France
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Noble, A., & Brown, A. (2016). whiteout, whitenoise. Penang, Malaysia
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.Contributed to by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2016). Trigger Points. Palitz Gallery, New York City, New York: Syracuse University Art Galleries, Syracuse and New York, USA
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Noble, A., & Brown, A. (2016, August 15). WHITEOUT WHITENOISE. [A multi-media installation including photographs and texts as suites of concertina pages (each page 253mm X 213mm), a riddle and a book box. WHITEOUT #1–#40 images of Antarctic light and illusory space. Pigment prints on matte paper. WHITENOISE #1–#60 excerpts from fiction and non-fiction sources that include metaphorical uses of the word white. The box is included in the exhibition as the vessel for the work]. Obscura International Festival of Photography, Penang, Malaysia.
[Exhibition]Authored by: Brown, A.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2016). Extraordinary Anywhere: Essays on Place from Aotearoa New Zealand. Editors: Lacey, C and Horrocks, I., Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Bailey, J., Brown, A., Wiseman, M., & Le Bas, T. (2016). Cover design system for Massey Texts (book series). Albany, New Zealand: Massey University Press
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Bailey, J., Brown, A., Le Bas, T., & Wiseman, M. (2015). Book series systems (five) commissioned by Massey University Press: Poetry New Zealand (2017); The Journal of Urgent Writing (2016); Massey Texts (2015); Land & Food Annual (2016) Thinking About: Objects from Te Papa (2017); Home: New Writing (2017) (multi-edition book systems). : Massey University Press, New Zealand
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2015). Virtually POP exhibition catalogue.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Parkin, T., Whitty, J., McQuillan, H., Holdaway, S., Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2015). Space Between online platform: sustainable fashion e-commerce strategies. Wellington, New Zealand: Space Between
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A., Parkin, T.
Bailey, J., Brown, A., & Jeppesen, T. (2015). Studio Pacific Architecture website. New Zealand
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Kane, KW., Robinson, C., Howie, M., & Parkin, T. (2014). Ask Away : Design & Democracy Project. Wellington
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2014). Te Papa Tongarewa book series. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Papa Press
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2014). Strange Terrain: A New Anthology of New Zealand Graphic Scores 1965-2012. Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press, Victoria University, Wellington
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2014). 'Twelve Years Later' — photographs by Simon Mark.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2014). 'Strange Baroque Ecologies — a book publishing performance'. City Gallery Wellington
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2013). Memory Symposium triptych: The Culture of Memory Symposium, Triggering Memory Symposium, and Reflex, Figment exhibition. London and York: University of College London, Syracuse University, York St John University, Massey University
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2013). College of Creative Arts website.
[Design]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2013). Strange Baroque Ecologies — A book publishing performance.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Bailey, J., Brown, A., & Kane, K. (2013). LAWA: Land Air Water Aotearoa (Phase 1).
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2013). The Cultures of Memory Symposium 2013. London and York
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2013). 'Tomb' by Kingsley Baird.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE., & Wu, R. (2013). Black Inc — One nation's identity, a global politic by Prudence Stone. Wellington
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE., & Adam, C. (2013). 'Iteration:Again — 13 public art projects across Tasmania', curated by David Cross.. New York: Punctum Books
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2013). Gone Forever — The story of Paremata's Hobson Street, author Bob Maysmor.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2013). Design of all collateral for the Strange Baroque Ecologies Symposium which was held at the City Gallery Wellington from 21-23 November 2013..
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, A. (2013). Bill Culbert: Front Door Out Back. Christchurch, New Zealand: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE. (2010). Typographic artists book and slip case to accompany Prof. Anne Noble (OBE)'Whiteout Whitenoise' photographic exhibition at Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland. Hand bound by master bookbinder Barbara Schmelzer (Melbourne) with slip case.
[Design]Authored by: Brown, A.
Noble, A., & Brown, A.'whiteout whitenoise' (2). [Exhibition] Project Space Spare Room Gallery, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
[Artwork]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE.(2011). 'Pacific Dreams' a short film by David Strong. [Film/DVD: Art Director. Duration: 12 minutes]. Wellington, New Zealand
[Film or Video]Authored by: Brown, A.
Brown, AE.(2010). 'Eternity' 2011 (post production) New Zealand Feature Film written and directed by Alex Galvin. [Art Department]. Wellington, New Zealand: Eternity Productions
[Film or Video]Authored by: Brown, A.

Book

Tan, ML., Brown, A., Stock, K., Becker, JS., Kenney, C., Lambie, E., . . . Prasanna, R. (2023). ‘Balancing human needs with technology’1—a design-led approach for exploring an earthquake early warning system in Aotearoa New Zealand. In Design for Emergency Management. (pp. 124 - 140).
[Chapter]Authored by: Becker, J., Brown, A., Kenney, C., Rahubadde Kankanamge, R., Stock, K., Tan, M.
Reddaway, R., Brown, A., Bailey, J., Corballis, T., Holcroft, J., Connors, O., . . . Jerram, S.(2020). It does no harm to wonder / the Body of the Work. Masterton, New Zealand: Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History and Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University
[Authored Book]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A., Galloway, A., Reddaway, R.Contributed to by: Reddaway, R.
Mark, S., & Brown, A.(2019). Submission to the Government's new research, science and innovation strategy by Massey University's College of Creative Arts.
[Discussion Paper]Authored by: Brown, A.
Bailey, J., & Brown, A. (2016). Designing Place. In C. Lacey, & I. Horrocks (Eds.) Extraordinary Anywhere: Essays on Place from Aotearoa New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press
[Chapter]Authored by: Bailey, J., Brown, A.
Galbraith, HL., & Saluti, AJ.(2016). Trigger points. Syracuse and New York, USA: Syracuse University Art Galleries
[Authored Book]Authored by: Galbraith, H.Contributed to by: Brown, A., Foster, S., TeAo, S.Edited by: Galbraith, H.
Brown, A., & thomas, PA. (2015). When is a book not a book? Exploring the possibilities of the material book in a digital world. In Borders & crossings: The artist as explorer: Impact 8. (pp. 74 - 79). United Kingdom: Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design University of Dundee
[Chapter]Authored by: Brown, A.

Thesis

Brown, AE. (2011). The Endless Book — exploring the online, offline.. (Master's Thesis, Massey University)
[Masters Thesis]Authored by: Brown, A.

Other

Brown, A., Parkin, T., Tan, ML., Rahubadde Kankanamge, R., Becker, J., Stock, K., . . . Lambie, E. (2021). An earthquake early warning for Aotearoa New Zealand?.
[Internet publication]Authored by: Becker, J., Brown, A., Kenney, C., Parkin, T., Rahubadde Kankanamge, R., Stock, K., Tan, M.
Brown, A., Tobin, A., Parkin, T., Reade, A., & Mark, S. (2021). Towards trustworthy and trusted automated decision-making in Aotearoa — a national engagement programme commissioned by the Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Government
[Other]Authored by: Brown, A., Parkin, T.Contributed to by: Brown, A.

Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Statement

My pedagogical approach is to provide students with varied experiences to both stimulate and challenge, and to enable them to become independent learners. Three principles underpin my teaching (and research) — ideally projects should be collaborative, transformative and applied — providing real world learning to students, staff, researchers and collaborators alike. 

Summary of Doctoral Supervision

Position Current Completed
Main Supervisor 2 0
Co-supervisor 2 1

Current Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

  • Anjuli Muller - Doctor of Philosophy
    Exploring co-production & participatory public engagement through the subject of women’s health in Aotearoa NZ
  • Sonya Withers - Doctor of Philosophy
    An Aotearoa-Moana design space: Moana-centred design practices towards enabling the well-being of our communities.

Co-supervisor of:

  • Alice Tappenden - Doctor of Philosophy
    Parenting in the Cultural and Creative Industries: Understanding the effects of parenting on the careers of musicians, artists, and filmmakers in Aotearoa New Zealand
  • Matt Luani - Doctor of Philosophy
    Holistic design from a Pasifika perspective for urban resilience in emergency management.

Completed Doctoral Supervision

Co-supervisor of:

  • 2022 - Gabrielle Amodeo - Doctor of Philosophy
    Life-Drawing: Trauma and Intimacy in the Essay Qua Drawing

Media and Links