Auckland Wooden Boat Festival 2026
The Auckland Wooden Boat Festival is a free, family-friendly event held across Jellicoe Harbour, the Viaduct Event Centre, and the NZ Maritime Museum. Working from an existing logo and brand colours, I was commissioned to develop the festival's printed collateral – bringing warmth, character, and a sense of adventure to what is a well-loved Auckland event.
The project encompassed a fully illustrated trail map, a festival programme, display boards, and a children's activity. The trail map required translating the waterfront into an inviting, readable illustration, with hand-drawn buildings, boats, waves, and landmarks guiding visitors through the festival footprint.
The highlight of the project was the Cat & Rat Hunt activity – an interactive trail for kids built around the maritime history of ships' cats and the rats they kept at bay. I wrote and illustrated the activity, creating a calico cat and a rat as the festival's character duo. Hidden throughout the map and across the festival site, the cats and rats became a talking point in their own right – and by all accounts, the hit of the 2026 festival.
The result is a suite of collateral that extended the existing festival identity into something with genuine personality – cohesive, characterful, and designed with families at its heart.
