Design

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Your brain-trust of conceptual thinkers

Our design studio is a collective of art directors, concept artists, writers, production crew, and creative thinkers. Together, we are a brain-trust of creativity.

We have over thirty years’ experience designing original, captivating content for the world’s creative industries.

For us, narrative is the lifeblood of good design. Whether for a genre film or a themed attraction, we are holistic world-builders, diving deep into every project to find the elements that resonate. Through a variety of methods – drawing and digital painting, 3D modelling and sculpting, even VR – we take a cinematic approach to every brief.  We enjoy being in service to the story.

Design Projects

Film & TV

2023 The Tank

The Tank

Creature design

Film & TV

2023 Renfield

Renfield

Concept design

Film & TV

2023 Assassin

Assassin

Concept design

Film & TV

2022 Love Death Robots Season 3 Poster

Love Death + Robots

Creature design and environmental elements for season three

Film & TV

2022 Avatar: The Way Of Water

Avatar: The Way of Water

Worldbuilding and concept design

Film & TV

2022 X

X

Character design, gore gags and storyboarding

Film & TV

2021 Dune

Dune

Character design, key scenes, creature design

LBE

Unleashed Website Poster

Wētā Workshop Unleashed

Tourism experience

Film & TV

2021 Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat

Character and weapon design

Film & TV

2020 Bloodshot

Bloodshot

Armour and weapon design

Film & TV

2023 Knights of the Zodiac

Knights of the Zodiac

Design

Film & TV

2019 Men in Black4

Men in Black: International

Character, Prop & Weapon Design

Film & TV

2019 Godzilla2

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Key Scene Illustration

Film & TV

2019 I am Mother

I Am Mother

Design to Manufacture – Robot Suit

Film & TV

2018 Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines

Keyframes & environments

Film & TV

2017 Bladerunner 2049

Blade Runner 2049

Environment design

Film & TV

2023 Weta Workshop M3gan

M3GAN

Film & TV

2017 Ghost in shell

Ghost in the Shell

Props, weapons, costumes & environment design

LBE

2015 Gallilpoi Te Papa

Gallipoli: The Scale of our War

Gallipoli: The scale of our war

Film & TV

2018 Altered Carbon

Altered Carbon

Weapon design

Design for film & TV

mad max fury road witness

Great films are built from great story and great design. We work collaboratively with filmmakers, production designers, and creatives to help bring their stories to life on screen in rich detail. We work on projects at any stage, from first idea to a fully realised script.

Above all things, we’re passionate about genre. If it’s fantasy, horror, or science fiction, we want to know about it! Monsters. Creatures. Fantastical armies and dystopian sci-fi futures. Magic and gore and gadgets. Our bread and butter.

GITS

Across three decades, we’ve been privileged to help conceptualise and design incredible movies and TV shows, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit motion picture trilogies, Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong, Mad Max: Fury Road, District 9, Thunderbirds Are Go, Blade Runner 2049, Dune, The Adventures of Tintin, I Am Mother, and numerous others.

Our core design services for film and TV include pitch packages, creative development, concept design, key scene illustration, design for manufacture, and VFX design and visualisations.

From Pandora to Middle-earth, our holistic approach to design lays a solid foundation for rich, believable worlds and the characters that inhabit them.

Design for location-based experiences

Buglab 1

Our approach to LBEs is the same as our film work: cinematic. From award-winning exhibitions to themed visitor attractions, we set out to create a world which immerses the visitor, top to toe.

Our LBE team is made up of artists, creative directors, art directors, graphic designers, producers, and project managers. Together, we apply cinematic design thinking into spatial settings to create visitor experiences that are memorable and meaningful. To every project, we bring creativity, craftsmanship, and three decades of experience in film.

Weta Workshop Design LBE Gallipoli 2015 008

A multi-skilled manufacturing floor under the same roof means that almost everything we design, we can build.

Design for games

DR G1
Gameshop crew

Deep inside our game studio, our crew of designers, artists, technicians, producers and engineers are developing games that are both immersive and impactful. Throughout their careers, our passionate crew have created content for platforms spanning PC, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Wii, Android, iOS, Magic Leap, Oculus, HTC Vive, and web browsers. We take a collaborative approach to working with our clients and partners. Our game projects span digital games, immersive experiences, and far beyond.

Design for collectibles

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GKR UrbanWasteland NewVersionFIN

From the cinema to the collector: our passion for film goes beyond our work for the screen. Since 2001, we’ve created beautiful art for discerning collectors all over the world, recreating characters, environments, and keepsakes from beloved films, games, and pop culture properties.

Our collectibles are imagined, developed, and prototyped with passion and focus by our team of artisans and craftspeople, who work closely with studios and production partners on each new piece. To these treasures, we bring the same care, creativity, and attention to detail that we bring to our film work.

Design for public art sculptures

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RWC sculpt1Flat

Our work is not confined to the screen. We’re fortunate to have had the privilege of being invited to design and manufacture many wonderful works of public art. We have crafted the UK War Memorial in Wellington’s Pukeahu Park; “The Tripod,” opposite the iconic Embassy Theatre; massive Middle-earth sculptures for international airports; and many others. We have also created large-scale sculptures for display further afield, such as the monumental bronze Warcraft statue at Blizzard HQ in Irvine, California.

Our design studio and manufacturing departments collaborate to conceptualise these monumental sculptures and bring them to life.

Design for private commissions

EagleMoaConcept2B Bronze FlatSml
EagleMoaConcept2B Concrete FlatSml

Exciting projects can come from anywhere. We take on private commissions that stir our creative blood. Each brief is tackled by our design studio and manufacturing departments, working closely and collaboratively with our clients to create one-of-a-kind works of art. From sculptures and monuments to beautiful murals and intricate display swords, we love to bring our clients along on the journey with us.

Design Team Leaders

TALEI Searell

Talei Searell

Supervising Production Manager,
Design Studio

Rebekah Tisch

Rebekah Tisch

Art Director, Design Studio

Stephen Crowe

Stephen Crowe

Art Director, Design Studio

Christian Pearce

Christian Pearce

Art Director, Design Studio

Andrew Thomas

Andrew Thomas

Creative Lead, LBE

Steve Lambert

Steve Lambert

Art Director, Game Studio

Daniel Falconer

Daniel Falconer

Senior Art Director, Collectibles

Get in touch

If you’re looking for a creative collaborator for your next project, we’d love to chat.

  • 17+ creative departments
  • Over 30 years’ experience
  • Highly awarded
  • Design to manufacture
  • Innovation and creativity
  • Government incentives may apply