About

Dr Jo Bailey

BSc (Hons), MDes (Distinction), PhD (Science in Society)

Education, Research & Visual Communication Design
School of Design / Ngā Pae Māhutonga, Massey University

Kia ora, nice to meet you. I have a few hats:

I am a design practitioner and researcher, with a practice that skews towards editorial and book design, but has also included brand, digital, and exhibition design. In both practice and research there is a thread that's about systems to facilitate access to, and understanding of, complex information, marrying functional and aesthetic elements. Much of my work is interdisciplinary, and most of it is collaborative. 

I am a Senior Lecturer and co-lead of the Visual Communication major at the School of Design / Ngā Pae Māhutonga, Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. I have taught across a wide range of areas including typography, editorial design, UX/UI, and spatial information design.

I am also a principal investigator with Te Pūnaha Matatini who supported my PhD with theSchool of Science in Society at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University, where I explored ways for design to help scientists with their science communication through connecting them with social science theory on public engagement with science. My PhD thesis was examined and accepted (with no changes!) in April 2024, and I graduated on the Doctoral Dean’s List (a formal record of doctoral theses judged by their examiners to be of exceptional quality and that make an outstanding contribution to their field).

I have a background in geography and information management and have worked extensively in the NGO sector. I have a magpie-like list of interests!  

I am on Bluesky at bsky.app/profile/jobailey.bsky.social and LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/jobaileydesigner and (sporadically) on Instagram at instagram.com/jobaileydesigner/. You can reach me at jo@makinggood.design. My ORCID record is at orcid.org/0000-0002-9954-3042 

Awards

My awards include:

2026

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Winner: Best Illustrated Book, Mr Ward's Map

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Highly Commended: Typography, Mr Ward's Map

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Highly Commended: Cover, Mr Ward's Map

Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards, Finalist, Mr Ward's Map

2024

Te Herenga Waka Victoria University Doctoral Dean’s List for outstanding doctoral research 

2021

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Highly Commended: Best Illustrated Book, It does no harm to wonder / The Body of the Work

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Highly Commended: Typography, It does no harm to wonder / The Body of the Work

Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards, Finalist, It does no harm to wonder / The Body of the Work

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Highly Commended: Best Non-Illustrated Book, This Pākehā Life: an unsettled memoir

2017

Publisher's Association of New Zealand, Winner: Best Non-Illustrated Book, Extraordinary Anywhere