Studio Profile: Seachange

Tim Donaldson and Amanda Gaskin explain their refusal to specialise, and how they manage to push their clients towards disruptive designs

- Tim Donaldson and Amanda Gaskin

Founded by Tim Donaldson and Amanda Gaskin, who are also a couple, Seachange is a boutique studio in Auckland, New Zealand that aims to produce meaningful work which engages and endures.

Servicing a diverse range of clients across the globe, from arts and culture to waste management, its output is defined by a bold, conceptual simplicity that cuts through to the core of powerful ideas. We caught up with Tim and Amanda to discover where they’ve been, where they’re going, and how they’ve managed to stay sane throughout it all.

What’s the story behind Seachange?

Amanda Gaskin: Tim and I met 13 years ago at a small design agency in Auckland. Soon after that, we moved to London, where we lived for 10 years. Tim had always wanted to start his own studio, but I don’t think either of us thought we’d start one together. It happened naturally after we had our first child, and realised that working full-time for other people wasn’t going to suit our lives any more. We moved back to New Zealand and it just happened organically. There was no big, “Let’s start an agency” moment, more of a, “Shit, we’re an agency now”.

In what ways has Seachange developed since then?

AG: We’re evolving all the time; there’s so much to learn. We’re constantly making mistakes on the business side of things, as both of us are designers through and through. We hired our first designer this year, and took on our own studio space, which is still a work in progress.