The annual Labour Party Conference 2024 took place in Christchurch in November. To help with fundraising during the event, the Labour Party needed fresh new merchandise ready. I was asked to design tea towels and mugs with Labour logos past and present, as well as something that would celebrate the 11 previous Labour Prime Ministers of New Zealand: Michael Savage, Peter Fraser, Walter Nash, Norm Kirk, Bill Rowling, David Lange, Geoffrey Palmer, Mike Moore, Helen Clark, Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins.
The biggest challenges were time and budget; I had to move quickly and make fast design decisions in order to meet our production deadlines for the event in November. My initial plan was to trace each person in a line-art style, but when I wasn't fully happy with the result and thought we should do something more colourful, I pivoted to a minimalist posterised style inspired by the artwork of Tom Whalen, challenging myself to stick to a palette of just three screenprinting inks: Labour Red, purple and peach.
The final First 11 design went on sale at the November 2024 conference in Christchurch and online. The products were a big success, with strong additional online sales, and the artwork was used as illustrative event signage around the conference venue.
