Designing for change
In a world of profit-driven corporates, Jenny Williams of Jumbo Design is helping create a different picture – one of compassion and community.
In a world of profit-driven corporates, Jenny Williams of Jumbo Design is helping create a different picture – one of compassion and community.
WORDS Hayley Barnett | PHOTOS Salina Galvan
Amove from Auckland to the Bay two years ago was a way for Jenny Williams to really sink her teeth into something a bit more bite sized. Having been immersed in the corporate world for years, Jenny and husband David had recently had a taste of what it was like to give back to their community and decided purpose-driven business suited them much more than the corporate world.
“Really, it’s small businesses and charities that are keeping our country ticking over at the minute,” says Jenny, co-owner of Jumbo Design, the name of which was her nickname as a toddler. “I take it as a term of endearment!”
Together with David, Jenny has created a business that specialises in branding and design for small businesses and charities, and charge differing fees based on the client.
Jenny, David and dog Lexi have made Te Puke their home and work base.
Striving for integrity became a key factor for the couple when they started working with a charity called Steps For Life Foundation, focused on supporting youth in the fight against childhood obesity.
“It started pretty randomly,” explains Jenny. “I was at the gym and finishing a workout when one of the guys who worked at the gym came and plonked himself next to me and asked, ‘do you reckon you could help my sister and I out with a website?’ So began 10 years of working with the Steps for Life Foundation.”
Sadly, the charity had to stop work over Covid lockdowns and hasn’t had the funds to start up again since. But it was Steps For Life that was the catalyst for Jenny to realise she had a way of helping other charities and not-for-profits through her design work.
“I finally realised that art and compassion had a way to work together,” she says. “I had the power to invoke change through art.”
Today, from her home in Te Puke, she markets her skills towards charities and small businesses as a way of giving back. “David and I are at a point in our careers where we have the ability to help others,” explains Jenny. “There are so many businesses out there doing good that don’t have the budgets big corporations do, and there’s also a lot of cowboys offering services for extortionate amounts of money. We don’t think that’s fair.
We negotiate a price that is equitable to the client.”
Of course, they still work for large companies, but Jenny hopes to get to more clients who are helping to make a difference in the community.
Known as “the Geek” by family and friends, David is a full-stack developer who also specialises in SEO and Google Analytics. Jenny’s strengths and passion lie in designing and crafting brands that make businesses and charities shine in a competitive market. But the best part, she says, is meeting and connecting with people.
“It’s fun helping those small guys, seeing the satisfaction they get from the work you do for them,” says Jenny. “And I love going for coffee catch ups, even if it’s just for a chat around future plans.”