RUN co-founder and CCO Raymond Otene McKay gifts D&AD with its first Pencil

When RUN Aotearoa co-founder and chief creative officer Raymond Otene McKay (Ngaati Mahuta, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Pūkeko) was asked to be a judge and speaker for this year’s D&AD Festival – the UK’s largest celebration of global creativity – disparaging comments were made by some about including those who hadn’t yet won a coveted D&AD Pencil.

Raymond and the RUN team decided to turn this negative into a positive. Over the years, D&AD have expanded the judging pool to bring much needed new cultural perspectives and voices into the conversation about what creativity looks like today. To show their thanks, RUN gifted them their own pencil.

Says McKay: “My Ngāti Kahungunu whānau say: ‘Kaua e haere me te rae anake’. Don’t go with only your head, meaning don’t go empty handed,” said Raymond. “So I gifted this pencil to the D&AD team after my presentation to reciprocate the manaakitanga that was shown to me.”

Designed and carved by artist Matiu McKay, with support from Matt Blackmore, Vinnie Carter, FCB Aotearoa and the RUN team, the pencil features a taratara ā Kae pattern, representing whale teeth, most commonly used on pātaka (food storehouses) to symbolise a wealth of resources and hospitality. The rauponga pattern represents whakapapa, a line of descent through generations.

D&AD responded publicly with “Ngā mihi nui ki a koe… to RUN’s Raymond Otene McKay for awarding us with our first Pencil. And it is a very special pencil.”

D&AD chairman Tim Lindsay added that it was “beautiful”.