Jess Hickman

DESIGNER

Hey, I’m Jess – a Senior Designer and creative lead from Wellington, New Zealand.

When I’m not designing, I’m carving lino prints, getting overly competitive at board games, or wrangling my two kids with varying success.

Hey, I’m Jess – a Senior Designer from Wellington, New Zealand.

When I’m not designing, I’m carving lino prints, getting overly competitive at board games, or wrangling my two kids with varying success.

I design systems, campaigns, and experiences that help people understand what matters, and act on it.

Unwanted Gifts campaign

A playful annual campaign that reframed unwanted gifts as opportunity. By using Kev’s expressions to show emotional shifts from disappointment to delight, the work encouraged people to pass things on, list more, and see value in what someone else might love.

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Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

Developed a cohesive suite of visual assets to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, blending Trade Me’s brand identity with vibrant, culturally respectful design that honoured the spirit of the event.

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Trade Me Circular economy campaign

A national campaign that turned insights from Trade Me’s Circular Economy Report into engaging, human centred creative. By giving pre loved items personality and emotional context, the work encouraged buying and selling second hand at scale.

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Emails

From major campaigns to everyday lifecycle moments, I design tactical email experiences that are clear, engaging, and on brand. The focus is always on timing, relevance, and helping people take action.

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Trade Me Spring campaign

A spring campaign that invited Kiwis to turn outdoor DIY ideas into reality. By combining inspiration, practical guidance, and a shared watchlist mechanic, the work encouraged participation across the full DIY spectrum.

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Photography

Photography runs alongside my design practice as another way of noticing light, timing, and composition. This is a small selection of images captured over time, some for work and some not, but all rooted in observation.

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Te Wiki
o te Reo
Māori

View Project

Developed a cohesive suite of visual assets to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, blending Trade Me’s brand identity with vibrant, culturally respectful design that honoured the spirit of the event.

Trade Me
Circular
economy
campaign

View Project

A campaign that turned insights from Trade Me’s Circular Economy Report into scroll-stopping creative, encouraging Kiwis to buy and sell secondhand. Designed to grow audiences, drive listings, and cement Trade Me as the home of pre-loved in Aotearoa.

Emails

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From big campaigns to everyday lifecycle, I craft tactical emails that deliver. Whatever the message, whatever the moment, they’re clear, clickable and always on brand.

Trade Me
Spring
campaign

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A spring campaign that invited Kiwis to turn their outdoor DIY dreams into reality using Trade Me. By curating a dream watchlist of new and used items, users could enter to win up to $20,000 towards their backyard transformation. The campaign combined social sharing, practical how-to content and eye-catching visuals to inspire every kind of DIYer — from casual tinkerer to full-scale renovator.

Photo-graphy

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Photography has always been a bit of a sidekick to my design work. The quiet, observant one that lets me chase good light, weird moments and nice textures. This is just a small sample of shots I’ve taken over the years, from everyday magic to accidental masterpieces. I don’t take it too seriously, but I do love it.