Create Design Studio

📰 Our recent feature in the North Canterbury News ✍️ Written by Robyn Bristow.

MoMac backs festival

A local creative marketing agency has swung in behind River Festival Kaiapoi. The festival will be known as the MoMac River Festival Kaiapoi, as the company becomes the major naming rights sponsor for the festival.

Owner Ryan McDonald says the MoMac team is “super proud” to be associated with the festival, which is an extension on how proud it is to be North Canterbury-based.

“We really love North Canterbury and half the staff are from North Canterbury.

“We pay all our Christchurch staff a travel allowance to travel to come out here because we love the place so much.”

MoMac began as a small team in Rangiora, with big ideas, but today boasts a staff of 16 and has clients across the South Island and beyond.

In 2025, MoMac acquired Create Design Studio in Rangiora, expanding its expertise. Ryan says the business now operates from two locations and MoMac has grown its graphic design team into a “powerhouse of creativity”, capable of handling everything from branding for startups to nationwide campaigns.

The acquisition also adds printing and merchandising to its suite of services, giving clients more ways to bring their brand to life.

MoMac is a storyteller, believing every business has a story worth telling, and it delivers this through high-quality video, photography, digital marketing, websites, and design.

“Since having kids of my own, and going along to events, I realise community events are valuable,” he says.

“They are affordable. There is no cost to get in, there are a lot of attractions, food and stalls. It is cool for the community. If you build strong community, we all thrive together,” Ryan says.

Article Featured Photo 📸: River fun… Michael Price (MoMac shareholder), Laura Patterson (an organiser) and Ryan McDonald (MoMac owner).

💙 Merrin, our Operations Manager, and Vanessa, our Print Production Manager, pictured outside our High Street print shop helping support the launch of the Winter Care Drive campaign 👏

At MoMac and Create Design Studio we believe strong communities are built when local people and businesses support each other 🤝

This winter, we’re proud to support Community Wellbeing North Canterbury Trust and their Winter Care Drive initiative. The work their team does across our region makes a real difference for local individuals and whānau facing tough times during the colder months 💙

Behind the scenes, there are countless hours of care, coordination, advocacy, and voluntary effort that go into supporting people with food, warmth, wellbeing support, and practical day-to-day needs. It’s important work, and we’re grateful to play a small part in helping bring this campaign to life through creative and design support.

A big thanks as well to Horton Signs for producing the campaign signage and continuing to support great local initiatives across North Canterbury.

We’re also proud to be a drop-off location for the Winter Care Drive at our Create Design Print Shop on High Street, Rangiora.

If you’re able to help this winter, every contribution makes a difference.

You can donate food, essential items, or support financially through the campaign below: www.wellbeingnc.org.nz/winter-care-drive

Thanks to Chelsea and the Community Wellbeing North Canterbury team for everything you do for our community 🫶

There’s something pretty cool about seeing a project go from concept on screen to finished print in your hands 🤲

We recently wrapped up this print job for Karanga Mai Young Parents College in Kaiapoi which is an awesome organisation supporting young parents to continue their education in a caring and supportive environment.

Brad our Lead Graphic Designer handled the design, then our print team brought it all to life in-house with:

✅ A6 postcards
✅ Folded A5 cards
✅ Printed on our Fuji C810
✅ Trimmed and creased on the Duplo before being hand folded and bundled by the production team

We really enjoy these projects! Good people, meaningful organisations, and quality print that feels good in your hands.

A lot of people ask if we do print, and the answer is absolutely we do. From small runs through to larger custom jobs, keeping it all under one roof means we can control quality, turnaround times, and the little details that matter.

Big thanks to Karanga Mai for trusting us with the project 👏❤️

From Cleaner to Creative. Gary’s Journey at MoMac 🧼🧹

At MoMac, we believe talent can come from anywhere. Sometimes it just needs the right environment, support, and opportunity to grow.

This story is about Gary Patel ✨

Gary originally joined MoMac as our cleaner. In mid-2025, after finishing his evening cleaning shift, Gary approached our founder Ryan Mcdonald to ask for advice. He wanted to turn a long-time photography hobby into a professional career and was considering enrolling at polytechnic and taking on a student loan to make it happen.

Rather than jumping straight into study, Ryan suggested a different path. Gary was offered work experience with our content team so he could see what commercial photography is really like day to day. The goal was simple. Learn the basics, build real skills, and decide if this was a career worth committing to.

We expected Gary to come in one day a week for a few hours.

Instead, he showed up almost every day.

In between cleaning jobs, Gary spent his time learning, shooting, editing, and asking questions. His improvement was fast, but what stood out most was his attitude. He welcomed feedback, applied it immediately, and always turned up with a positive mindset and a genuine desire to improve.

As his skills developed, Gary began assisting on client shoots and took on a large portion of our photo editing work. He never asked for payment and was simply grateful for the opportunity to learn and be part of the team.

When his work experience came to an end, we surprised Gary with a $1,000 gift as a thank you for his dedication, effort, and contribution.

Not long after, Gary officially joined MoMac as a paid part-time member of our content team.

Today, Gary is a valued part of the business. He is hardworking, positive, easy to work with, and committed to developing his craft. He is a great culture fit and a strong example of what can happen when effort meets opportunity.

If you are a MoMac client, you will likely see Gary on site with the team. He has a great eye, a strong work ethic, and a big future ahead of him.

Well done, Gary. Your journey so far is well earned, and we are proud to be part of it 🙌💙

Photo: Ryan, Garry and Michael Price

MoMac

To our clients and partners,

Just a quick reminder that our team is still on Christmas shutdown and will be reopening next week on 12 January.

We hope you’ve had a great Christmas and New Year. Thanks for your patience and continued support.

We look forward to getting back into it soon 😁