About us

Published bi-monthly, Urbis is New Zealand’s iconic consumer design magazine. Urbis features stylish interiors and objects, fascinating places, interesting people, technology updates and car reviews in large format.

Through its sophisticated design, Urbis appeals to design-savvy consumers and style-makers, as well as design and architecture professionals.

Edited by Nicole Stock (BArch), the magazine is driven by a solid knowledge of design and architecture. Nicole has edited the magazine since 2008 and brings a broad range of interests from furniture design, to fashion and travel to the magazine. Nicole feels Urbis has a unique role as a magazine: “Urbis has the opportunity to be an inspirational style-guide, but perhaps even more excitingly, Urbis, and Urbis Designday, are significant in continuing to celebrate innovation and creativity. The number of talented designers, artists and architects across New Zealand and Australia is phenomenal, and Urbis is instrumental to promoting their talents and ideas, developing a buzz around design for the wider public. The fact that the magazine is a beautiful object – large format, with stunning printing, and exceptional photography and writing – is also key to the loyalty and passion that our readers have for the brand.”

Art Director Matthew Straker has recently worked on the new look for Urbis. Drawing on his experience working for titles like The Listener in New Zealand, and The Independent in England, Matthew has redesigned many other well-known publications like the Herald on Sunday and Landscape Architecture New Zealand before turning his well-honed eye to Urbis.

Joel Bremner is the Advertising Manager for Urbis and is responsible for advertising sales in Urbis and urbismagazine.com. A qualified chef and a keen drummer, Joel enjoys music, design, art, fashion, good wine and cuban cigars. Joel has an unrivalled enthusiasm for the magazine which feeds into the strong relationships Urbis cultivates with its advertisers and sponsorship partners.

Urbis draws on the experience of a range of contributing editors and contributors to provide expertise in niche subjects like motoring, technology, the arts, and fashion.

Rachel Morton is the Fashion Editor for Urbis. With a graphic design background, Morton has previously worked in fashion direction for Fashion Quarterly and FQ Men. She is also a freelance stylist.

Andrew Kerr is a long-time contributor to Urbis, and he lends his knowledge of the motoring industry to review the latest and greatest cars on the market.

Dean Cornish works in film and television but his interest in gadgets and technology have led to an ongoing relationship with Urbis, delivering the energetic and funny “Technophile” column.

Penny Craswell is based in Sydney and edits Australian design magazine Artichoke. As our Australian contributing editor, she reports back on what is happening around Australia.

Tim Walker, whose previous roles include Director of the Dowse in Hutt City, curator at Te Papa and Waikato Art Gallery, and an executive team member at the Auckland Museum, provides a unique take on the visual arts.