Hello, I’m Britta, designer, photographer, and the person behind every Saxer Design project.
I started Saxer Design because I believe every school, business, and organisation has a story worth telling beautifully. My job is to find that story and give it a presence that does it justice, through websites, photography, branding, and the collateral that carries your message into the world.
What makes my work different is the combination of craft and relationship. I work directly with every client, from the first conversation to launch day and beyond. You will never be handed to a junior team member or left without a point of contact. When I need specialist support, in SEO, development, or copywriting, I bring in trusted people from my network, but I remain your partner throughout.
BACKGROUND
My creative life began at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin, where I studied design before launching one of the city’s first web-based design agencies. After relocating to New Zealand more than 25 years ago, I built a practice grounded in both worlds, the precision and rigour of European design thinking, and the warmth and directness of the Kiwi way of doing business.
I’ve been working with schools since 2013, and education is a sector I’m genuinely passionate about. I understand the unique pressures schools face: communicating your culture to prospective families, presenting yourselves to international markets, and keeping your community informed and proud. Over the years I have supported schools in creating websites, photography, prospectuses, and the materials that help them shine, locally and on the international stage.
THE GERMAN–NZ ANGLE
As a native German who has spent half her life in New Zealand, I bring something rare to this work: an instinctive understanding of both culture, how to appear, how to build trust, what families and organisations need to see, and what values matter.
This cross-cultural fluency has become especially valuable for schools attracting international students. Knowing how German families think, what they look for in a school, and what genuinely reassures them means I can help schools communicate in a way that truly resonates, not just translated, but culturally adapted.
I apply the same focus to businesses on both sides of the world. German companies entering the New Zealand market need more than a good product, they need to speak to a Kiwi audience in a way that feels natural and direct. New Zealand companies I work with are encouraged to be practical and application-focused, to include solid technical resources, and never to undersell themselves. The result, on both sides, is a website that does real work.
A good website works two ways. For the company, it must be relevant, personalised, and represent its identity and culture as accurately and authentically as possible. For the audience, it needs to be functional, answer their questions, and invite engagement, using a visual and written language that feels genuinely familiar.
For the past five years I have served as Executive Partner of the German-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, staying closely connected to the people and organisations navigating that bridge every day. In 2023/24, Saxer Design was awarded the Premier Category at the GNZCC Business Awards. The judges noted that meaningful communication is at the heart of a winning international business strategy, and that Saxer Design is at the forefront of its field.
A FRESH PERSPECTIVE
One thing I’ve learned from years of working with schools and organisations is that familiarity can make you blind to your own strengths. As someone coming to your world with fresh eyes, I often notice stories worth telling, facts worth sharing, and qualities worth showcasing that the people inside the organisation have simply stopped seeing.
That outside perspective, combined with the design skills to express it, is one of the most valuable things I bring to a project.
GIVING BACK
For the past ten years I’ve photographed the area I live in, the Pohutukawa Coast, and turned those images into a calendar for local charities, they are being sent around the world to people who love this part of New Zealand as much as I do.
It’s a small thing, but it says something about how I work: with care, with pride in place, and always with real people at the centre.