Your personal aesthetic

Designer Campbell Johnson has recently returned from Milan, Italy, to his hometown of Christchurch with a reignited creativity for interiors.

Apartment design in Milan’s Porta Nuova district for Poltrona Frau

Campbell Johnson is an interior designer with a wealth of diverse experience in the industry. He is driven to help clients develop their own aesthetic and a personal brand they may not know they have.

After graduating with degrees in interior and architectural design, his career began in Christchurch and Auckland. Searching for inspiration, he kicked off his 10-year international career working in the retail, commercial and branded environment design space in London and the Middle East. He returned to Christchurch for the rebuild in 2012. 

His designs are peppered throughout the city and beyond in commercial, hospitality, hotel and retail spaces. These post-earthquake years also saw Campbell’s residential portfolio increase.

Fast-forward to 2019, after a quick stint in Melbourne, Campbell moved to Milan to further his expertise and study for a Master’s in Contemporary Interior Design at the renowned Istituto Marangoni, for which he was awarded a Vogue Italia scholarship.

Now back in New Zealand, following his ‘creative sabbatical’, the passion for his craft is completely reinvigorated and he is eager to apply his new skills. 

“It was a very rich experience,” says Campbell. “I learned the ‘Italian way’ and a different way to approach my projects. I am keen to take some of these key learnings and adapt them to a New Zealand context, particularly around creating a design protagonist and building a spatial story around this.”

Global events of the past two years have heightened Campbell’s awareness of social sustainability in spaces. 

Loft apartment design using post-digital collage technique

“I hope to bring a greater sensitivity towards user wellbeing in the spaces I design while telling a story of the craftsmanship and provenance of materials and finishes to encourage greater environmental consciousness around the selection process,” says Campbell. “It’s important to me that along with wellbeing, my work encourages diversity and inclusivity, both from a social and aesthetic position.”

For Campbell, interior design goes beyond someone coming into your house or business and dictating your style. It is about creating a reflection of an individual’s life while spatially enhancing function and experience.

“Interior design, to me, is about creating an environment that fully represents you and extends your vision of how a space could be.”

021 521 836 | campbelljohnsondesign.co.nz