I spent just over five years working at Skills Active, designing print materials used by tens of thousands of trainees – textbooks, worksheets, and learning guides for sports, fitness, and the outdoor industries. Early projects were all about durability: layouts that survived coffee spills, muddy backpacks, and years of reuse.

Over time, I pushed to bring their content into the digital age. We got approval to build a video setup from scratch – cameras, mics, editing software – then travelled across New Zealand interviewing trainees. We filmed instructors, gym managers, and outdoor guides, turning their stories into social clips and mini-docs that made our marketing feel more human.

The shift to digital wasn’t smooth. Early website drafts looked like PDFs pasted onto screens. Working with our our internal subject matter experts, we developed better layouts for phones and tablets – simplifying text, adding video summaries, and making navigation easier so learners could find resources on the ski field or mid-workout.

Skills Active taught me to adapt. Print designers don’t become video editors or web designers overnight — but good design principles stick around. A clear grid works on paper or a screen, and trainees care more about usable info than trendy visuals.