Staff profile: Ellie Stewart

Ellie has been the Communications Specialist for NZ Post Collectables for the past three and a half years. Ellie admits that when she joined the team in 2018, she hadn’t put much thought to stamps and coins since childhood.

What was it like to join the Collectables team? I joined what was known then as the Stamps and Coins Team in February 2018. I had been working as a freelance web writer and publicist for professional theatre, and I was so excited to get back into a full-time role with a supportive team around me. I remember in my interview talking about how I’d been fascinated by old and international coins as a child. I was told I didn’t necessarily need to be interested in collecting to enjoy this job - but I think everyone collects something.

How would you describe your day-to-day role? I look after the content for our printed materials, website, emails and social media, and I work with our design team to source images, retail posters and other visual elements of those communications. I work closely with my amazing colleagues in Whanganui to help manage our website and get them what they need to print and dispatch our mailers, letters and more. I occasionally communicate with the Reserve Bank and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to arrange approval of our coin designs and any collectables relating to the royal family. I also share some responsibilities with Programme Manager Lynette Townsend, who does the huge job of crafting our collectables programme, facilitating all stamp and coin designs and sourcing the supporting material. I do a bit of design layout as well.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job? It’s so enriching to connect with subject-matter experts on things that I might otherwise never have been exposed to. I particularly loved learning about the history of New Zealand’s network of lighthouses from Maritime New Zealand in 2019. I have to say as well, that playing a part in commemorating Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture and heritage through stamps is indescribably special. Apart from circulating and commemorative currency, I can’t think of any other single medium that both informs and reflects our collective sense of nationhood in this way.

Tell us about your favorite stamp or coin issue. I really loved the 2018 Predator Free 2050 stamp issue. I love nature and New Zealand wildlife and I appreciate the optimistic vision of a predator-free future for our native flora and fauna.

I also enjoyed working on the New Zealand Bear Hunt stamp issue last year. I got to engage directly with members of the public to curate a set of images for the stamps. It was really fun to put together a collection that reflected the amazing lockdown phenomenon of people displaying toys on their properties to create a sense of connection in their communities.

If you could do another job for a day, what would it be and why? I love cooking and reading about food, so I would probably see what it’s like to be a food writer.

Tell us something surprising about you. My great-grandfather Marmaduke Matthews designed a stamp in 1935. He also illustrated a Health Stamp poster that’s part of Te Papa’s collection. I have a print of the poster at home. My brother is a graphic designer, so I like to think Marmaduke’s knack for visual design lives on in my family.

Ellie’s great-grandfather Marmaduke Matthews designed the 1935 pictoral 1 1/2d ‘Māori Woman Cooking Food’ gummed stamp and the 1932 ‘Buy Health Stamps for Health Camps’ poster.