Transforming St Johns Maternity with artwork enhancements

Spaces have been transformed at St John’s Maternity ward in Livingston to give a warm and welcoming environment using artwork enhancements.

Picture – Chris Watt Photography 07887554193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com
Picture – Chris Watt Photography 07887554193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com1

Staunch Industries applied my designs to a range of surfaces from tables, artworks, window manifestations, wall vinyl and fabrics. My role involved research, consultation with different user groups, development of concepts the decorative artworks.

Through the consultation period I identified key themes and considered colours, shapes, imagery and the user experience.

Picture – Chris Watt Photography 07887554193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com
Picture – Chris Watt Photography 07887554193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com
Picture – Chris Watt Photography 07887554193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com

I would like to thank the new parents who spoke to me on the ward, maternity staff and parents who had used the service recently who met with me at KidsnKiz and Lothian Maternity Voice.  For me the consultation is really important to help me get a deeper understanding of how the space is to be used and to identify colours and imagery that would help create a positive experience. 

I believe it is important to create spaces that help alleviate the anxiety of a hospital visit. Thanks to Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity for funding this project.

Process

The designs concept taken forward combined positive and meaningful nature based elements such as flowers, seeds, leaves, strong resilient pinecone, dandelion wishes, aromatherapy plants to echo new beginnings and the positive journey of giving birth.  

The designs on the ground floor have a sense of movement to echo the ebb and flow of giving birth. The first floor is a more homely, cosy environment with growing flora and fauna.

Consultation quotes

Like the lavender, nice and calming, triggers a response linked to aromatherapy

Kidz n Kin parent/CARER

Small flowers with grasses to give movement

Maternity Voices

I like the flowy feel, like the textures and suggestion of nature

Kidz n Kin parent/carer

Initial ideas after consultation

From the consultation I had lots of ideas and worked on concepts. Here are some of the initial ideas. 

These concepts were developed further to create the final designs for the different areas of St Johns Maternity ward.

Picture – Chris Watt Photography 07887554193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

If you would like to know more about my work and see samples you can see more on my website 

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Nature and wellbeing artworks – ‘Outside In’

These piece are my creative response to ‘Outside In’ which links the outside world to our inner self. Inspired by noticing the positives in nature and the feeling of gratitude creating an inner positive wellbeing. Journeys in nature continually inspire me with its cycles of growth, transformation, rhythm and flow as I explore the harmony and contrast of layering of colour and pattern inspired by moment of wonder in nature. If you would like to add a bit of artwork into your home or office I have each once listed below and you can contact me directly to purchase by emailing hello@louisekirby.com

Details of one off artworks

Title: Dappled Light

Medium: Acrylic collage

£180 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Abundance

Medium: Acrylic collage

£180 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Spot of Joy

Medium: Acrylic collage

£180 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Connection

Medium: Acrylic collage

£180 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Amongst The Trees

Medium: Acrylic collage

£180 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Flow

Medium: Watercolour collage

£250 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Harmony

Medium: Watercolour collage

£250 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Ripples

Medium: Watercolour collage

£150 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

Title: Reflections

Medium: Watercolour collage

£150 (framed in 12″ x 12″)

I loved working with circles and you can read more about my circle love here.

Title: Bouquet of Pheasants

Medium: Acrylic on paper

£300 (framed 51cm x 71cm )

Title: Flying Pheasants

Medium: Acrylic on paper

£180 (framed 43cm x 53cm)

Title: Escargotorie

Medium: Acrylic on paper

£180 (framed 43cm x 53cm)

I think they look good grouped together so if you would like more than one I can offer a discount.

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

If you would like to know more about my work and see samples you can see more on my website 

Transforming Spaces at Dundee Contemporary Arts

I’m delighted how the spaces have been transformed to be lighter brighter and more welcoming, inspired by the ideas of the Dundee International Womens Centre ‘Flourish’ group.  I enjoyed taking the women on a journey through the design process to come up with ideas, explore colours and consider the people and how the space is used. 

What I loved about this project is that it started as a seed of an idea to add a few bits of art and design on the walls by the women but as we investigated the space we identified more things that needed changed, a bit like opening a can of worms! 

This instigated further research through consultation and focus groups to make sure we were getting this space right.  I loved how the DCA have embraced this and helped make it happen.   

On all projects I work on I love to understand the space and people who use it and use creativity to make a positive difference in the world.

Process

I designed six workshops that would take the group through a design process in an accessible and fun way.  We took a lovely inspirational trip to University of Dundee Botanical Gardens where we spent time in the glass houses finding shapes, textures and colours we liked and shared with each other and how it made us feel, we continued with some  houseplants  drawings from the DCA learning space and  through the weeks we experimented with colour, shape, pattern, textures and layouts where I encouraged play and collaboration. 

From their medley of their ideas and feedback from the consultation I refined the concepts and we mocked them up to scale in the DCA learning space for the public consultation. From this I tweaked designs ready for fabrication of Barry from RobertSigns.  I love how it has all come together.   

It was an absolute pleasure watching Louise guide the flourish group learners through the design process. Louise has a real talent for creating joyful moments that bring people out of their shells and help them to see their creative potential. 

Louise shared so many skills with the women, they were very vocal about how appreciative they were to learn these new skills, colour mixing in particular was something the women massively enjoyed.

Having Louise’s artistic vision to collate all of the women’s idea’s into a cohesive design was incredibly important and her consideration of those who would use the infant feeding/changing and gender neutral toilet area made for a joyful design that fit the needs of the of users and that DCA is incredibly proud of”.

Lynne McBride, Learning Coordinator, Dundee Contemporary Arts.

User Experience and consultation

I believe in the importance of understanding the user experience and getting a range of viewpoints so I can make the best decisions for the site specific space.  We spoke with Dundee International Women’s Centres (Flourish parenting group), Breast Buddies, NHS Infant Nutrition Coordinator, Dads group, Bring A Baby audience and staff at the DCA.

Colour

Colour is so important to space, we played with colour, mixed colour and put colour palettes together.  Through my knowledge of colour in spaces and consideration of the size and usage of the space we chose a calm palette for the feeding space with plants and geckos and a more abstract design of textured spots in the changing area and shelf of houseplants in the gender neutral toilet and all linked together to create coherent theme.

Transforming Spaces

I had to trust my ability and process that I would be able to draw ideas from the women and use my skills as a designer and facilitator to get high quality end results.

Impact

It was good to hear that some of the women have revisited DCA and the University of Dundee Botanic Gardens in their own time with family or friends.

“To have the DIWC learners feel included in planning the infant feeding room, has had a massive impact on the learners confidence. The group feedback has been excellent”

Salma, Dundee International Womens Centre

“I felt valued”

Flourish participant

“It was such an honour to have this opportunity to take part in this project”

flourish participant

Before and After

Please share this space is open to the public to use at the Dundee Contemporary Arts

Louise Kirby

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

I am ready to take on new design challenges and if you have a project, collaboration or commission in mind please get in touch hello@louisekirby.com or you can check some samples on my website to give you a flavour of previous projects.

What has no corners or beginning or end?

Circles keep popping up in my life! I’ve been reflecting on my design practice through the years (24 years ago since I started professionally in the creative industries from leaving DJCAD. I’ve gone down a bit of a rabbit warren and found a whole series of designs and artwork from the last 24. years through my time as a textile designer into more recently where I create bespoke artwork for the public realm. It’s funny how different themes stay at my core.

More recently I found lots of circles in my research of all the departments within Dundee Contemporary Art building for their site-specific window design commission.

The various patterns inside the circles captures the range of activity that goes on inside the building and I loved playing the layout of the of them bouncing/floating as if they were moving and falling into place.  Giving an energetic feel!  I adored this commission, from the research, problem solving, developing the concept and the trust of the DCA to create my creative response to the building. If you want to read more about the process of this you can here

With each design commission I am responding to the place, the people who use the space and the purpose of adding designs so that I can give the best results possible with the biggest impact. 

These circle designs have a more homely feel as they were for the communal corridor in a sheltered housing unit and tenants wanted to have a less clinical and corporate feel.  The circle shape allowed me to group together common themes that came from the tenant consultation and the arrangement of the circles in colour groups to aid wayfinding. If you would like to read more about my sheltered housing work you can here

Then popping up more recently is the circle shutter art part of a parade of artwork for Stobswell in Dundee, for the the local Chinese takeaway.  I love the clashing of colour and impact from a distance but when you get closer you can see the meaningful decoration inspired by the local area. This giant circle was made using a makeshift compass with a bit of string and chalk – old school methods at their best! If you want to read more you can here

For the Riso Soup Misprint publication and exhibition of exploring the concept of misprints and serendipitous errors I chose to explore exciting combinations of how colour and pattern sit together, playing with layout and movement to create this composition as if elements are misprinted.

Most recently circles are for my creative response to ‘Outside In’ which is inspired by noticing the positives in nature and the feeling of gratitude that creates an inner positive wellbeing. I loved playing with the composition of the different textures, images and surfaces to create these circles of circles.

Circles are such satisfying shapes to play with….. I’m sure you’ll see more in my future work! And check out the lovely stacked circles in in this lovely eco house at Guardswell Farm that I saw last week.

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

I am ready to take on new design challenges and if you have a project, collaboration or commission in mind please get in touch hello@louisekirby.com or you can check some samples on my website to give you a flavour of previous projects.

Sense of Place

Places mean a lot to us. 

My bespoke artworks are inspired by a sense of place, creating something that is unique to the people that use the space. A sense of place helps to connect people to their area, to give them a sense of belonging that helps improve wellbeing, making people feel at home and safe in their environment.

During consultation I find out what is meaningful and unique about the area or organisation gathering what makes somewhere unique. 

Calm colours to bold and exciting!

My designs can feel quite different on each project I work on as I respond to the people, place and purpose of a space.  From a calm artwork in a hospital corridor to help reduce stress and anxiety for visitors and patients to a bright vibrant cultural space to inspire people to come and to capture the essence of the building activity.

you can read more about the Dundee Contemporary Art Project https://louisekirby.com/window-designs

Locals to an area or service users of an organisation need to feel welcomed and connected to a space so they feel comfortable.  Buildings, streets and spaces can be daunting, uninspiring and scary. With the use of imagery, colour and good design in consultation with people that use the space designs can have a positive impact.

“Sustrans commissioned Louise to spruce up Albert Street with her beautiful artwork as part of the Stobswell Pocket Places project and it’s been a pleasure working with her. Her designs were carefully considered and every detail was inspired by the local area, helping to create a sense of place and an identity for Albert Street. Louise eagerly engaged with business owners to get them involved in the project and ensure they were happy with the designs before she painted them. Her warmth, authenticity and personal approach put the business owners at ease and encouraged them to participate in the project. She was in regular communication with the project team, remained flexible under changing circumstances, and even helped to raise the profile of the project through her social media and other channels. I would not hesitate to work with Louise again – 10/10 would recommend!” – Tremaine Bilham, Project Lead, Sustrans Scotland

Artwork for the enhancement of the corridor James Court sheltered housing unit in Pitlochry

For Pitlochry Sheltered Housing Unit corridor enhancements inspiration came from the local trees and wildlife to bring in a bit of the outdoors inside as talked about during the staff and tenants consultations. 

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

I am ready to take on new design challenges and if you have a project, collaboration or commission in mind please get in touch hello@louisekirby.com or you can check some samples on my website to give you a flavour of previous projects.

How to transform the streets to bring more joy!

I believe colour and pattern can make a positive impact in the world!  The right colour can uplift mood helping people to feel more positive.  Pattern and imagery can help connect people to places and add meaning to placemaking.

Joyous Ground Graphics

Cobalt Collective, commission by V&A Dundee. Photo Credit Louise Kirby

One way to add more colour into the public realm is through adding ground graphics and colourful crossings transforming dreary tarmac streets into colourful ones! Look how joyful these are! Cobalt Collective in collaboration with with some community groups decorated the plaza around the V&A Dundee to create this colourful positive artwork.

Plaza by Cobalt Collective outside V&A Dundee. Photo credit Cobalt Collective

Examples of colourful ground graphics from around the UK

Camille Walala, 2016, London, commissioned by the Transport for London’s Future Streets Incubator Fund.
Photo by Better Bankside

“The aim of the Colourful Crossings commission is to explore how everyday infrastructures in the city, such as pedestrian crossings, are perceived and can be transformed,” said Better Bankside.

Stobswell Colourful Crossing 2021, Dundee by Louise Kirby, UNESCO City of Design Dundee funded by Sustrans Scotland.

I (Louise Kirby) created this design inspired by the local area taking elements from the historic architectural details, green spaces and public art after consultation with locals wanting more colour into the grey streets. You can see more about it and a blog about the whole process here

Eley Kishimoto, 2016, Brixton, London. Photo from Brixton Buzz

I’ve always loved this graphic iconic print design by Eley Kishimoto. It’s got great movement with the use of strong graphics in the positive and negative space. It looks great on the streets of Brixton, also in the variations of colours.

Graphic design by Callum Laird, Union Street, Dundee, UNESCO City of Design Dundee funded by Sustrans Scotland.
Photo credit David P Scott

It brings great joy to walk up and down through the colour of Union Street, Dundee to and from the V&A Dundee. I love the limited colour palette and bold graphics. Nice to see local businesses making use of the street, it reminds me of cafe culture on holiday! I look forward to seeing what happens next in this project to create a more permanent enhancement. I am really inspired by Dundee City Councils vision.

Craigie Compass by Bigg Design and Fun Makes Good, 2022, funded by Sustrans Scotland.
Photo by Bigg Design

Hamish from Bigg Design and Eleanor from Fun Makes Good created these cool ground murals called the ‘Craigie Compas’ to help with wayfinding in Perth, Scotland. Great to see the ground graphics used to help wayfinding, brighten up the area and the addition of fun signage giving it a 3d feel. You can read about it here

Practical Considerations

On ground graphics we have a limited colour palette. By using different colour combinations we can get varied results.  There are options from the material used to apply the designs depending on if it’s a temporary or longer term installation and what the purpose of the area is used for.  When designing a ground graphic in the public realm consideration and consultation needs to be in place for accessibility for all users’ needs.

They are a great way to inject a bit of fun, playfulness and joy!

Dundee cake inspired design in Puebla Mexico for UNESCO City of Design Dundee, designed by Louise Kirby.
Photo credit UNESCO city of Design Dundee

An example of taking a bit of Dundee to the other side of the world in Puebla,Mexico, representing UNESCO City of Design Dundee. You can read more about this project where students from Puebla painted my design and used design to highlight a safety issue on the roads you can read more about it here

I have a vision of the world full of colourful creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this with my use of playfully applying colour and pattern.

I am ready to take on new design challenges and if you have a project, collaboration or commission in mind please get in touch hello@louisekirby.com or you can check some samples on my website to give you a flavour of previous projects.

Dundee Wasps Open Studios

YEAH it’s happening!

We are welcoming people back to Meadow Mill for our WASPS Open Studios on the 6th and 7th August from 12 noon – 5pm.  This gives the public a real insight into how the different artists and designer work here in Dundee. All the spaces are so different from colourful busy spaces, quirky spaces, practical workshops to calm retreats. I love seeing pots of brushes, messy palettes, rows of tools!

Exhibition on the 4th Floor with a range of artworks to give a flavour of the creativity in the building.  And coffee and pastries from EH9 just next to my studio with a drawing table to sit and be creative!

This year I’m looking forward to seeing the studios of new tenants who have moved in over the last few years! 

Studios I’m looking forward to seeing:

Cara Rooney and her award winning illustrations, I love how she captures a childlike curiosity in her work. Kate Harvey with her colourful fashion textiles. The very dramatic landscape paintings from Ellis O’Connor. The hive of activity from the fabulous Dundee Ceramics Workshop with demonstrations and raffle. And in contrast we have artists who have been creating for many years, such as Maggie Milne who graduated over 40 years ago from DJCAD.

Organised Colourful Chaos

My studio will be organised colourful chaos, with a range of things I’ve been working on from: models, design sheets, test pieces, bespoke artworks plus I will have my full range of Dundee Delights greetings cards, tea towels, magnets including some new card designs and all the one-off prints that I’ve not had a chance to put on my online shop yet!

I’ve been really enjoying developing some larger scale watercolour collages. I started creating these during lockdown inspired by the river Tay. I really enjoy the balance and rhythms of colours and playing with composition to get them to work together.

I am also looking to clear some older works so big discounts on things too, if you’ve ever had your eye on anything – the time is now!  Plus I will be doing a wee special offer with 2 tea towels for £20 (£12.50 each).

Local creative businesses are joining in too from the 1st floor – Whimsical Lush with her quirky illustrations, Kerrie Aldo and her cool handmade outerwear, Susan Doyle with amazing aprons 1874 WORKS , Maggie Duncan with Made At The Mill and vintage clothing from Nicely Eclectic and many more…..

Lift access and free parking available (ask for a ticket when you arrive on the door). 

Please share this event to support lots of local creatives so we can let as many people know about our hub of creativity that we have here in our city.

I hope you enjoy your visit and come away feeling inspired!

This is the building you’re looking for, I’m on the 4th Floor in studio 404, come and say hello!

Berry Blair Tallboy

Thanks to Jen and Kenny from Brodies Timber for inviting me to collaborate on this piece.  I loved adding a pop of colour and a local story to the piece of vintage furniture and they restored it and french polished the drawers.

This design is inspired by my summers as a child picking berries at my uncle Willie McIntyre’s fields in Essendy near Blairgowrie.

Memories of colourful berry baskets tied round my waist with string, popping red raspberries which were hanging from the bushes and hiding under the leaves, delicious juicy berries bursting with flavour and the stripes of the dreels up field.

In this bespoke hand painted piece, I’ve tried to capture a sense of place of my happy memories of picking berries, by playfully contrasting patterns and using meaningful references. 

I enjoyed re–naming the colour to:

  • Raspberry Red
  • Nabbler Green
  • Sun bleached baskets
  • Retro Teal
  • Orange String

It was great to be in the space and I loved the workshop with all the tools on display and so much lovely wood around with all the warm colours and patterns in the grains.

It was great to work alongside Suzanne Scott from Whimsical Lush who was also painting a vintage piece. You can see me painting another piece of wood that will be used in modern furniture. Looking forward to seeing what they turn it into.

Louise Kirby and Suzanne Scott at work in the workshop

Stobswell Shutter Arts

I’ve loved painting the shutter art designs on 3 businesses on Albert Street in Stobswell Dundee. All designs are inspired by highlighting the positives in the area.

It’s been a joyful experience with lots of banter from locals giving me positive encouragement ‘what you up to?’ and me replying I’m bringing a bit of colour and pattern to the area to brighten it up!

Here’s a flavour of what folk have said over the weeks I was painting: “You’re doing a braw job of this, it’s keeping you busy, it’s so cheerful “, “Amazing what a difference it makes”, “That’s smart”, “You must have good patience, it’s lovely!”, “Radical Colours”, “He’s fascinated with your swans”, “Are you painting the whole street?”, “I hope you’re getting paid for this, it’s lovely and making a real difference”, And to top it off ‘Eh Ken you’

Colour is really important to me and I believe it can change how a place feels, which in turn can change how people feel. I want the people of Stobswell to feel positive and uplifted. For these designs I used the same vibrant colour palette from the Pocket Parks I designed in 2021 on Craigie St and Eliza Street.

The Albert Bar

The Albert Bar design is filled with colourful patterns, shapes and colours taken from the local area, such as the row of 7 arches inspired by the arches of the windows of the Baxter Park Pavilion, zig zags from the public art sculpture on Princess Street and geometrics from the brickwork gable end on Craigie Street.

Initially I was only to be painting one shutter but I extended the design onto 2 other shutters to look like the squares were falling off like an old school video game and bouncing in the shape of a zig zag to echo the detail. I think having all 3 together gives a stronger impact and the zig zag directs your eye to the main shutter.  Great to hear The Albert Bar or should I say L’lbert is planning on upgrading their frontage and fixing their sign now that they have shutter art!

The Property Shop

The Property Shop design is inspired by the Swannie Ponds featuring rows of swans, leaves and rippling water to create stripes of colourful patterns. This design idea developed further as I was painting as I wanted it to be more engaging to the children that walked and wheeled past as the bottom section is at a good eye level for them. I added 2 larger scale swans and some boats to give a nod to the Dundee Model Boat Club. It was nice to hear “He’s fascinated with your swans” as a lady and wee boy passed daily.

Lucky House

The Lucky House bold circular design is full of decorative details on the inside and outside and I think the clashing red and pink just sing together.  I was keen to include red as it represents happiness, beauty, success, and good fortune in China.

Can you spot where the patterns come from?

Ornamental details from the Baxter Park railings and the ironwork on the rooftop of Morgan Academy, zig zags from the public art sculpture. Some of these elements are also seen in my colourful crossing on Eliza Street. (you can read more about it here)

While painting the Lucky House shutter a local said ‘That’s not an oriental design’ and I explained the meaning of the patterns which started the conversation and hearing the history about how the Morgan Academy railings were removed in the 2nd world war to be used for bullets. You learn something new everyday!

I wanted each design to look unique but also to work as a series. I think they make a stronger impact being positioned quite close together, just imagine if they went all the way up Albert Street!

This commission was part of an open call from Sustran Scotland who are encouraging walking and wheeling in the area. We approached business owners with possible designs to find out if they were interested. I created sketches and shared for feedback, then agreed suitable times I could paint that didn’t interfere with their opening hours. I got all layered up in my painting clothes. The designs were painted by hand and I used some stencils and I created the circle shape using the lofi method of a bit of string and chalk. Thanks to all the help from Stobswell Forum and Dundee City Council Community Officer to encourage businesses to take part.

We had a Celebration Day to showcase the shutter art where myself and artist Gordy Crawford did tours talking about our inspiration and process. This event was in partnership with the Stobswell Form, Sustrans Scotland, Dundee City Council, where fun chalk activities were happening on Craigie Street and info about the future regeneration plans.

I really hope that the shutters bring joy to the people of the area who use it. Let me know what you think or how they make you feel!

`You can find out more about my projects here

This project was funded by Sustrans Scotland, Pocket Places programme where local communities shape their neighbourhood and take a lead in making their local area a better place to walk, wheel, cycle – and live.

Explore. Play. Create.

DCA Windows Inspiration and Process

I was delighted to be commissioned by the DCA to create an exciting, vibrant window design that celebrates all the activity, energy and sense of community found across all the programme areas of DCA.  Bringing the inside activity and energy to the outside of the building in the window areas.

The process involved research, development, prototyping and good communication with the DCA team and fabricator to creating the final designs on display.

Research

I got a feel for the building by visiting all the different departments, taking lots of photos that I could refer to in the studio.

I found lots of geometric shapes within the building from the angular windows, step shaped walls, winged gallery roof plus so many circles, from the vintage projectors, printing press wheels, pegboard, retail display units, circular fairy lights fittings in Jute Café Bar to products in the shop.

I am naturally drawn to seeing pattern and texture and loved the overlaid wire racks in the print studio that created modern checks and the negative space of the screen-printing racks full of irregular stripes.

I found colour references from the bright cinema seats, pots of ink in the print studio, participant artwork on display in the creative learning store, bright colours of the Riso print samples to the more subtle cladding of the building. 

Development

To process ideas, I created sketches in pencil and ink then found visual connections.  I created rough thumbnail sketches of designs in situ and mocked them up digitally to test various colour combinations and played with different juxtaposition of textures within shapes.  I played with rotation and scale of the spots to capture the energy from the activity from inside of the building.  I referred to the brief, discussed technical details with the local fabricator RobertSign and worked within design constraints so that the design would work practically.  I selected and rejected elements to create coherent concepts for presenting to the DCA team.

The final designs are inspired from the bold geometric shapes with a playful feel using my signature style that retain the hand drawn feel of my linework and confidently uses a vibrant colour palette with clashing and contrasting of patterns bringing together all the activity of the building. I wanted the circles in the top windows to have a lot of movement the capture the energy of the building and connect to the shop windows below. 

With my design work I like to capture a sense of place by creating bespoke designs that are meaningful and unique to the space and I hope these designs help people to connect to the DCA and remind past visitors to come inside and entice new visitors to see the variety of things it has to offer, from a trip to the cinema to taking part in a workshop to grabbing a bite to eat with friends or seeing the latest contemporary art exhibition.

You can find out more about my work here