X Marks the Spot for Dundee Delights

TREASURE HUNT
On Tuesday 3rd April, I will be leaving visual clues on my social media, for people to find my Dundee Delights greetings cards around the city, if you would like to take part keep an eye on my Instagram, Twitter or my business Facebook page.  I would love to see where my cards end up and who finds them, so please let me know via social media or drop me an email hello@louisekirby.com

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  •   Kirbyrecipes
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Louise Kirby Dundee Delights greetings cards celebrate some of the delicious delicacies and iconic places in and around Dundee. Her designs have a fresh approach to the city whilst retaining the hand drawn qualities. The new collection will include Dundee Marmalade, The Wellgate Clock, V&A Dundee from the Tay Bridge, Magdalen Green Bandstand and Sunny Dundee image. Previous designs include Broughty Ferry Beach + Castle, The Dundee Penguins, Dundee cakes, Frank Gehry’s Maggies Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts and The McManus. This collection is in the World Favourite Colour of Marrs Green and sunshine yellow to capture the positive direction the city is heading.

WASPS Open Studios 28th & 29th October

WASPS Open Studios 2017

When: 28th & 29th October, 12noon—5pm on both days
Where: 2nd, 3rd & 4th floors Meadow Mill, West Hendersons Wynd, Dundee, DD1 5BY

I will have my new Dundee Delights cards, enamel pins and tea towels available (and hopefully some screen prints)

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Launch of new Dundee Delights collection by Louise Kirby

Dundee Delights is a new illustrated greeting cards collection by designer and illustrator Louise Kirby.  Launching on Friday 13th October by giving a fresh and positive image of the city.   Louise will place free cards around the city hoping that the finders will send them to friends and family locally and to the far corners of the globe.  Louise would love to hear of where they end up be it an Aunty in Australia who loved days at the ferry beach as a child, an old school or university friend in another city that you want to hello to, or invite your granny in Lochee for a coffee and cake.  To share where they end up either email Louise Kirby on hello@louisekirby.com or #DundeeDelights on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Louise Kirby Dundee Delights greetings cards celebrate some of the delicious delicacies and iconic places in and around Dundee.  Her designs have a fresh approach to the city whilst retaining the hand drawn qualities.  Designs include Broughty Ferry Beach + Castle, The Dundee Penguins, Dundee cakes, Frank Gehry’s Maggies Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts and The McManus.  This collection is in the World Favourite Colour of Marrs Green and sunshine yellow to capture the positive direction the city is heading.  Dundee, the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design. 

The Dundee Delights collection is available to buy from her Etsy online shop, the Dundee Contemporary Art shop, Pretty Fly in Broughty Ferry and coming soon to Visit Scotland (located in the city square) and directly from Louise Kirby at the WASPS Open Studios on 28th & 29th October 2017, Makers for Maggies on 2nd December 2017.

Designs include:

Broughty Ferry Beach + Castle

Patterned sand looking over to Broughty Ferry castle with a happy sun shiny Dundee cake sky, evoking memories of days at the beach.

The Dundee Penguins

The characterful 5 bronze penguins by sculptor Angela Hunter that make people smile as they walk past and sometimes they have been known to adorn clothes and hats.

9 Dundee Cakes in the Bakers Shop –  available in sunshine yellow + marrs green

Local delicacy of the Dundee Cake, with the lovely pattern of the almonds on top.

Frank Gehry’s Maggies Centre

Maggies Centre designed by world renowned architect Frank Gehry here in the city which I believe is evidence of how good design changes peoples’ lives providing a place of calm, support, nurture and tranquility created within a purposeful space. Externally, I enjoy the shape and movement of the roof which I feel echoes the local landscape.

Dundee Contemporary Arts

Creative and cultural hub in Dundee with the curved face of different surfaces which is invites you in to the space which houses 2 cinemas, print studio, galleries and a bar and a restaurant.

The McManus

Dundee’s art gallery and museum in the fantastic gothic revival architecture, I love dramatic staircase and the detail in the architecture.  So many stories lye within this building I particularly love the ceramics, Dundee and the World exhibitions and the Tay whale.

Loved Dundee Design Festival 2017

I’ve loved Dundee Design Festival 2017 it’s provided me with inspiration, professional development, place to work, networking and nourishment for me and my practice – just what I needed!

Here are some highlights

Pecha Kucha, with a line up of 13 interesting speakers, my favourites were Leanne Fischler and views on consumerism and the mesmerising sound of Panda Su.

Creative Dundee created a WRKSHP space for designers to work during the festival.  I used for for a couple of days which was great to be part of the whole event as well as tap into things happening.  With Make/Share round the table, I particularly liked the passion and perseverance of Steph Liddle with ceramics.  Great to hear Brian and Mark from McGinaly Bell architects on the start of the journey imaging what the West Ward Works could be in the future and Biome Collective and the creative, interactive and varied work the gaming collective get up to.

My Make/Share was about the process of creating the 12 hand printed patterned illustration wooden panels for last years Dundee Design Festival chatted about the initial conversation with Sion, mind maps, sketches, screen printing, tests, decisions I had to make including the happy accidents and many late nights to pull it off!
There was lots of things take part in, dicsuss and hear about.  Print City was amazing, I love screen printing and the giant 3d shapes really created a interesting space to walk around and loved that the community had a part to play in the creating the visuals.

I chose a blue triangle for Silent Monitors, where the colours and positions were decided by people opinions of how you felt on how your data was being used.

I ate popcorn and drumstick lollipops while watching Graphic Means film brought to the festival by D:Screening.  The documentary was on the history of graphic design production, I didn’t realise how technical it used to be, I bet folk are happy with their apple macs now, even through I’m more of a cut and paste type of person!

Discussion of Why Should we make more with the cool brand Trakke, historic and very profitable Johnstons of Elgin, Clare Cooper and designing aides for the elderly and the inspiring Fi from Make Works.  It highlighted my feeling that we are consuming too much and really should by things that you love with a quality to last or be repaired.

The building is such a great space with the real industrial feel with the exposed pipes and extractors, faded painted lines that separate area and the lovely sunshine shining streaming through the coloured windows.

This worked well with the simplicity of the bright tables legs created by Old School Fabrications showcasing the Factory Floor exhibition bringing together a collection of makers, materials and machines from Orkney to Detroit.  Great to see the links with music and design as well as technical advances of the Ninewells x DJCAD radiotherapy mask and familiar faces of Hilary Grant and her beautiful knit patterns.

There was so much more to see from family workshops, talks, demonstrations, DCA shop with exclusives from Tom Pigeon and Whimsical Lush, tours in the building and factories in the area, Mak Lab workshop, Factory Floor Exhibition, live recording of Creative Chit Chats with a range of questions – looking forward to hearing them!  Not to mention the cool opening night with delicious cocktails on the opening night! Loved the colour combination of the new branding by Sooper DD and Fleet Collective.

Well done to Sion Parkinson and the team that brought it all together!  For more info on the Dundee Design Festival 2017 follow the link.