Dundee Design Festival 2024 2021 2019 2017 2016

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Louise

Dundee Design Festival is currently on till 29th September, Dundee Design Festival is a UNESCO City of Design Dundee project, curated by Stacey Hunter held at Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, open 10am – 6pm daily. More info on it here

2024 Highlights for me

A flavour of things I spotted on my first visit to this years festival…. plenty more to see.

Design is everywhere, it covers so many aspects of our lives that we don’t think about. I look fondly back at each of the festivals, each different in many ways!

2016 Highlights for me

Display by Old School Fabricators and Branding by Lyall Bruce, Kerrie Aldo patchwork coat, colourful film on the windows, getting some Tekels bank notes out of the machine by Martin Baillie, hands on workshops and the industrial building. The theme of the festival was ‘Place. Work. Folk. Design.’ through which the festival explored the potential of design to connect communities and improve everyday
lives. You can read the report here.

I was commissioned to create a series of surface patterns that piece together the stories of contemporary Dundee design. I wanted to capture a breadth of design that included healthcare, security, safety, fashion, entertainment and education, jewellery everything we use and experience. One of the pieces I created was called Building Support chosen not only as it represents a building designed by world renowned architect Frank Gehry but because I believe it evidences 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.

Within the image the patterns are more than decoration, for instance the colourful pattern is cancer cells, the teacups and books to show support and lavender to give a sense of calm, the sky is a positive sunny yellow patten to show the positivity of space and support.

Hands of X Different materials used on the hands of X project, that investigates prosthetic hands, identity, fashion, and ownership. Hands of X was led by Professor Graham Pullin and Andrew Cook of Dundee University.

Building Safety, Warp and Weft, Showing woven, printed and technical textiles with link to the bullet proof vest on display by Jack Ellis body armour showing how technical textiles can protect and Cally Bookers hand woven textile inspired by the river Tay linking to data in the cities population. Fashion Textiles, Showing some of the tools of fashion textiles including pattern cutting, tailors chalk and fabric.

Tools of the Trade Range of tools used by designers from the Wacom pad, ruler, scissors, tailors chalk. Precious Tools of jewellers and sample rings with a bio-morph from Islay Spalding. Stomach Showing the advances in healthcare with the sonic pill (sonopill). Creating Worlds eeGeo 3d mapping, showing how design is used to help us around with also road signs and imaginary worlds of Glitchspace.

Building New Worlds A combination of the future of V&A Dundee coming to the waterfront with imaginary worlds from Glitchspace through gaming. (at this time the V&A dundee wasn’t open yet). I love the texture and stripes of the architecture of V&A Dundee, designed by Kengo Kuma and the inspiration of the cliffs along the coast. Under one roof West Ward Works, Dundee Design Festival, showcasing the range of things on display through the use of pattern. This was one of my favourite pieces now with UNESCO City of Design Dundee.

Loved West Ward Works and brining the building alive and linking to the print history using CMYK palette.

I remember this commission well, the momentum and excitement to be part of it and I had one month to do all the research, samples, to produce the final hand screen printed pieces for install.

2017 Highlights from this year included

Sion Parkinson curator the 2017 Dundee Design Festival. The festival’s theme was “Factory Floor”, which was inspired by the festival’s location in a former print factory. I loved the playful feel of this exhibition from the branding to Print City, featuring oversized screen printed assembled cardboard shapes. I enjoyed taking part in a Make / Share to talk about my work process. You can read more about the festival here.

2019 Highlight from this year included

Curated by Agency of None transforming the Keiller Centre into exhibition spaces. A nice bit of nostalgia using the Keiller Centre with fun activities and good graphics to play with. More about this festival here.

2021 Highlights from this year included

Curated by Agency of None, the festival’s theme was Every Where Design, which explored the unusual and hidden design that can be found all around us. Loved the fun characterful repurposed materials and seeing the pigeon palace transformed into a bright space and engaging with the local community to accessories their clothes. More about this festival here.

Looking forward to seeing what happens in the years to come. Dundee is the only UNESCO City of Design here in the UK.

THANK YOU for reading my blog. If you’re interested in my mission to transform spaces and support positive wellbeing by playfully applying colour and pattern to help connect people to place and the work I do on a range of public art commissions for hospitals, cultural venues and public spaces. You can see more about some of my projects here.

Illustration to support connection

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Louise

Delighted to create the illustrations for Hello In There Wee One book that will be gifted to parents to be in Dundee at their 16 week appointment. This book is to help them imagine and relate to their baby before it arrive to help build a bond.

This project combined my love for Dundee, highlighting the positives as well as working with families and partners to create and identify imagery for the book that helps to support positive wellbeing.

Within the book there is an eight page story to read to bump. Illustrations were inspired by the conversations and sketches with families and stakeholders at the creative consultation, I distilled the information and developed a concept.

I also managed to sneak in added extras like the monkey stealing the letter off the information board that you might spot in the city centre and the wooden elephant made up of cubes at the Botanic Gardens.

Creative consultation

I designed and delivered creative consultation workshops with families from Home Start Dundee, Dundee International Women’s Centre and Coldside families plus workshops with healthcare stakeholders. I used a mix of creative engagement techniques to gather all the information I needed in a way that was fun and engaging.

Front Cover and end papers

For the front cover I created a medley of imagery in a repeat pattern that reminded me of the cute baby textiles. I was keen to include as many of the participants drawings in the book so designed a simple circle design filled with their line drawings.

Activity/Advice Part

Penguins became a theme within the story and to make it more readable I developed icons for tips for parents using a penguin character with an egg at its feet and tips from the baby with an egg with a fluffy penguin bursting out.

The book offers advice and places to add your own personalised record of pre-birth bonding. Illustrations helped echo some of the advice and act as prompt for activities. A mix of participant drawings and my quick drawings fill these pages.

People involved

Being part of this project allowed me to work with international author and illustrator Natalie Russell who supported the project from her role as lecturer in Illustration from DJCAD, University of Dundee. We worked together on the words of the story, and it was a delight to be able to show my work at development stages for feedback. Gavin Reid helped place all words and illustrations together and Winter & Simpson produced the books on lovely quality of paper. Vicky Armstrong (University of Dundee Psychology and Art At The Start) was instrumental to making this project happen with fun and enthusiasm.

There were many professionals were involved across Midwifery, Health Visiting, Family Nurse Practitioners, Infant Mental Health, Speech and Language Therapists, and Social Work teams from across different organisations, NHS Tayside Infant Mental Health, NHS Maternity, Dundee Health & Social Care Partnership, University of Dundee, Dundee City Council, Art At The Start. This project was funded by UNCRC Innovation Fund and the CORRA foundation.

I loved this project as it aligns to my core values of nature and wellbeing, connection to the world around us and enjoying the simple things in life right here on our doorstep, linking with play, curiosity and gratitude. You can see a full copy from the NHS Tayside website

THANK YOU for reading my blog. If you’re interested in my mission support positive wellbeing by playfully applying colour and pattern to help connect people to the world around them and some of my previous commissions for public art commissions for hospitals, cultural venues and public spaces. You can see more about some of my projects here.

Decorative gates for Broughty Ferry Castle Terrace Gardens

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Louise

I designed decorative gates and panels for the two entrances at Castle Terrace Gardens, part of the Broughty Ferry active travel enhancements. I responded to the site specific space by hearing the history of the gardens from residents and their desire to reflect a tranquil and relaxing space.

The final designs have a mix of flora, fauna and creatures with a nod to the fern and thistle that link past resident Mr Gilray who represented both Scotland and New Zealand at rugby.

To appeal to families with young children I highlighted some snails trails, ladybirds and butterflies that might be spotted in the gardens. I hope the gates encourage children to look closer and discover the magic that is around us. There are 2 entrances, each entrance is unique with a similar feel.

Design Process

With a project like this I have an abundance of ideas and use traditional methods of sketching to think through the process. Then I select and reject ideas to create clear concepts for feedback. As the project developed it was agreed that panels leading to the gates would be designed to give a coherent look. Designs were mocked up to help visualise and a classic bottle green was chosen. Designs were then developed fully to suit the manufacturing process and safety guidelines.

Accessibility

Part of this transformation includes a sloped accessible path into the gardens and decorative gates that open both ways. Broughty Ferry esplanade has been transformation to help improve active travel, part of a much bigger picture you can find out more here. I particularly love working on strategic projects that encourage people to get out and about and improve places.

Local Fabrication

Local fabricator (AS Fabrication) worked on the technical aspect of the gates design and the bottle green colour applied by Tayside Powder Coating Services. I love when ideas become reality and seeing my work applied to different surfaces and situations and working with experts in their field.

I have a vision of the world full of 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 by playfully applying colour and pattern to site specific spaces with bespoke designs.

I designed gates for Windmill Gardens just next to Castle Terrace Gardens which have a different look to suit the space, you can see a link with the stripes and circles. You can see them here

Windmill Gardens Gates

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Louise

Great to see three new decorative gates I designed for the lovely public gardens in Broughty Ferry called Windmill Gardens. Gates were commissioned to enhance placemaking part of the new re-development of the esplanade.

Site Specific Inspiration

I took inspiration from the history that a wood-turning windmill stood on the site of Windmill Gardens around 1850s. In my design work I like to capture a sense of place and linking the history of the windmill helps to reconnect the name of the park to its past .

Design Process

I went through numerous iterations of composition, imagery and colours with consideration to the technical aspect of producing final designs that would be fit for purpose and meet the brief. I wanted to capture the movement of the windmill blades/sails and I playfully tested different compositions and imagery mixing my love of circles and stripes.

The three gates works as a series but each is individual with linking imagery and work visually inside and outside the gardens. It took many iterations from the bright gates I mocked up (below) to the final designs.

The new decorative gates were to replace 2 old gates that were not fit for purpose and to add a new entrance opposite Castle Green Playpark. I worked with local fabricator AS Fabrication to fabricate and install the gates and used Dundee based Tayside Powder Coated Services to apply the colour and Ieva to work on vectors. Gates were designed to be opened both ways to help with accessibility and consideration was made for the best material and processes for for the site. Colour is important to me and my initial thinking was to have sunset inspired colours but as the designs developed and the choices of colour palette was limited I chose this pigeon blue.

Bigger Picture

For me I want to create a welcoming and uplifting feel for locals and visitors by creating meaningful designs that re-connect people to the place and help highlight the gardens that are for public use. I highly recommend this little secret garden, always something lovely to spot!

Broughty Ferry esplanade is going through a transformation to help improve active travel, part of a much bigger picture you can find out more here.

I designed gates for Castle Terrace Gardens just next to Windmill Gardens which have a different look to suit the space, you can see a link with the stripes and circles. More info here

Photo above from Dundee City Council

Transforming St Johns Maternity with artwork enhancements

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Louise

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.

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.

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’

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Louise

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.

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

Posted on July 8, 2023 by Louise

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 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?

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Louise

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.

Sense of Place

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Louise

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.

How to transform the streets to bring more joy!

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Louise

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

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