Creative Chit Chat - Dundee

Fun Makes Good is how you may also know Eleanor. She produces an amazing range of work from products to upholstery and textiles full interior designs. Strong geometric shape and bright colours feature heavily in Eleanors work and is a style she has become known for. This aesthetic seems to have always been in her work and has been refined over time. We discuss how “Being brazen” is a really important quality for a designer and maker to possess. Especially if you make product based work that you need to go out and sell. It’s really important that you make genuine connections with people and when they’re looking for something you’re capable of, then you’re top of their list. During the podcast we go into various different projects that Eleanor has worked on. It’s clear to see over time that there’s a confidence and ambition that has grown within her work. You only need to walk past Wahaca in Edinburgh to see her gigantic curtains created in her home studio. It’s the development and desire to learn new skills

Designer, maker, teacher, wood worker, exhibition installer and co-owner of Tayberry Gallery in Perth, Louise has a lot going on and this episode is an amazing whirlwind of a journey. We start by going back to her final year university project of sexually inspired furniture that’s probably not for the feint hearted. Then there seemed to be a bit of a dip and potentially a creative lull where Louise realised that she really just wanted to work for herself. An opportunity arose to partner up with Sarah Spalding to run Tayberry gallery in Perth and Louise took it. To me it feels like Tayberry is the rock that stands firm in Louise’s life and it allows her to explore all these other pursuits that still make money but are much more creatively rewarding. It also came across that Louise has a real drive and urge to share her knowledge and understanding with others. This episode goes from the bizarre and wild to warm and comforting. If you do find yourself in Perth then drop in and rub your face on a spoon. Phot

What would make your city more liveable/loveable? - http://dundeedesignfestival.com Fun a Day Dundee Website - https://funadaydundee.wordpress.com/ Fun a Day Dundee Twitter - https://twitter.com/faddundee?lang=en Fun a Day Dundee Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/funadaydundee/ Sam’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sambaxterart/ Sam’s Website - https://sambaxterart.co.uk/ Sam’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/sambaxter10?lang=en Sam is an artist and has found herself running Fun a Day Dundee. Starting each year for the month of January Fun a Day encourages people to do something creative for 31days in a row, culminating in an exhibition at Wasps studios in March. Fun a Day is a fantastic project making art much more accessible to everyone. It also offers everyone a brilliant opportunity to exhibit their work. Whether you’re brand new to it or it’s your day job, the project encourages the ritual repetition over 31days allowing you to practice and hone something. It’s a little difficult to descri

Film maker Ed Broughton is my guest this week. I’ve known Ed for a few years now, sharing co-working space Fleet Collective. In 75 episodes I’ve never had anyone derail the flow of the podcast quite as much as Ed did! He deflected talking about himself and his journey by bringing along his 10 top tips for freelancing. There’s lots of great tidbits in this episode around lifestyle, free things and integrity. Ed doesn’t really go into many of the projects he’s worked on in much detail. But he was the person behind the ‘Sunny Dundee’ concept seeing thousands of pairs of glasses being worn around the city. He also films and livestreams all of Creative Dundee’s Pechakuchas. We also finish up by talking about the only project we worked on together and how it failed. Definitely worth checking out Dundee Design Tours to have a bit of a giggle and hopefully we can reimagine the content into something else in the future. Dundee Design Tours - https://dundeedesigntours.co.uk/ Bonnie Brae Website - http://bonniebrae.

Laura is a community artist and has been for about 16 years now. 12 of those years have been spent at The Corner in Dundee, a health and information service in Dundee, bringing amazing projects to life and influencing the lives of many young people. We go on a journey from where she started as a 20year old working for the lighthouse in communities like Easterhouse in Glasgow to the amazing projects she has created in Dundee like repainting Reform Street as part of Reformation. We talk about some of the issues facing young people today and the role that the corner plays in that. I wasn't really surprised that mental health is high on the agenda and Laura does see some correlation between the rise in social media use and issues with mental health. We talk about the wider issue and her involvement with the Shpeel project, an interactive installation created by Biome Collective for the London Design Beinnale.  What really impressed me about Laura is her ability to just make things happen and to learn the skills

Freelance Illustrator Lauren Morsley joins me for this episode. After graduating in the summer, Lauren exhibited at D&AD New Blood in London where she won a One to Watch award. We talk through her university experience and transitioning to life working as an illustrator. During our chat, Lauren highlights a few gaps and places that universities could really improve on when sending students out into the world. In my opinion, I just don’t see universities filling these gaps in the short-term future. It may well come down to the creative community and individuals to fill these gaps for themselves. What impresses me most about Lauren is how relaxed she is about her future. She says “I’m trying to not put too much pressure on myself”. This is exactly the right attitude when coming out of university. Finding stability financially is paramount but finding creative fulfilment may well take time. There are plenty of stories of overnight success but in reality, it comes from years of hard work. Lauren’s relaxed but d

Samantha Paton is the fashion designer behind independent clothing label Isolated Heroes. She describes it as a lot of fun with sequins and faux fur. From the outset, Samantha wanted to create a brand that resonated with real people. Using street cast models and an honest voice she has built an amazing following. Although she has worked on custom pieces for the likes of Lilly Allen she has also had Paloma Faith and stylists for Miley Cyrus and Tess Holliday placing orders directly through the website. We go into some of the facts and figures of the business which I found really interesting. The stand out is that 90% of sales traffic is driven through Instagram. It’s pretty incredible that a channel that didn’t exist a few years ago is providing a brilliant audience and customer base. It’s pretty easy to tell that Samantha has a really astute business mind and that has come from learning the hard way. I suppose I didn’t really consider the amount of money you need to invest in every collection which pushes t

Louise Kirby is a designer and illustrator based in Dundee. She was also part of the Maggies Penguin Trail with her creation, the Provincial Penguin. It carries her signature style that has a very handcrafted aesthetic. We chat about how she has developed this and how it has come from a very hands-on creative process. I found her focus on 'play' very liberating and interesting. I can definitely relate this to aspects of my process but I wouldn't have thought of it as play, probably something more boring like idea development. Knowing when to stop playing is a really key skill and giving yourself perspective can help massively. It also helps if you have other people around to use as a sounding board.  Louise also talks about how she struggles to explain exactly what she does when speaking to people. It's extremely difficult and becoming a theme of the podcast. It's very difficult to find that line between being vague and succinct vs long-winded and accurate. Wasps Open Studio Weekend, 27th & 28th October -

A multidisciplinary artist based in Dundee. Although she produces work in many forms, Sekai’s often works with photography and has created a signature dark style in subject matter and aesthetic. I ask Sekai about where she thinks her style originated from and how difficult it is to take photos when you are the subject matter. It leads to chat about the nature of collaboration and when someone goes from being an assistant to a true collaborator. I've always found it much more rewarding and valuable to collaborate with others who have a different skill set. Although you develop work together, it makes separating and defining roles much easier. collaborations are much more complex when you have overlapping skill sets with areas where multiple parties want ownership of certain areas.  It's no secret that black artists in Scotland are underrepresented and need more opportunities to make their voices heard. Sekai reveals how she found it hard to connect with other black people when she moved to Dundee for several

I think it’s fair to say that Mike Press is a big personality and a well known figure in the Dundee Creative community. He runs service design consultancy Open Change with Hazel White. He decided to make the jump back into consultancy after a 25 year stint in education. This episode is a whistle stop tour of Mike’s amazing varied career from selling insurance to computer programming to being a service designer before it even existed. I think that one of the core themes of Mike’s career is social activism and empowering others to make a difference. He is a brilliant story teller and motivator and I took a lot from this chat. We touch on so many different issues including his fresh perspective on the future of education and what he wants to see in the future of Dundee. Mike’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/MikePress Open Change - http://openchange.co.uk/

Richard runs Abandon Ship Apparel, Hard Grind barbers and Daily Grind coffee bar. He’s pretty much taking over exchange street in Dundee with an alternative way to experience Dundee. He’s created a massive following and audience from his design work and the culture he has curated around his businesses. We talk about how Abandon Ship went from an idea in a bedroom to 1.2million in turnover to liquidation. The brand ended up growing too fast and Richard admits that he made mistakes and decisions that he regrets. The liquidation had a big impact on his life and his mental health. A battle that continues today in the second iteration of Abandon Ship. Richard struggles, as many of us do, in finding a healthy work/life balance. Switching off is difficult when you run your own business. He has built up the apparel side again and combined forces with Hard Grind barbers and Daily Grind coffee bar. Creating a much more social space that people genuinely want to spend their time in. He is continuing to grow by recent

Lynn and I had a chat about her route into teaching animation and interactive art at Abertay University. We also explore the topic of her PhD - play. How can you get more play into your daily life? Listen to find out.

Ryan is a super talented photographer, specialising in music photography. He has an amazing portfolio of artists that he’s shot, from Foo Fighters to Seal to Chvrches. After graduating from DJCAD in 2015 he knew that music photography was his passion and the best place in Scotland to do that was Glasgow. We talk a lot about talent retention in Dundee but with Ryan it just wouldn’t have been possible to keep him. He worked at The Shine Agency as a graphic designer up until this year when he started Tentu studio alongside Stephen Kyle and Cameron Brisbane. In just 3 years Ryan has come a long way and I reckon the key to this is the relationships he has built on and offline. He is a likeable chap who has time for everyone and his digital persona portrays the same. Ryan's website - https://www.ryanjohnston.co/ Ryan's instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanjohnstonco/ Ryan's twitter - https://twitter.com/ryanjohnstonco Tens Sunglasses - https://tens.co/ ishootshows.com Gavin Cragie - http://www.gavincra

Yann is a musician, composer and artist as well as many other things. His project list is vast and varied, to say the least but seems to be rooted in performance. 11 years ago Yann ended up in Scotland. After graduating from his masters he ended up taking a role in the Dundee Rep’s Christmas production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Being from North America the concept of ‘Panto’ wasn’t exactly something he was familiar with. I suppose I would compare Yann to a sort of Doc Brown type mad inventor character working on loads of weird and wonderful ideas with an array of technical knowledge. His studio environment also seems to reflect this with controllers, wires, electronics and other random things lining the space. The amount of projects he has featured on his website is ridiculous and we didn’t really get the chance to go into any of them but I think the chat is brilliantly representative of Yann’s mind. We weave in and out of many different subjects finding fascinating nuance in apparently mundane subjects li

Ceramicist Steph Little joins me this week to talk about going from taking an evening class to falling in love with ceramics and making a living from it. At the core of everything she does is this lovely warmth and homeliness (if that’s even a word). It feels like she’s always doodling ideas in her sketch pad and then some actually make it into the clay. The geometric patterns that Steph is now known for come from rice, pasta and noodles. Food is definitely a common theme developed from her degree show work of single bed lasagnes and huggable pies. We delve deep into her process and how that has developed over the past few years. It feels like she’s at a bit of a pivotal point in her career at the moment. She makes beautiful handcrafted products and has built a great brand around herself but she needs to take it to the next level. To make a comfortable living from her work but retain the handmade and crafted qualities. It is always a difficult point in any creative career and as Steph is doing it’s about lo

A musician formerly known as Panda Su but now releases her music under SHHE. We cover her musical career so far and why she decided it was time to move on from the Panda Su persona. Su hasn’t done many interviews in the past so I feel privileged that she agreed to come on the podcast. It’s clear that there has been a change in mindset and outlook from Panda Su to SHHE. Su is much more open to collaboration and has a lot more confidence in her own work. Creating what she feels right rather than being self-conscious of other’s opinions. The music scene in Dundee inevitably comes up and Su expresses a need for mid-sized venues. Like The West Port Bar and Dog House, Dundee has lost places for artists to progress from small open mics before they try to play to hundreds of people. It comes back to the common theme of the access and use of space within the city. How do we get the landlords and landowners on board to understand the need and help create these venues? I had to ask where the panda in Panda Su came fr

Mark Beaumont is an adventurer, broadcaster, author and Rector of Dundee University. Probably best known for beating the world record for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle. Once in 2008 after graduating from university and again in 2017 in just 78 days, beating the existing record by over 40 days. Surprisingly, our chat focused very little on the cycling and record attempts themselves. I think this was somewhat refreshing for Mark. I really wanted to get beyond the end product, if you like, and get to know how he has built a business and a sustainable career from adventuring. How Mark describes his first round the world record attempt definitely carries a formula that he has perfected and used over time. Not necessarily in the sense of performance but in how he chose the challenge and created a narrative around it. He is very much an opportunist and realised that the world record for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle had not been attempted many times and therefore could be beaten. He describes it as

A furniture designer from just outside Lyon, Aymeric has started a Draff a company creating eco-friendly material from the waste products of breweries and distilleries. Like many podcast guests before him Aymeric followed his partner to Dundee and after a few visits decided to move here himself. He talks about the differences in the educational institutions in France and Scotland. He found DJCAD much more open and collaborative but in France they work on a 2 week rotation system. 2 weeks in the university and then 2 weeks in a company placement. This is standard practice across French education and a system that must surely harbour great links between industry and education. Something that I think we should be making more of an effort to do in Scotland, not necessarily just creating those links but getting students into real world roles prior to graduation. After completing a degree in Interior Design at DJCAD Aymeric went on to become a designer in residence at the university. Doing some teaching while

Murray has worked in music industry PR for over 30 years representing names like Kylie, the Petshop Boys, Coldplay, Yoko Ono and many more. He's been running MCPR for 10 years now and has decided to make the move back to Dundee to start a new chapter in his career. Murray talks about growing up in Lochee and always being part of an alternative scene and some of the difficulties that come with that. Eventually, the pull of the music scene in London became too great. He ended up living between squats and making ends meet however possible just to be part of an amazing time in the city's history. Through a friend's prison stint Murray ended up being persuaded to get into music PR. Off the back of that, he built a 30+ year career with 20 years at EMI records and then 10 running his own company. Now he has decided to take a different direction and move back to Dundee to work with Jennie Patterson. It's brilliant to see the lure of Dundee's changes bringing people like Murray back and hopefully he is one of many

Richard Cook is the man behind optical boutique Spex Pistols in Dundee’s Westport. Chances are if you see someone with interesting eyewear in Dundee, they’ve been to see Richard. Spex Pistols specialises in designer, vintage and classic frames as well as their very own range that’s due to launch soon. I think it’s fair to say that Richard is a big personality and well known throughout the creative community. He has built Spex Pistols to be that go to place for great glasses. Not only that but he prides himself on the quality of his customer service. Whether you’re going in to buy glasses or not he’s created a relaxed and fun atmosphere in the shop. To be honest it’s worth just dropping by for a chat. We begin by talking about his school days and the problems and difficulties he faced within the education system. We later go on to explore that this is largely down to Tourette's syndrome and a stutter that he later overcame. His first real opportunity came working in a spectacle lens making factory in Dunde