Creative Chit Chat - Dundee
A podcast of conversations with brilliant creatives connected to Dundee, exploring their journeys, thoughts and opinions. Hosted by Ryan McLeod.
Episodes
Tom Metcalfe - What does it mean to be a designer?
This week I’m joined by Tom Metcalfe — interdisciplinary designer, researcher and educator.
Tom’s journey into design wasn’t linear — from rally driving to getting into product design at DJCAD through clearing at 21. Since then he's had a yo-yo relationship with Dundee. From Dundee to London (via New Designers and Random International), then Bristol for 10 years and now back. Along the way, he’s
Jolene Guthrie - Jo-AMI - Knitwear but not as you know it
Jolene Guthrie, founder of the knitwear fashion brand Jo-AMI (pronounced Jo Amy) joins me this week, talking about how you make knitwear cool, comfy and considered.
From internships and positions with the likes of Hayley Scanlan and Tom Pigeon to working with major fashion houses in London, Jolene has built a career rooted in hands-on experience and a deep love for knitwear. Why knitwear? She’s d
Alastair Walker - 'Why not Dundee?'
In this episode, I chat with graphic designer Alastair Walker. After spending 13 years building his career in Manchester, rising through the ranks to creative director, Alastair took a step back to reassess. A four-month break in Vienna gave him the space to reflect and a desire for change eventually led him north to Dundee.
We explore the relationship between software skills and creative thinkin
Read all about it - Starting a newsletter
TLDR - I'm starting a newsletter to reach more listeners and avoid the social algorithms.
https://substack.com/@cccdundee
A quick update on where things are at with the podcast and what’s coming next. This season’s felt a little out of rhythm — not because of the guests (they’ve been brilliant) — but more because of what’s been going on behind the scenes.
In this episode, I chat about why thing
Eilish Victoria - Empowering everyday people to change everyday spaces
As Eilish grew up, creativity was part of everyday life — and she’s carried that spirit into everything she does.
In this episode, we dig into her journey from studying Interior and Environmental Design to shaping creative communities and spaces across Dundee. She shares what it was like balancing a job in a sports shop while trying to break into a design world that felt miles apart and how she f
Fraser Smith & Camillo Feuchter - Crafting EH9 Annfield Road, One Detail at a Time - Part2
Part 2 of my conversation with Fraser Smith founder of EH9 Espresso and designer and Maker Camillo Feuchter goes much deeper into the construction of the Annfield Road cafe and the considerations of how the space functions.
We then move on to some classic podcast questions around success and failure. Then the bigger picture of Dundee as a whole and how it is becoming known for it's speciality co
Fraser Smith & Camillo Feuchter - Crafting EH9 Annfield Road, One Detail at a Time (Part 1)
This is part one of a beautifully flowing conversation between two friends—both with an incredible eye for detail.
Fraser Smith, the founder of EH9 Espresso, and Camillo Feuchter, a designer and maker, first crossed paths through the EH9’s Perth Road cafe. Over time their relationship flourished into a collaborative partnership in the design and creation of EH9’s second home on Annfield Road.
Fr
New Episodes Announcement!
I'm excited to reveal that there will be 6 brand new episodes of Creative Chat coming out from next week with Fraser Smith creator of EH9 and multi-disciplinary designer and maker Camillo Feuchter taking me through their creative process of bringing the Anfield Road EH9 to reality. Then I'm chatting to Eilish Victoria, Creative Spaces Producer at Creative Dundee, Graphic Designer Al Walker, Knitwe
Dreamland - The importance of saying 'no'
Ruby is the creative director behind Dreamland: happy, nostalgic fun clothing. Known for big bold prints inspired by TV shows and popular culture, in particular her upside down collection inspired by Stranger Things.
Ruby takes me through how she started out the label and why travel and people watching are central to her creative process. There’s definitely a thread of nostalgia that quite clearl
No Comply - "How many kickflips has that chopping board done?"
Cat and Andy repurpose old skateboards into beautiful new products. They take me through their labour intensive process from old broken board to shiny new product. The episode is a fascinating insight into how they've learned and developed their woodworking skills from scratch and built the business up at the same time diversifying the product range.
I would recommend heading over to their insta
Duncan Barton - Learning not to be 'The Best Designer in the World'
Graphic designer, Duncan Barton takes me through his design process, position on current trends and how he's developed a career around the things he loves.
"At university they taught you to be 'the best designer in the world' not a jobbing designer"
Probably my favourite quote from the episode. You're just not taught all the day to day nitty gritty of being a designer working with real clients,
Chris Hunt - Creativity as a route to a new world
With over 20 years experience in the fashion textiles industry Chris has a really varied and interesting career path. His journey starts from a really dark and troublesome place: at school during Section 28.
Chris hasn't done many interviews and I feel privileged he was trusting enough to come on the podcast and share his journey. When I set up the podcast I wanted to share as many amazing creat
Katie Murrie - Let's be more human, step back & ask more questions
A lead consultant at the Service Design Academy, Katie says that she fell into Service Design after doing a masters in leadership and innovation. We have a really interesting discussion around whether Katie sees herself as a designer and the complexity around design terminology. This also leads onto a topic I'd like to explore further run the future of how we make design skills a core competency i
Alastair Low - From Kickstarters to Creative Baths
After a successful kickstarter campaign Alastair decided to start Lowtek Games a studio focused on creating games and tools to help dyslexic players enjoy video games more.
It was at primary school that Alastair got an early diagnosis of dyslexia creating real difficulty with reading. As text to speech technology became more readily available and with the rise of online video tutorials it allow
Muckle Studios - When a psychologist met a designer
Design researcher Stephanie Crowe and Design Generalist Kevin Sinclair met and decided their love in discussing the failings of design in the world around them was enough to start Muckle Studios.
They take me through a journey of how they built a partnership based upon the crossovers in their skillsets and also what they could learn from each other. They are a balance of optimist vs realist and
Volk Gallery - Scotland's first art vending machine
Hear how a trip to Vienna where all the museums were unexpected closed due to the pandemic led to Elizabeth Ann Day and Luke Cassidy Greer creating an art dispensing vending machine in the Keiller Centre in Dundee.
It's been a long time since I've had two guests on the podcast and this week it's a real deep dive into the Volk Gallery project. One year on from installing and launching their art v
Rick Curran - Dundee's skate history through the lens of a web developer
This week we start back in the 80s where Rick takes me through his own creative career as well as the history of the skate scene in Dundee.
He went from college to a full time job as a graphic designer and then on to study Time Based Art at DJCAD. After staying around as a research assistant Rick taught himself how to cope websites and the rest is history really. He started up his own business a
Stephanie Graham - Dundee can be the recovery capital of Europe through design
Stephanie Graham founder of Natla Jewellery and Dundee Community Craft joins me this week. Her goal is to make Dundee the recovery capital of Europe supporting recovery through teaching design skills. She takes her mobile jewellery workshops out into the community to deliver them. The workshops take people through a design process over several weeks but they also create a safe space where people c
Jennie Patterson - PR is just making people care about what you have to say
Hippies communes to funeral directors to Jennifer Lopez and Dior, Jennie grew up in Dundee, was drawn to Glasgow and inevitably London building her eclectic PR career before returning to Dundee.
Starting out in Pitkerro House, a sort of hippie commune on the outskirts of Dundee, this instilled the values of community and people working together on common goals from the very outset of her life.
Badbish Design- Confronting privilege & elitism in design
We take a deep dive into some of the nuances of graphic design with Badbish Design this week, featuring how to vent your creative frustrations, the need for building relationships when giving and receiving feedback and why she would happily draw a hippo for £5,000.
Badbish's career started out with a frustrating time at art school but after picking up some graphics work for the bars she was worki
Little Green Larder - Creating a shop to help people make more sustainable choices
I'm joined by Jillian Elizabeth owner of the Little Green Larder a zero waste, plastic free shop aiming to make shopping for sustainable products easy and convenient. The Little Green Larder offers a wide variety of foods and products with their best seller being their vegan pick n mix.
Jillian saw zero waste shops opening up across the world and sick of waiting on someone setting one up in Dund
Islay Spalding - Space ownership & being taken seriously
Jeweller and owner of Double Door Studios joins me for a wonderful meandering chat through her journey. There's a little sidetrack into busking and then onto building a jewellery practice in kilt pins, wedding rings and collections. A quick jaunt around making brooches more accessible through skirting boards and broken musical instruments. Before focusing on finding a space, setting up the finance
Kerrie Aldo - Building an independent ethical fashion brand
Fashion designer Kerrie Aldo joins me this week. Probably best known for her signature wax cotton jackets created using material from local manufacturer Halley Stevenson. We talk about slow vs fast fashion and how you get across the value of small scale sustainable production. Kerrie talks me through her journey starting out by being influenced by the indie music scene to finding her own style and
C.Gul - Reaching the peak of seagull based puns
This week it's all about street art with C.Gul. Inspired by Dundee's ballsy bird community he has been creating seagull inspired street art for 9 years now. Clearly he doesn't take himself too seriously and his work is about putting smiles on people's faces. We touch on the differences between street art and graffiti and go into the rules and politics that surround the two closely linked but disti
Kate Harvey - Beautifully organised chaos in textile design
It's textile designer Kate Harvey's turn to be the guest on this week's podcast. We go from corner shops to Australia and eventually back to Dundee where she started her own clothing brand. Kate produces hand made one-off appliqué garments in a style that I would describe as beautifully organised chaos. We discuss how she has developed her style and process over time as well as building her audien
Leonie Bell - The importance of energy
This week I'm joined by Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee. She has had a fascinating career working in many high profile roles across Scotland's creative and cultural sector. We talk through her career, why she deliberately seeks out positions of responsibility, that she may not quite be equipped to deal with and why this is a real positive.
From an upbringing in Newport and becoming immersed
David P. Scott - When your back's against a sheer drop, where else do you go?
I had a very open and honest conversation with David about his career so far as an artist, photographer, videographer and educator. We go into a particularly dark time after he took on a corporate banking job due to 'expectations' which lead so severe anxiety and depression. As David says in the episode it nearly killed him but
"When your back's against a sheer drop, where else do you go? You
Ask Me Anything - Questions from the listeners
A celebration of the past 98 episodes with so many wonderful guests. I talk about some of the things I’ve learned and answer the questions of past guests and listeners.
This episode is a big thank you to everyone who has made the first 98 episodes of the podcast possible. I’ve had so many brilliant guests openly and honestly sharing their stories. One the four years I have been running the podca
Alice Black - Film is a great leveller
This week I’m joined by the Head of Cinema at the DCA, Alice Black. She gives us a behind the scenes peek of how an independent cinema operates and the difficulties of catering to such a wide and varied audience.
Cinema has always been the biggest focus and passion in Alice’s life. From an early age the cinema was an adventure, being a 2hour drive each way. After a bit of a mix up with the ticket
Darryl Gaffney du Plooy - I would never call myself a creative
Darryl comes from a background in social care and community engagement through many different jobs and projects that we chat about on the project but he’s currently working on researching and developing a local currency for Dundee.
‘I would never call myself a creative’
Pretty much the first thing Darryl says. Not the best start, given the name of the podcast but ‘creative’ and 'design' have n
Kirsty Maguire - The North Pole to Antartica
Kirsty runs a Passivhaus Architecture practice from Wasps studios in Dundee but we don’t really talk about any of that. Instead, she takes me through her epic journey to the ends of the earth that she was able to make when lots of factors aligned to create the perfect opportunity.
Something of a different episode this week for the first remote recording of Creative Chit Chat ever. Please bear wi
Paul Gault - Following what you're interested in
Programme director of Digital Interaction Design at DJCAD, Paul has gone full circle from being a student on the course to now leading it. We cover that whole journey including some brilliant music based side projects along the way.
“mostly I’ve just pursued what I’ve been interested in rather than what’s been a good career move”
We begin by talking about Paul's relationship with technology and
Kirsty Thomson - Creating 'more than profit' businesses
Kirsty is the founder and CEO of the Circle, a “More Than Profit” organisation focused on working with social entrepreneurs, community activists, charity leaders, commercial business leaders, trustees and non-executive directors.
Kirsty starts her journey on her return to Dundee after being in academia for many years she found herself unemployed. After signing on, a careers advisor asked if she h
Ica Headlam - Creative Me Podcast in Aberdeen
Ica hosts and runs the Creative Me Podcast in Aberdeen and I invited him down to Dundee to do a podcast exchange. Turns out we have very similar stories and approaches when it comes to podcasting.
Originally from South East London, Ica moved up to Aberdeen with his girlfriend about 15 years ago to study social work. He’s seen the creative scene change and grow while recording the stories of creat
Jen Collins - The creative 'Holy Grail'
Jen is an Illustrator and ceramicist who has spent her time between Dundee, Glasgow and Toronto during her career so far.
Her work often notes quiet moments, human connection and the natural world. Pencil and paper are generally the tools of choice, but she occasionally plays with clay, too.
After graduating from DJCAD Jen started making products that she could sell online to build an audience a
Neil Cooney - Public art trails and a garage full of trainers
Do you like sneakers? Then this episode is for you. From importing random Japanese zines to working in Hanon in Aberdeen and having over 250 pairs sitting in his garage. Me and Neil chat a lot about trainers in this episode. Even though his journey isn’t really about footwear.
He came to Dundee to set up Borders books store. Which he helped build into the most successful branch in the UK but desp
Col Gray - Graphic design, content marketing and accountability
A graphic designer who runs Pixels Ink, helping brands find their identity and voice. He’s also built up a following through online design advice and tutorials on his youtube channel.
Col started out doing an interior design course, then moved on to animation and ended up working in a series of smaller studios doing various different roles. He started to get itchy feet when the studio he was at b
Lori Anderson - Gamekeeper turned poacher
5 weeks into a year-long role as director of Creative Dundee I chat to Lori about her journey, what interested her in the role and what she wants to achieve.
Starting out, Lori’s journey has a bit of uncertainty that then led to working in the financial sector. After rising through the company she ended up being made redundant along with the rest of her department. This lead her to take stock and
Andy Truscott - Creating music and classic football kits
An opportunity for a year-long graduate internship on the isle of Coll to write and create music was massively significant in Andy’s life. It kick-started a remote music creation process with his brother and initiated a love for field recordings.
Now 2 albums down, Kinbrae are looking to release an LP and then a further album but Andy is looking to other avenues to make music a full-time pursuit.
Katja Steel Kusakova - Confidence in contract hopping
Katja has been working in the cultural sector producing events for many years. From music festivals in the Czech Republic to DJCAD degree show. Having only been in Dundee for a relatively short period of time she’s already worked with most of the cultural organisations in the city.
As most of her work is event-based it leads to relatively short term contracts. We chat about jumping from contract
Stewart Murdoch - Helping others make things happen
Director of Leisure & Culture Dundee, Stewart has spent many years engaging communities, enabling others and really helping develop the cultural offer in Dundee. As he moves towards retirement we talk about what he has achieved in the role and what he feels is important for the city going forward.
After growing up in Fife, Stewart started in community education in Glasgow. He didn’t exactly when
Kathryn Rattray - Getting the most out of any camera
A freelance photographer who has worked across many areas but mainly with cultural and arts organisations like NEoN Digital Arts Festival, the Cooper Gallery and many fashion brands.
The first big project I worked on with Kathryn was this year’s Dundee Design Festival. We brought her in as the official festival photographer and to run a space called the ‘Photoshop’. In the podcast she says she
Jamie Stein - Toxic work environments and finding a passion in graphic design
A graphic designer currently working for Avian in Dundee, Jamie shares his journey to where he is now with lots of ups, downs and educational institutions.
Jamie first did undergrad degree in product design but felt it was too focused on the engineering and the prospects afterwards were limited. He realised from the design process he had developed that what he really enjoyed was putting together
Kirsty Thomas - From Joe Bloggs to Tom Pigeon
Kirsty Thomas runs creative studio Tom Pigeon from the East Neuk of Fife. We go through her journey from fashion design to teaching to the creation of Tom Pigeon and her latest project The Make Bank.
After a bit of a false start with Sports Science Kirsty went on to a degree in Design Studies which didn’t exactly prepare her with the skills needed for industry but did give her broad scope which h
Bonus - Dundee Design Festival 2019
21 – 28 May the Dundee Design Festival will be at the Keiller Centre in Dundee. In this bonus episode me and Lyall Bruce talk about the process behind producing the festival.
The podcast has been on a bit of a hiatus and DDF19 is the reason why. So, I thought it only fair to do an episode on our process behind the scenes in structuring and creating the festival.
For full festival details
dunde
Joanne MacFadyen - Maker markets with Tea Green Events
Joanne runs Tea Green Events where she brings together some of the best makers from across Scotland in amazing spaces for people to buy their wares.
Joanne’s journey took a few twists and turns along the way before building up Tea Green. Starting out with a ‘false start’ doing a business degree she realised that what she really wanted to do was go to art school. After getting a portfolio togethe
Frances Brown - Blagging, being a good translator and dealing with grief
Frances is the ex-director of the Queens Young Leaders programme and describes herself as a ‘positive troublemaker’ which I think is very much the case.
We start on her journey where she sort of blagged her way through university, playing the system to get through. Her ability to do this did make her lose interest in art and I think ultimately university.
Frances talks very openly about her o
Gareth Christie - The beautiful tabletop game
Gareth runs Flick For Kicks, making hand made Subbuteo tables and has been involved in playing and promoting the game for over 30 years.
He takes us right back to when he first started in his mates’ living room to being Scottish Youth Champion then starting his own club and finally running his own business.
It probably took me about 2 years to convince Gareth to come on the podcast. As he mentio
Eleanor Young - Fun Makes Good
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 impo
Louise Forbes - Spoons, shops and schlongs
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 Lou
Sam Baxter - Fun a day Dundee
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 Twitte
Ed Broughton - 10 top tips for freelancing
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
Laura Cooney - Making projects happen
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 20 year old working for the lighthouse in communities like Easterhouse in Glasgow to the amazing proje
Lauren Morsley - Creative fulfilment as an illustrator and taking things slowly
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 in
Samantha Paton - Sequins and support to build a fashion business
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 h
Louise Kirby - Creating a signature style
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 r
Sekai Machache - Art, underrepresentation and true collaboration
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 goe
Mike Press - Service Design before it existed
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 s
Richard Davies - Creating an alternative side to Dundee
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 liq
Lynn Love - We should all be playing more
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 Johnston - Finding your specialism behind the camera
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 possi
Yann Seznec - Weaving in and out of music, technology and art
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 somet
Steph Liddle - The nacho illuminati, huggable pies and ceramics
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 k
Su Shaw - Being brave and making honest music
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 col
Mark Beaumont - Creating a career from adventuring
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 thin
Aymeric Renoud - Designing and making with eco materials
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 DJCA
Murray Chalmers - A career in the music industry
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 th
Richard Cook - The best customer service in the world
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 creativ
Annie Marrs - Wearing lots of hats and taking people along on the ride
Annie is Project Coordinator for UNESCO Dundee City of Design team & Place Partnership Programme. You may know her from events such as the Dundee Design Festival. We talk about how she came to apply for the roles she's in now and why her career has led her into wearing lots of different hats. Little known fact, she used to do the train announcements at Inverness station before it all got automated
Rachel Simpson - The weird and wonderful side of sound design for games
Composer and sound designer Rachel Simpson joins me this week to talk about her day job working at games company Outplay Entertainment, some of her amazing musical work and cycling.
I think Rachel must be one of the most modest guests I’ve ever had on and she did take a bit of encouragement to get her in front of the mic. It was specified that Fred the dog had to be present for moral support. So
Ali McGill - Combining experience design with accountancy
On this week is Ali McGill an accountant and experience designer. You wouldn’t necessarily put the two together. Ali talks about making a start in his career training as a traditional accountant. Over the years of running businesses and being responsible for profit and loss sheets he started to see the real value of putting yourself in your customers shoes. Using design tools and methodologies to
Fleet Collective - The rise and fall of a creative co-working space
This week’s podcast is the announcement that Fleet Collective will be closing its doors. Donna Holford Lovell joins me to chat through starting Fleet with Lyall Bruce. We talk about the journey she’s been on and how the co-working space has grown and developed over time. We then finish up with talking about the reasons behind closing the collective. Afterwards you’ll about what Fleet meant to the
Hayley Scanlan - The realities of running a creative business
Hayley is a Dundee born fashion designer with clients that include Little Mix, The Saturdays and Pixie Lot. We talk about how she got into the industry and established her clothing label H.S.
It was clear from chatting to Hayley that style and appearance have been key considerations for her from a really early age. Sitting round the kitchen table with her Gran sewing clothes for her barbies and p
Shahbaz Majeed - Bringing landscapes to life through a lens
Shahbaz Majeed is my guest this week and he is an amazing photographer based in Dundee, who brings landscapes to life from the air.
If you haven’t heard of him already, chances are you will have seen his work. Shahbaz has had his photos used and featured in a lot of places as well as picking up a few awards along the way. Probably the most fascinating story is how he got his photo on Scotland’s f
Hazel White - Service design and proving people wrong
Hazel runs service design agency Open Change along with Mike Press and has spent a significant part of her career in education but according to her that might have been a little too long.
She started out at Edinburgh University with her first degree but after 5 years working she realised that art school was calling. Hazel found herself in jewellery and metal work apparently attracted by the mater
Jamie Scott & Tasso Neofitos - From masterchef to guilty pleasures
The chefs from The Newport Restaurant, Jamie Scott and Tasso Neofitos, join me this week to talk about their Masterchef experiences, getting inspired for new menus and their guilty pleasure.
Jamie and Tasso came in for a chat about how they got into cooking and when their passion really began. They met at Dundee’s Byzantium restaurant and then went on to work at Rocco in St Andrews together.
Fr
Ryan McLeod - My story
After a few requests and to celebrate the 50th episode of the podcast I’ve done an episode of my very own. I’ve got to thank Lyall Bruce for volunteering to take the role of host for the episode and Sam Gonçalves for the editing. I was also told I would not have editing rights over the episode. As I write this and the file uploads to soundcloud I’ve no idea what made the edit or what I said in the
Scott Byrne - Showcasing art in a 13th century hospital
After working pretty much all over Scotland with a load of amazing museums Scott is now general manager at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath.
He’s pretty much lived in every city in Scotland making his way around some amazing and prestigious galleries and museums curating their collections. Now at Hospitalfield House Scott is part of a wider team helping make everything up there happen. From tours
Jamie Simpson - Roasting coffee and hipster culture
The only coffee roaster in Angus, Jamie is based in Arbroath and is 1 third of Sacred Grounds coffee company, creating delicious roasts ready to grind up and enjoy.
We open up with a really interesting conversation about identity in relation to where you are from. It’s a strange one that I always ponder, am I now from Dundee? Or do I default to where I grew up just outside Edinburgh? It’s always
Scott Hudson - The brogue printer
Artist, printmaker and technician at the DCA print studio, amongst a few other things. He was one of the founders of Dundee Print Collective and has been part of many amazing projects since including print city.
Scott chats about his first experience coming to Dundee from Sunderland and applying to art school with his big A1 portfolio in tow. Coming over the Tay on the train is always picturesque
Recommended
This Much is True Crime
Qualitative Research Methods for Everyone Podcast
Intoxicating History
Protrusive Dental Podcast
To Immunity and Beyond
Make it British Podcast
The Brazilian Shirt Name Podcast
Palmers Green Mosque Weekly Sermons
Property Developers Playbook
The Personal Investor
Money Clinic with Claer Barrett
The Luxury Of Choice - Sales Skills Podcast
