FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1 May 2025
Free to use images: https://www.flickr.com/gp/182139081@N02/2xmXCgz51K
UNESCO DUNDEE LAUNCH NEW DESIGN TRAILS,
KICKING OFF DUNDEE MONTH OF DESIGN
Free maps and audio tours of Dundee, marking the 7th annual Dundee Month of Design. Now launched, available to pick up at Central Library, V&A Dundee and The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum
Website link: https://cityofdesigndundee.com/design-trails
Four brand new trails are now available to collect. The routes share some intriguing design stories of Dundee, the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Design. With illustrations by Rhianne Connelly, local designer Luke Cassidy Greer created four colourful printed maps which encourage people to explore Dundee’s past and contemporary design legacy.
Directing visitors and residents alike to some of the city’s key design sites, the Dundee Design Trails look at the themes of:
- Design in Dundee’s City Centre. Kicking off at V&A Dundee and Discovery Point, it takes in sights along the Waterfront and into the City Centre. Make sure you don’t miss the Charles Rennie Mackintosh inspired windows at King’s Theatre, the secret submarine bobbing in the Tay, and Dundee’s “cathedral of science”!
- Dundee’s Post-war Architecture, with stops in Lochee and the West End. Designer Luke Cassidy Greer is passionate about sharing his love of post-war architecture, something Dundee is packed full of! Often overlooked, these designs fill our city streets, ranging from residential homes to major cultural venues. Make sure you don’t miss Dundee’s first skyscraper, Tower Building, and amazing modernist gems on Lochee High Street including the old Woolworths and Lochee’s local fishmongers!
- The Architecture of Dundee’s Textile Mills, with stops in Stobswell and Hawkhill takes you through some of the city’s key industrial areas. Be sure you don’t miss stops at Verdant Works, Dundee’s beautifully refurbished industrial heritage museum, Eagle Jute Mills, the only mill constructed between the world wars, and Arthurstone Library, built on land purchased from mill magnates the Baxters.
- Dundee’s Innovation and Technology, with stops in the West End and City Centre. Bringing us right up to present day Dundee, this trail includes stops that tell the story of Dundee’s pioneering inventions. Don’t miss DC Thomson, home to the world’s longest running comic Magazine (The Beano) and 134 Nethergate (now Wee Mexico), the first office of Grand Theft Auto creators DMA Design!
Dundee Design Trails are accompanied by four corresponding audio guides with expanded facts and information, available via UNESCO City of Design Dundee’s website.
The team behind UNESCO City of Design Dundee and local producer Becca Clark were keen to ensure that audiences could enjoy the trails in multiple ways. By creating an accompanying audio guide for each trail, people can join in and learn about our city’s design stories.
The trails have been developed with many talented designers, writers, researchers and producers from across Dundee:
- Graphic design and photography by Luke Cassidy Greer of Yalla Riso, a sustainably focused Dundee-based printers and graphic design studio founded by Greer.
- Illustrations by Rhianne Connelly, a Dundee-based graphic designer and printmaker who is drawn to bold patterns, playful typography and print design.
- Audio guides by Becca Clark of dundee radio club; a community radio station created by Clark and collaborator Su Shaw as a space for sonic exploration.
- ‘If These Wa’s Cuid Talk – A History of Dundee’s Surviving Jute & Flax Mills’ by Alison Carrie was a major source for the project.
- Additional research support from Dundee City Archives and Local History at Central Library.
Annie Marrs, Lead Officer at UNESCO City of Design Dundee said: “Dundee Design Trails are a great way to share our design stories with visitors to the city, communicating the many reasons why Dundee is the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design. These trails are full of well-loved design facts as well as highlighting some hidden gems. We’re really excited that these trails feature places across the city including Bonar Hall, Lochee High Street, King’s Theatre, and Baxter Park amongst many other amazing locations.”
Councillor Steven Rome, convener of Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure, said: “This is a great initiative to encourage people to get out and see Dundee’s rich history of design and the way it has left its mark on the city.”
Council spokesperson for Culture, Sport and History Councillor Lynne Short added: “Over time, design is one of the threads that have been woven together to make Dundee such a unique place. I am delighted that these maps will allow people to explore that story for themselves.”
‘Dundee Design Trails’ are launched as part of the annual month-long celebration of Dundee’s UNESCO designation, Dundee Month of Design.
Further Dundee Month of Design events include exhibitions, workshops and drop-ins from Dundee Contemporary Arts, Double Doors Studio, V&A Dundee, Volk Gallery and more! Abertay University’s Digital Graduate Show and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design’s Undergraduate Degree Show also feature in the month’s programme.
For more information, visit: cityofdesigndundee.com/dundee-month-of-design
@designdundee / @dundeemonthofdesign
Dundee Design Trails is delivered by UNESCO City of Design Dundee and part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee is supported through a partnership between Leisure & Culture Dundee and V&A Dundee.
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