All featured photography by Grant Anderson.
SAY Award Design Commission 2025
Final designs by No Comply revealed
The SAY Award Design Commission celebrates Scotland’s vibrant creative community and the enduring dialogue between art and music. Each year, it supports a local maker to design and craft the bespoke prizes presented to musicians honoured at the SAY Award Ceremony.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee was proud to partner with The SAY Award to select 2025’s commissioned designers, No Comply.
“At UNESCO City of Design Dundee, we believe in the power of design and the essential place of designers in the life of our city. No Comply’s design celebrates Scotland’s irrevocably intertwined music and skate culture, perfectly showcasing Dundee’s collaborative design ethos.”
Lizzie Day, Project Coordinator at UNESCO City of Design Dundee
No Comply are the 2025 SAY Award Design Commission appointed makers. Based in Dundee, Cat Loots and Andy Donaldson transform discarded skateboards and reclaimed hardwood into distinctive, sustainable designs, turning materials once seen as waste into items to be treasured. Their work celebrates both Dundee’s skate culture and its thriving live music scene. Previous commissions have included ceramic bells, jesmonite arches, and, most recently, sandcast glass sculptures by Elin Isaksson, cast from natural rocks found near her Dunblane studio.
Sustainability is at the heart of the commission, which champions meaningful action to reduce carbon emissions and protect the planet. As the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Design, Dundee takes centre stage this year, with a local maker commissioned to create prizes that reflect the city’s dynamic design culture. Makers were invited to embed sustainability throughout their process and root their proposals in Dundee and the surrounding region.
“Designing this year’s SAY Award prizes has been a great experience. Each piece combines responsibly sourced local walnut from a 300-year-old tree with layers of broken skateboards, donated by skaters across the country. Our design traces the coastline of Dundee, celebrating its people, community, and landscape. We’re drawn to materials with history; objects that have already lived full lives and now carry their stories forward in a whole new form.”
Cat Loots & Andy Donaldson of No Comply
Crafted from 45 donated skateboards, around 90 noses and tails were sanded, glued, and pressed into solid blocks, then cut down to reveal colourful layers that carry traces of their past life, each one celebrating individuality, creativity, and community. Locally sourced walnut, from a 300-year-old Dundee tree felled for safety reasons, adds warmth and provenance to every piece. Its deep, natural tones complement the vibrant skateboard layers, while the meeting edge of the walnut follows the outline of Dundee’s coastline, grounding each award in its place of origin. Every piece is unique, hand-finished with natural oils to highlight the texture and tone of the materials.
“We’re delighted to be commissioned to design this year’s SAY Award prizes. Music and skateboarding share a sense of expression, rhythm and individuality, and we’re excited to channel that into the award designs. We’ll be using broken skateboards donated by skaters in the Dundee area, along with locally sourced reclaimed hardwood as the base materials. Every board carries signs of its past life – from scrapes and pressure cracks to layers of worn colour – and because no two are the same, each award will be unique.”
Cat Loots & Andy Donaldson of No Comply
Stay tuned for snaps from the award night, and further information about how you can see this year’s design commission up close and in-person…
About The SAY Award
The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is Scotland’s national music prize; celebrating Scottish music, and the cultural impact and contribution of outstanding Scottish albums. Produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), The SAY Award exists to enrich, stimulate, inspire and enhance in order to strengthen and increase the value of Scotland’s music industry on the world stage: economically, socially and culturally.
Find out more at sayaward.com
About No Comply
No Comply is a celebration of skateboarding and its unique community. Cat Loots and Andy Donaldson design bespoke homeware and jewellery from their workshop based in Dundee. The pieces they make are crafted from broken, disused skateboards – donated from skaters and skate shops across the UK – and locally sourced reclaimed hardwood.
Find out more: nocomplydesign.com
