Pete Thomas - Designing for the everyday with Tom Pigeon

Gillian works tirelessly to support, nuture and promote creative talent as director of Creative Dundee. It took a little convincing to get her on the podcast but it was well worth the effort. We go on another journey from past to present and then future. Dipping into murmurations, being organised and the real strengths that Dundee has along the way. Creative Chit Chat Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/cccdundee/ Gillian’s twitter - https://twitter.com/gillianeasson Gillian’s website - http://www.gillianeasson.com/ Creative Dundee Website - http://creativedundee.com/ Creative Dundee Twitter - https://twitter.com/Creative_Dundee Creative Dundee Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/creativedundee Creative Dundee Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/creativedundee/ Pecha Kucha - http://creativedundee.com/pecha-kucha-night-dundee/ Make Share - http://creativedundee.com/makeshare-monthly/ Claire Dufour - https://twitter.com/byricohet Diarmid McKinnon - https://twitter.com/diarmid_pr The Moth Podcast - https://themoth.org/podcast

As part of this year's Dundee Design Festival I created an installation of the podcast called Punch In/Punch Out. In the same way that Creative Chit Chat captures the thoughts and opinions of creatives and designers in and around Dundee, I wanted to capture the thoughts of the people on the factory floor at the design festival. This is the first episode in a series of podcasts collating over 100 chats that were captured during the festival. Visitors selected a question card from the rack and then they used the Punch In machine. We had a chat for a few minutes around the topic or question on the card before they had the opportunity to add their own question to the rack and finally Punch Out. I'd like to say thanks to Ed Broughton for help with the recording setup and Lyall Bruce and Kate Saunderson for helping with the recordings.

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 people who were part of the collective and what they’re going on to do next. Here’s the official statement on the closure: “After 4 years of procrastination and 6 months of hard graft Fleet Collective opened its doors in Dundee. The idea was to create a co-working space that brought together freelancers, researchers, and businesses. We had affordable and flexible desk space for hire and great ambitions to reform the way freelancers worked with the city. The idea was to foster a collaborative environment where creative folk could work on their own or work with others on larger projects that would not normally be available to freelancers. Also a place to share ideas, share resources and provide support. People came from a host of disciplines from art, design, games design, web development, and communications to architecture, curation, publishing, and film-making. We’ve also had a chemist, a biologist and even an accountant. Over the past seven years, Fleet has established itself as an important creative hub in Dundee, and our model as a collective has been commended and internationally recognised. However things are changing and its time to move on. Donna Holford-Lovell, one of Fleets founders, talks to Creative Chit Chat about the beginning, the journey and the future.” Fleet has played a really important role in my career helping me growing and develop as a designer. It’s obviously the birthplace of Creative Chit Chat and many other projects and collaborations. Although it’s sad to see it go, the legacy of Fleet will remain in the talent it has helped nurture in the city. Hopefully the new co-working spaces springing up in the city can learn from our experiences. For me it’s time for something new. Myself and Lyall Bruce are going to be starting a new Design Studio in Dundee called Agency of None. More will be revealed shortly but I’m sure you can find out more if you’re handy with the internet.

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 to contract and having the confidence that something else will always come up. Her latest contract is with Creative Dundee as Programmes Producer. After just a few months in the role, I ask about her ambitions over the next 6-9 months, what she feels Creative Dundee’s role is in the city and where she fits within that. Katja says ‘Dundee is small in the best of ways’ many people have talked about the advantages of the scale of Dundee but no-one has summed it up quite as succinctly and beautifully as this. Creative Dundee - https://creativedundee.com/ Katja Twitter - https://twitter.com/katjakusakova Katja Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katjasteel/ Ness’ twitter - https://www.instagram.com/_little_ness_monster/