Dundee Design Festival to take place at DC Thomson building
Published On Thu 25 Feb 2016 by Grant Hill
West Ward Works, the former home of DC Thomson’s annuals in Dundee, will host the first Dundee Design Festival this year.
From 25th to 28th May, the former industrial building, one of Dundee’s most important historic centres for magazine and book production, will play host to a range of designers, businesses and design collectives for the Dundee Design Festival.
The festival is a four-day celebration of design, marking the city’s first full year as the UK’s UNESCO City of Design. The festival will showcase design from Dundee, Scotland and internationally, through a large exhibition, talks, demonstrations and workshops.
DC Thomson Director and Chief Operating Officer David Thomson said, “We’re delighted to be able to work in partnership with the UNESCO City of Design Dundee team to host the first international design festival. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the heritage of the building whilst also looking forward to the exciting redevelopment of the city.
“Our company is fully supportive of Dundee’s Cultural development, including the V&A Dundee project, and we’re keen to contribute to the development of further arts facilities for the city. We’ve been exploring ideas for the potential revitalisation of our West Ward building as a cultural space and this seemed like an ideal opportunity to try it out!
“Other former jute mills and industrial spaces have been successfully redeveloped and so we hope that this temporary upgrade for West Ward will help us to understand whether there is an appetite for an arts space at our building in Guthrie Street.”
As the major destination for the local, national and international design exhibitions, West Ward will showcase an exciting programme of events during the Festival. Forums, talks and practical workshops led by designers will allow visitors to experience a diversity of design excellence and innovation.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee’s Festival Producer Siôn Parkinson will launch the full programme of activities and events in April 2016. The open call for designers keen to get involved closes at 5pm tomorrow (FEB 26) and the City of Design team is excited by the many, varied submissions received already.
Anna Day, Manager of UNESCO City of Design, Dundee, said, “We are delighted to be working with DC Thomson to bring this building back to life. It’s a hugely important part of the city’s heritage and it will be exciting to welcome people in to see the exhibition which will highlight the best design of the future from Dundee and across Scotland.”
To keep up to date, please visit www.dundeedesignfestival.com or www.facebook.com/dundeecityofdesign.
Image is copyright (c) D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
ENDS
Notes to Picture Editors:
For images of West Ward Works – both current and archive – please contact Fiona Armstrong on 01382 575604 or communications@dcthomson.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:
About West Ward Works:
In 2010, West Ward Works was closed after more than half a century of magazine and book production by DC Thomson. Originally production took place at Bank Street before moving to Guthrie Street in 1949.
This site was home not only to the printing and binding of DC Thomson titles for over 60 years, but also to the transport department, accommodating fleets of cars and lorries in the basement. Titles including Beezer, Twinkle, Black Bob, Sparky, and Topper were all produced at this site. Perhaps the most famous of all are DC Thomson’s annuals, including the famous Christmas stocking-fillers Oor Wullie and The Broons. In the late 1960s and early 1970s more than five million books were being produced each year.
During that time up to 200 people worked on the site. A vast array of other material was also produced including internal stationery and contract work – in particular the binding of holiday brochures in the 1990s. Runs of half a million copies were not uncommon.
Over the course of the life of West Ward, generations of people worked in the building – sometimes generations at one time. Others started their employment as 16 year olds fresh out of school and left as grandparents.
West Ward Works has also seen generations of printing equipment. To begin with letterpress platen and flatbed printing presses were used to print The Scots Magazine and annuals alongside other titles like the Commando. It was very labour intensive and a slow process.
The West Ward building was extended to include a new bindery in 1963. The firm’s first and second digital printing presses were housed at WWW, with the latest moving to Meadowside. The site was fitted out with the latest computer to plate making technology with the KBA printing press added in 1996 and the Muller Martiniinding lines in 2002.
About DC Thomson: www.dcthomson.co.uk @dc_thomson
DC Thomson & Co Ltd is a private company and one of the leading publishing houses in the UK. The company’s headquarters is in Dundee, Scotland, with a London base in Fleet Street. DC Thomson publishes newspapers, magazines, comics and books. The company also has interests in radio, printing, retailing and online services.
About UNESCO City of Design, Dundee: www.dundeedesignfestival.com @designdundee www.facebook.com/dundeecityofdesign
Dundee was designated a UNESCO City of Design in November 2014, the only one in the UK. We are now part of a global design network that includes cities such as Helsinki, Berlin, Beijing, Graz, Shanghai and 16 others.
As a City of Design, Dundee will:
• use design as a cornerstone in addressing both social inequalities and opportunities that exist in the city;
• share experiences and knowledge about digital design, including links between game design and the arts and sciences as well as contemporary art and design;
• set up collaborative projects on interdisciplinary design, combining multiple design approaches to solve social challenges;
• focus on social design, redesigning public service and community engagement; and
• foster public discourse on the place and contribution of design in contemporary society.
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk