Three years ago I designed some Christmas Cards featuring Nick's amazing photography. They were a bit of a hit and we've sold out every year since (only 9 packs left as I type! oh actually now 8!).
This year was a bit special however, because V&A Dundee got in touch and asked us to design something similar for them, featuring their amazing building. It was a bit tight with Christmas looming and a pandemic in full swing, but of course we said yes!
London's Victoria and Albert Museum was founded in 1852 by the eponymous Queen and Prince Consort, and has since become the world's largest museum of art and design, housing over 2 million objects.
V&A Dundee opened in September 2018 and was the first V&A museum outside of London. Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and sitting on the North bank of the river Tay, the V&A Dundee building is clad in rows of stone to mimic the granite cliffs of Scotland, tapering to a point at its southern tip, where it mimics the bow of a ship, in a nod to Dundee's maritime history. It's an impressive building whether approached by land or water, and has become as much a part of Scotland's identity as the Forth bridge and Nessie.
To kick things off, Nick drove the 900 mile round trip, mostly to avoid other people but also to avoid other people ;) and spent two days shooting the building. We hired a boat (thank you David Anderson Marine), so we could get shots of the building from the water, and it was during this trip that Nick learned about some of the complexities of building such a unique structure.
The construction of V&A Dundee was no mean feat – part of the building juts out over the river, meaning they had to temporarily reclaim some of the land to make a platform from which to complete the mammoth project. None of the walls are straight – the rows of stone cladding sweep gracefully round subtle curves, drawing the eye around the building, and creating new shapes that change as you walk around the outside.
True to his style, Nick's focus was on these curves and the geometry of the building and I added my usual twist with a flurry of snow and some familiar Christmas motifs.
A few days later, with several hours spent adding plastic free card catch labels and bright red belly bands to the 6 packs, the designs were finished and on the way to Dundee.
You can see the results below. The cards are available to buy from the V&A Dundee shop; they're not online (yet!), so if you're not able to visit, you can order by sending an email to shop@vandadundee.org.
Images from the shoot will also be available as limited edition photography prints, valentines cards and more so watch this space!
