Vibrant Six

Archived Material - May 2007 Alex Salmond was elected as First Minister

Scotland only has six cities. But what a six they are! Architecturally and culturally distinct, today they each, in their own way, contribute to one of the fastest growing industries – the creative industry. Here is an introduction to a new festival that celebrates their creativity.

Watch out Milan, watch out London! Last year a new festival was launched from the Scottish Executive. It’s planned to be a biennial festival, starting in 2007. It celebrates Scotland’s creativity in design and the six cities that provide the focus for Scotland’s creative industries. It’s called The Six Cities Design Festival and will run concurrently in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling for three weeks starting next year. The concept is hugely ambitious. No other festival in the world has linked all its country’s cities together in this way.

But as First Minister, Jack McConnell, said at the launch: “Scotland is home to some of the most exciting creative designers working anywhere in the world. The breadth of their talent and the flair and innovation of their work has shown that Scotland has what it takes to compete with London and Milan. An investment in creativity is an investment that pays dividends. The creative industries support thousands of Scottish jobs and generate billions of pounds for our economy.”

Scotland has always punched above its weight when it comes to innovation and contributing to the world’s knowledge. Winston Churchill said: “Of all the world’s small nations on earth, perhaps only the ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind.” A huge amount of that Scottish contribution comes from the field of design in its broadest sense.

Festival objectives

The programme for the festival is based around three related objectives. The first is to update the Scottish public’s perception of design. Design for many means expensive clothes or Swedish furniture. But we live in a designed world. Everything apart from the natural world, from a paper clip to a milk bottle is designed. Design is central to the functioning and aesthetics of our lives. The second objective is to change Scottish business’s perception of design and the benefits it can bring. From smart product design to an arresting corporate identity inspired design can give businesses a distinct advantage. Many businesses are already making capital out of this knowledge. The festival will celebrate these and convince the others. The final objective is to raise Scotland’s profile at an international level. Scotland is already well recognised in certain sectors for its design excellence: architecture and computer graphics being just two Scottish design strengths that are renowned worldwide. The festival aims to enhance international perceptions and reveal Scotland as a country which has a vibrant, forward looking design sector, a thriving creative industry and progressive education in the creative arts, bringing on the designers and creative thinkers of tomorrow.

Six design strengths

Global Friends of Scotland will be keeping abreast of developments and stories as they emerge. We are also posting features on the site that relate to each of the six cities and their chosen design strength. These core features will appear over the next six to nine months and will link to stories and developments that are happening in each of the cities.

A final thought for now: as you go to make a note in your Filofax of the festival dates, said invention, the Filofax, was designed in Edinburgh!