Notes From The Studio / Vol. 5

Picnics, Planning Battles & Plenty of Projects

It’s been a while since the last one, and for good reason. It’s been full steam ahead with all things community.

In less than three weeks, we pulled together a Protest Picnic in the Park, complete with banners, balloons, and a whole lot of neighbourly spirit. Since then, we’ve been digging (metaphorically and literally) for information, managed to get one of the planning applications withdrawn, and are now putting our energy into Spirits in the Park, a Halloween night like nothing our community has ever seen. It feels like we’ve struck a match and suddenly everyone’s finding their spark.

And the momentum hasn’t stopped. We’ve also been invited by Planning Democracy Scotland to Holyrood, where they’ll be launching their manifesto: practical changes to make Scotland’s planning process fairer, more transparent, and more accountable to both communities and the environment. It’s a big step forward, and it feels good to know our voices are part of the bigger conversation.

Back in the studio, it’s been equally full-on. Text From A Friend has been busy growing its wholesale family over the summer, and I’ve been knee-deep in creating new Christmas products (because if you don’t start in September, you’re already late, believe it or not). The last quarter of the year always feels like a sprint, but I secretly love the buzz.

Design-wise, I’ve been working away on some shiny new websites (soon to be launched into the world), along with printed brand stationery and marketing material for a new florist who’s about to bloom. Watch this space.

On my desk and in my ears this week:

🎧 Podcast: The Louis Theroux Podcast – curious, sharp, and always just the right mix of awkward and brilliant.
📖 Books: The God of Small Things (beautiful and heartbreaking), Tuesdays With Morrie (a classic reminder about what matters), A Flat Place (quietly powerful, thoughtful and moving).
🎶 Playlist: Rimarkable – disco, house, and energy in all the right places.
✨ Mood booster: Hitting send on a project and seeing the client reply with “you nailed it”. Best dopamine hit going.

‘Til next time, Sharon :)