Communication Design School of Design
Meg Waterston
Driven by a genuine curiosity about the communities around me, I see research as the foundation for meaningful design. I’m especially passionate about print and the tangible qualities of design, using these as tools to share information and emphasise the importance of preservation.
This year, my work has centred on community and engagement, realised through curation, print, and art direction. Two key projects were In-Use, a collaborative research publication about four unique Scottish pastimes, and Ideal Living, an exhibition and platform celebrating local makers by pushing back against traditional, sterile showrooms.
In-Use
In-Use (out-of-hours) explores how people in Scotland spend time outside work, using objects to tell personal and cultural stories. Each narrative centres on an object, drawing on archival methods to create ‘living object biographies’ that trace its life, use, and meaning over time. The project displays four different activities through a printed format: Borders Hand Ba’, Braemar Mountain Rescue, Doomen (pigeon flyers), and Magic Cycling Club. We spent time building relationships, visiting the locations and people to better understand each story. Each book includes a full interview transcript with personal accounts and interjections from someone closely connected to the pastime.
The books are filled with extended stories and detailed footnotes, printed on bold yellow pages that almost interrupt the main text, offering extra context and depth. The book can be read linearly or through the footnotes as a reference object. Each of the four books can be read separately or screwed together as a single, tangible volume. This aims to reflect the physicality and permanence of the stories and communities we hope to help preserve through design and the sharing of information.
In-Use is an ongoing collaboration between Meg Waterston and Leon Caddick.
Project Links
In-Use Website
This website was built alongside the project In-Use.
This site is a platform for exploring the interconnection of shared objects. At the top of the feed is a “live” object – if it reminds you of something else, you’re invited to respond. Submit an image or re-creation of your connected object, along with a bit of context or description if you’d like. Share what you feel connects – and even why. Feel free to explore previous images further down the feed. Maybe you’ll see a pattern, or inspire another connection to the live object.
Ideal Living Exhibition
Ideal Living reimagines the home through the lens of a design showroom, inviting visitors to interact with objects in a lived-in space. Held at New Glasgow Society from November 9th to 14th, 2024, the exhibition featured handcrafted work by 25 local makers, from lamps and vases to a full bed frame. The show explored ideas of personal and sustainable living. By filling the space with objects designed with care and purpose, it encouraged visitors to reconsider what an ideal home might look like today, one that is both personal and sustainable. Ideal Living continues as a developing project. We aim to become a pop-up space that transforms different locations through the work of local craftspeople, giving them a platform to share their work and show how these pieces can integrate into everyday life.
I co-curated the exhibition with architecture graduate Rory Bennett and worked with Connor O’Donnell Archibald on the visual identity, poster, and catalogue.
