Critical Walking: Kelvingrove Heritage Trail

Critical Walking is a socially engaged research project led by Dr Rosie Spooner at the University of Glasgow's Decolonising Arts Lab. The project explores walking as a research method, form of public pedagogy and critical heritage practice, encouraging people to engage with Glasgow's often-overlooked histories of empire, colonialism and resistance.

As Lead Designer, we developed the visual identity and original illustrations for the Kelvingrove Heritage Trail, an anti-colonial walking trail that guides visitors through the park while uncovering hidden connections to slavery, imperialism and colonial power. Working closely with Dr Rosie Spooner at the Decolonising Arts Lab at the University of Glasgow, we created a series of illustrations and design assets that help make complex historical narratives accessible, engaging and visually compelling.

Combining archival research, storytelling and place-based interpretation, the trail invites participants to reconsider familiar landscapes through a critical lens, revealing histories that are often absent from public memory. Distributed both digitally and in print across museums, libraries and community spaces, the project demonstrates how design can support public understanding of difficult histories and encourage meaningful conversations about heritage, memory and social justice.

Services Delivered

• Illustration

• Visual Identity Design

• Editorial Design

• Public Engagement Design

• Decolonial Storytelling