あやこ, アヤコ*

Ah, Dunfermline. The consumer market capital of the world. Ahem, ok maybe that’s a bit hard to believe by any stretch of the imagination, but for two creative and ambitious young lads, their world is Dunfermline, and they are already on their way to dominating it with their graphics and web design company, Ayako* graphics.

The ‘lads’ I’m referring to here are graphic design and visual communication graduates Stuart Kirk and Chris Di Placito, whose passion for visual exuberance is evident in the stunning oriental crafts they produce, as well as their natural brains for business, having concocted their venture from the beginning and managed it to what it has become today, all on their own. Both highly commendable students, Stuart won design student of the year 2007 and Chris received a scholarship from a local design agency the same year.

From humble beginnings, this canny little endeavour has blossomed into one of the most revered businesses of its nature, with regular clients from Dundee hailing them as “innovative and free-thinking”, delivering them “artwork to be proud of”. The duo have also done a bit of fishing further afield, trading artwork with fellow designers Cornish Knockers from Cornwall, and the extremely talented and respected Johanna Basford, whose intricate designs have been an inspiration to the boys.  They have not had a single unsatisfied customer to date, and that is no mean feat for a two year old company in such a competitive market. Among those appeased clientele is Craig Pounder from Scotstrings who merits Ayako* for being “energetic… creative… professional… from concept to completion, these guys were a pleasure to work with”.

Ayako* has a beautiful array of Eastern inspired merchandise; from t-shirts to postcards to prints, all dusted with the Ayako* charm of being quirky and whimsical, with an air of purity that makes the pieces so attractive. They also have a collection of characters including ‘samurai kid’ and ‘ayakogirl’, whom you can have emblazoned onto just about anything you like, giving things a nice personal touch.

These gung-ho entrepreneurs are far from reaching their zenith with Ayako* graphics, it’s only a matter of time before ‘samurai kid’ becomes a household brand.

Ayako* graphics merchandise can be purchased from ayakographics.com/shop.html