Sometimes things start small.

Really small. Like the time we were asking members of the Young Stove to envisage what The Stove could be for them and Lauren came up with this wee drawing. It’s lived on our wall and we’ve loved it a lot. It even came to The Stove when we moved back in and his it’s own new spot on the wall. That sort of love.

The Stove has quite a lot to say, but we are often just as interested in what everyone else has to say. If Dumfries could speak, what would it say? Cue speak bubbles (which are EVERYWHERE if you hadn’t noticed):

We asked about. We asked on Twitter, asked on the streets, asked our friends, families, asked our favourite cafes, and then asked some more folk for good measure. Responses started to flood in, and orange bubbles started to appear across town. What places have the loudest voices? Big thanks to Herald Moxie and members of the Young Stove for championing the speech bubble conversations. More speech bubble conversations available on The Stove website here and here

What of these calls-to-arms could we sign up to? Which of these speaking shop fronts or town-centre-icons could give a slogan for Dumfries?

Time to call in an expert. Our expert on hand for this particular project was talented and patient printmaker and artist Sarah Keast. An island of calm amongst apparent chaos, the Stove turned ship sailing in a wild afternoon of frenzied t-shirt printing.

The Young Stove proved themselves to be the real stars of the moment, an unstoppable tide of ceaseless creative energy in a slightly chaotic afternoon that saw near 140 t-shirts printed in four hours. On a school day. (Yes, really.)

In the end there were a selection of nine designs, none the clear winner.

Be Inspired By What You Didn’t Think You Would Be.

Be the Action!

Beyond Doubt Into Love.

Clean Up Your Act.

End the Ghosttown.

Let Change Happen.

Practical Acts and Good Craic.

Reclaim the High Street.

#saveme.

Beyond Doubt Into Love may well be a t-shirt for a moment in time, a fleeting gesture of an aspirational young movement in an otherwise sleepy town. On the otherhand, it could be a stance against the indifference, the naysayers and the ay’ beens. A call to action that says now is the time, and here is the place. One things for sure, this design in neon pink went down a treat and is already sought-after.

This is less of an end, and more of a beginning – keep an eye out for speech bubbles: once you start noticing them, they tend to pop up all over the place…

#GetDumfriesTalking

To read the blog in full and in it’s original context, head on over to The Stove’s blog where you can stay up to date with all the latest cool happenings in Dumfries – do it now, here