12 Principles of Permaculture
As part of the 2025 Fabric group, I was commissioned by Creative Dundee and Dundee Changemakers Hub to create a series of spot illustrations inspired by the 12 Principles of Permaculture. The 12 Principles of Permaculture consist of prompts to ignite inspiration for translating garden and nature practices into projects and design thinking.
The illustrations were going to form a set of flashcards and given to participants of Dundee Changemakers Hub’s Fabric programme. The purpose of the cards was to inspire thinking of parallels between gardening and creative community projects.
I integrated text with image to create playful interpretations of the 12 prompts.
The final illustrations were printed by Yalla Riso, in Fluo Pink, Yellow and Green, making lovely textures and bright fluorescent colours.
The flashcards were strung together and given to each participant during the Fabric session, as tools to think about during a day of exploring community gardens and hearing about inspiring examples of permaculture in action.
Digital Riso Mock-up
Fabric Day - Gardening for the Future
Here are some photos from the permaculture themed Fabric day. It was a lovely day spent exploring Maxwell Centre, Campy Growers and Forgan Arts Centre, looking for inspiration from nature that we could adapt for our practices and projects.
The flashcards were used throughout the day as reminders of the principles, and they were reflected in a lunch made from Campy Growers grown food, sustainable energy, compost heaps and many more lovely garden practices.
The final activity of the day was to take the learnings and inspiration from the spaces we visited, and translate it into a garden symbolising our practices or a project we’re working on. I enjoyed recreating my practice as a garden, imagining what gives me rain, sun and the tools I need to grow.
