Colin's Designs Upon Quality of Life

The couple bought one of the new homes at Croftinloan, Pitlochry - attracted by the design of the house by local architectural practise, McKenzie Strickland Associates, and the ease of getting onto the A9 for those all-too-frequent trips Colin has to make to Edinburgh airport.

Colin has since set up a one-man design consultancy, Martach Associates – named after the Crag that lies south of Pitlochry. His client base is steadily growing, with clients in San Francisco, London, Manchester and Glasgow on the books for the first year. Colin likes to cover the broadest range of design that he can. He told Comment: “I’m less interested in specific disciplines like interior, graphic or product design, and more in the process of design and how it applies to as wide a range of things as possible.”

He is the retained Design Associate for the DTI funded Design Council in London, with several local Scottish Executive projects in the wings, in areas as diverse as Healthcare and School Leaver Learning.

Recent local projects include collaborations with Aberfeldy graphic designer Ellen McBride on the identity for Taymouth Courtyard, of which Colin and Elaine are part owners with old friend Henry and his wife Marion. Also in the pipeline is a furniture and product design collaboration with Angus Ross.

Colin is really pleased to have recently licensed his first design as an independent, for a digital (DAB) radio, to Manchester based manufacturer, Intempo (see picture). A post as visiting professor at Duncan of Jordanstone School of Design in Dundee keeps his week very busy indeed!

As it has turned out, their move has gone really well. Their two boys, Fergus, 10, and Euan, 6, really love Pitlochry School and initial family fears have been replaced by a real sense of happiness in making the escape from the “rat-race” to a better quality of life in Highland Perthshire.