From Golspie to the Gold Coast; Sutherland native spreads cheer in Oz with uplifting artwork
A Golspie native is hitting the headlines on Australia’s Gold Coast for his contribution to cheering his community up during the coronavirus pandemic.
Graphic designer John Argyle is part of an initiative which has seen colourful, large scale artwork put up throughout the Gold Coast with inspiring messages such as ‘Stock up on empathy’; ‘Take care of each other; and ‘We will get through this together’.
And so taken have people been by the uplifting messages that John and fellow graphic designer Adam Mesaric have featured on local television news programmes.
Thirty-two-year-old John is the son of well-known local couple Patrick and Mary Argyle, both retired vets living in Golspie.
The Argyles visited their son, who lives in the picturesque coastal suburb of Mermaid Waters in 2018 and were looking forward to going out again this year but had to cancel because of the pandemic.
A former Golspie High School pupil, John went on to study graphic design at Dundee University.
His proud mum said: “We are grateful to Jennifer Mackenzie and Tom Sharp who ran the art department at Golspie High School when John was there and encouraged his interest in art and design.”
He moved permanently to the Gold Coast in 2015 and went into partnership with a friend and fellow graphic designer Adam Mesaric at Theory, a brand focussed creative agency.
John met his wife Sally, an Australian, when they were working together at Teen Ranch, a Christian activity centre just outside Dundee.
The couple have two children, Wesley, aged six, who was born in Glasgow, and two-year-old Hugh, who was born in Australia.
When business slowed at the design agency because of Covid-19, John and Adam decided they wanted to give something back and launched Together GC, spending their own time and money working on dozens of posters with the aim of spreading positivity and helping Gold Coast residents get through the crisis. The two strongly believe that design has the power to affect positive change.
The uplifting messages are being displayed on outdoor advertising sites such as billboards and bus shelters throughout the city.
And they soon caught the eye of reporters at 7 Gold Coast News and 9 News with both television stations interviewing John and Adam.
John told 7 News Gold Coast: “Normally for us it is smaller print collateral like brochures and leaflets and these kind of things so seeing it (artwork) on such a wide scale has been really great.
He added that he hoped the posters sparked a “moment of joy” for people.
The two graphic designers are now visiting local restaurants and cafes across the Gold Coast in the hope they will display the posters as well.
Click here to see the 7NEWS Gold Coast news item
Click here to see the 9News Gold Coast news item
Click here to learn more about Together GC
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