Accessible print design for the Cairngorms

Moving to Aboyne in beautiful Aberdeenshire came with plenty of good reasons.

The community. The landscape. The slower pace. And, of course, the Cairngorms National Park is right on the doorstep.

It’s hard not to feel lucky when some of the most spectacular scenery in the country is only a short journey away. The Cairngorms are a constant reminder of the scale, character and complexity of the place I now call home.

So when I was offered the opportunity to work with the Cairngorms National Park Authority, I was pretty excited.

This wasn’t just an interesting design project. It felt close to home in every sense.

The Authority is hosting the UK National Parks Conference 2026 in Aviemore, bringing together people from across the UK’s national parks to discuss how people and nature can thrive together.

I was asked to help shape the conference booklet.

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A booklet is more than a collection of information

A conference booklet has an important job to do.

It needs to help people understand what’s happening, where they need to be and what they can expect. It has to make a programme feel manageable. It should give attendees enough information to make confident choices, without making the whole thing feel like hard work.

That balance matters.

Event communications can quickly become crowded with dates, names, locations, timings and practical information. The challenge is to make all of that useful content feel clear and appealing.

The booklet needs to support the event before it begins. Then, once people arrive, it becomes something they can refer back to throughout the conference.

In this case, the publication supports a three-day event in Aviemore, scheduled for 16–18 September 2026. It brings together information about the programme, speakers, workshops and field trips.

The workshop and field trip information includes ten different field trips and four workshops. That’s a lot of content to organise and communicate.

Good print design helps people navigate that information.
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A challenging time for the Park

One of the most difficult parts of this project was seeing the Cairngorms National Park Authority team continue their work during the devastating wildfires in Glenmore.

The timing brought the wider context into sharp focus.

The work of the Park Authority is already hugely challenging. It involves long-term thinking, partnership working and difficult decisions about how to protect the landscape while supporting the people and communities connected to it.

Events like the wildfires show just how important that work is.

They also underline the value of bringing people together to share knowledge, discuss practical challenges and look for better ways forward. The conference includes a dedicated workshop on wildfire management, covering risk reduction, preparation, landscape resilience and the role of National Park Authorities.

I have a huge respect for everyone working through those pressures.

Thank you to the team

It was a joy to work with the Cairngorms National Park Authority team.

A big thank you to Oliver Davies, Louise Took, and Kaye Nicolson for their trust, collaboration and good humour throughout the project.

Projects like this work best when there is a shared understanding of what the communication needs to achieve. I’m grateful to have been part of it.

It also feels good to contribute to a project that is happening in a place I care about.
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From my base in Aboyne, Wiselove Studio works with organisations and ambitious teams on graphic design, print design, campaign design and brand identity design. As a design agency in Aberdeenshire, I’m always happy to hear from people who have a meaningful project to share.

If you’re working on an event, publication or wider communications project, drop me a line. I’d love to hear what you’re planning.

And if you’re attending the UK National Parks Conference in Aviemore, I hope the booklet helps you find your way through a very full and worthwhile programme.