AN independence campaigner who has brought colour and beauty to campaigning is aiming to provide materials to grassroots activists to boost their efforts.
Groups across Scotland will soon be able to buy mugs, cards and magnets designed by the artist Stewart Bremner, known for his eye-catching graphics and a mural he designed for an old-fashioned police box near Leith Walk.
He hopes his unique merchandise can be sold to raise funds to support campaigns across Scotland in the run-up to indyref2 – and could even swing people from No to Yes.
And as pressure grows on the Scottish Government to forge ahead with plans for a second referendum, giving a revitalised campaign a striking visual presence could focus important minds.
Bremner – who is the designer for the Believe In Scotland campaign – said: “Hopefully the actions that we’re carrying out will start to move polls and bring the conversation back to independence
“Hopefully the Scottish Government will start to notice that and follow through on what the SNP and the Greens have talked about in their manifestos.”
While the packs and their contents have not yet been finalised, Bremner aims to have them in different sizes to suit different budgets and will contain items to be flogged on street stalls, designed to catch the eyes of passers-by.
He added: “I’ve tried to do it a couple of times in the past but we’ve never quite got to the stage where a referendum’s looking likely.
“With a lot more political action ongoing and getting a referendum maybe next year, this summer seems like a good time to raise money.
“I’ve got a lot of designs that I think people would like but I don’t have a great deal of reach so I want to find people online, connect up with famous Yes groups.
“The more active we are and the more we’re seen can demonstrate to the Scottish Government that there is appetite for this to happen.
“If we can start being more active, like we’re doing through the Believe In Scotland campaign, it’ll help to bring focus onto the campaign matters.”
Bremner refreshed the Leith Walk mural on Thursday and hopes this, as well as his other works, will subtly swing sceptics around to the independence cause.
“The head of the social media team at Yes Scotland said that my work helped make their campaign so successful last time,” he said.
Selling things on street stalls in the past, Bremner said he has had No voters buy his designs but say they did not agree with the cause.
“For me, that’s a good start,” he said. “That’s a wee in.
“The more you’re exposed to it, the more you engage with it.”
After an excellent local election result for pro-Yes parties on Friday, the campaign for indyref2 is expected to heat up – and Bremner hopes his designs will feature prominently.
His other works include prints emblazoned with famous Scots sayings and vintage tourist board-style adverts for Scottish landmarks with terrible Tripadvisor reviews overlaid.
