Simon Ross-Gill
Publication design, maps & identity
Isle of Arran, Scotland
Books, handbooks, flyers and interpretive materials focussed on landscape, environment and community — Working remotely from Isle of Arran, across Scotland, UK and internationally.
Practice
- Publication design Books, handbooks, ebooks, reports.
- Interpretive maps Travel, interpretation and place-based maps.
- Identity & illustration Marks, visual identity, hand-drawn assets.
- Editorial layout Print and digital, considered grids and typography.
- Web design Lightweight, accessible static sites — like this one.
Selected work
About
I'm Simon Ross-Gill, a publication designer based on the Isle of Arran, where I grew up. My work is publication design that is rooted in place — books, handbooks, flyers, posters, ebooks and interpretive maps, typically for conservation bodies, geoparks, heritage organisations and community publishers and open to working with a wide range of projects.
Building on the artistic legacy of Arran, I am among the third generation of craftspeople in my family living in Arran. My grandfather carved furniture; my Mum wove tapestries and weavings, my Dad printed, and now I make books digitally.
Alongside design I co-direct the Arran Pioneer Project — a community interest company that has helped establish five new community gardens and plant fruit trees and food crops at ten sites across the island since 2020, working with hundreds of local volunteers. I'm also secretary of Dùthchas Arainn CBS, a community benefit society with 88 founding members working toward community ownership and woodland crofting in Glencloy.
I think of design as mìneachadh tro dhealbh — interpretation through image. The landscape and people of the west coast remain a constant influence on my work.