mundyewalsh The Creative Women interview series chats to women in creative fields, and explores what is at the root of their artistic drive. Creative thinking is fundamental for a fulfilled life, and so understanding and cultivating it through shared experiences, challenges and achievements helps us all thrive.
A.R.D Bakery is a Glasgow based cake design studio specialising in bespoke cakes and chocolates with a unique, graphic style. Created by designer Alison Dunlop, who originally graduated from the Sculpture degree at Glasgow School of Art, before moving into fashion accessories, studying at the Royal College of Art in London. She then spent 10 years working in the industry, designing bags, shoes and jewellery for many high-end brands before starting her business, which combined her creative design background with a love of baking. The result being fun, graphic-led, sculptural pieces that are also delicious to eat.
How did you get started in your craft and what continues to inspire you?
I started around seven years ago, when I was on maternity leave with my second child. I had alway been a keen home baker, and started experimenting a lot more while I was at home with the baby. At the time I was working as an accessories designer for a fashion brand in London that had a particular focus on print and colour, and I was really interested in the idea of combining more of a design-led aesthetic with something edible. I had no experience in cake decorating, so just learned from scratch mostly from YouTube videos, and practicing on friends and family. It just grew quite organically from posting pictures on Instagram, which led to more and more requests for orders. So finally when it was time to go back to work, I decided to give it a go full-time.
I also really wanted to add more sculptural elements to the cakes, which led me into working with chocolate. At the time, there was limited resources for in-depth learning about chocolate so I did do a course with Melissa Coppel, who is a very well known chocolatier based in Vegas. This was invaluable as working with chocolate is very technical, and so learning directly from someone with such expertise really helped me develop my skills in that area, and now I offer chocolate bonbons as a stand-alone product, as well as my cakes.
What is your process from ideation to finished product?
I work in an organic way, sometimes I design new prints and forms for my cakes inspired by images and themes I am looking at that moment, I’ll put together a mood board or Pinterest board and then I’ll work on the cake itself, which clients will either order as they are or ask for colour modifications to fit their wedding. And then sometimes I will work directly with the client – usually a couple getting married – and they will put together some of my previous work they like, along with their colour palette, and I’ll put together a design from all their references to come up with a new design
Then once they are happy with the finished design, and have decided on the flavour (I send out tasting boxes so they can taste different flavours). Then the week of the wedding, I will start making all the chocolates and any additional decorations first, before baking, filling and decorating the cake. The most stressful part is usually the delivery, as they are quite delicate objects to transport. Though I’ve never had any problems! Just a lot of very slow driving!
How do you maintain resilience during difficult periods? What has been your greatest obstacle so far?
It’s always a struggle to balance being self-employed, as every aspect of the business is your responsibility. I love the flexibility it affords me, but there are times when you just run out of steam and there is no one to take the reins for you. One aspect I find especially difficult is publicising my work. In the beginning I relied a lot on Instagram, but over the years the platform has changed, and now you have to put a lot more work into it to get something back. So that can be quite draining. But what keeps me going is the actual work. When I deliver a cake and see the client’s response, or they send me a lovely thank you card, it makes it all worth it. Also, I think it’s really important for me to keep trying new things, and pushing myself in terms of the design aspect, to keep it fresh and exciting, both for myself and the customer.
Imposter Syndrome can be a hurdle sometimes creatively, has this ever affected you? Does being a woman influence your creativity?
Absolutely! I think because I have no formal training at culinary school or anything like that, I definitely have felt imposter syndrome! And it has taken some time to really feel a confidence in what I do, and realise that people actually value it.
I think the industries I have worked in have always been quite female dominated, so working within them as a women always felt very natural. Of course the fashion industry can be quite competitive so it was lovely when I did my first wedding fair with my cakes to discover the other bakers (also mostly women) were so supportive and generous with their advice.
What is some advice you return to?
Don’t forget who you are and stay true to that. I think the reason I was able to start this business was that I stood out and was doing something different, rather than following trends, which doesn’t really interest me.
