A Postcard From Lemmingland...

[Prob Lem]

I went on a holiday to Scotland last week. I did still check in here from my phone, but my attendance was much-reduced, and it was tricky to write replies to threads!

Anyway, while I was travelling, I stopped somewhere pretty damn special on the way to my destination...

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That is to say, I went on a pilgrimage to Lemmingland itself - Dundee - to see the Lemmings statues that are situated there, and to pay a brief visit to the site of the old DMA Design office.

The statues are *incredibly* cool (I even high-fived the one at the top of the pillar, heheh), and I really wish that I could get one of these for my own home! They look even better in person than they do in the photographs I'd seen before (and they look amazing in those as it is!), and they have a hell of a lot of personality. The only downside is that there is no plaque accompanying them to tell people who they are, and what their significance is; I really hope that one gets added at some point.

Unfortuately, the former DMA Design office is located right next to some traffic lights on a quite-busy road, so it wasn't possible to stop and take pictures - the ones I got had to be snapped from a moving car (don't worry - I wasn't the one driving!). It's very, very sun-faded, now - where once the front of the building was painted red, it's now a fairly pale shade of pink. Again, sadly there is no commemorative plaque here, either - the one that was placed on the building for the 20th anniversary of Lemmings seems to be long-gone at this point.

Anyway, enough waffle! Here are some pictures;

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First things first, I had to put this pin on my hat. According to http://www.javalemmings.com/DMA/DMA4_2.htm" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">this page from The History of DMA Design, all of these pins originated from DMA's office at some point (I got it on eBay a while ago, so I assume this was one of the competition prize pins, rather than a developer or press one), so I figured that it was important to wear it. Chances are it's the only one that's revisited where it came from!

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The little details are fantastic.

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I really like the fact that I was able to catch a seagull flying overhead in this shot - it makes the statue look all the cooler, I think.

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Here's Bill the lemming-bag getting in on the photoshoot.

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I took this whilst approaching the turning in order to see the former DMA Design office. It doesn't look like much, but The Deep Sea Restaurant is actually quite significant - its owner was the father-in-law of one of the DMA Design staff, and owned the office which became DMA's, which was directly over the road. It was thanks to Mike Dailly's writings about DMA Design's history that I was able to more easily find the office - as you can see, The Deep Sea still exists, and I was able to pull up its postcode online to input into the satnav before I set out.

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It really was amazing to visit the place, even though it was many hours out of the way from where we were headed, and the contrast between the quite unassuming former office building, and the elaborate statues marking what took place there, was interesting to behold. I'm really glad I got to visit!

[LJLPM]

Thanks for having posted these photos! The Lemmings statues are very cool  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

[Simon]

Extensive coverage a la Prob Lem once again. A good read, many thanks!

-- Simon

[Prob Lem]

You're welcome, guys.

And, thanks both of you. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/thumbsup.gif" alt=":thumbsup:" title="Thumbs Up" class="smiley" />

I can only imagine that it'd all be even better if the Lemmings series were actually in the hands (or should that be paws? http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" /> ) of folks who actually care about it and care about owning it. There was something ever-so-slightly sad about there being no commemorative plaques, and about what was once DMA Design now being a takeaway restaurant...

[NaOH]

I had no idea the office still existed.  These are some great photographs; thanks for putting the time in to take these! I really like the first close-up you did of the top lemming ( http://i.imgur.com/292tFiC.jpg" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://i.imgur.com/292tFiC.jpg ); I hadn't looked closely at him before that, and it really blew me away. The camera angle is very dramatic, and perfectly captures the feeling of relief he must be feeling after that climb, as well as the satisfaction he's getting from the view.

Great work as always!

[Prob Lem]

I had no idea the office still existed.

As you can see, it does, albeit in a very loose sense of the word. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

These are some great photographs; thanks for putting the time in to take these! I really like the first close-up you did of the top lemming ( http://i.imgur.com/292tFiC.jpg" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://i.imgur.com/292tFiC.jpg ); I hadn't looked closely at him before that, and it really blew me away. The camera angle is very dramatic, and perfectly captures the feeling of relief he must be feeling after that climb, as well as the satisfaction he's getting from the view.

Great work as always!

Thanks very, very much. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" class="smiley" /> I think that that shot's a little bit like one of the professionally-shot ones that appeared http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/lemmings-find-their-way-home-to-dundee-with-new-seabraes-sculptures-1.115466" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">in this report by The Courier. My personal favourite of the one at the top of the pillar is the one with the seagull in it - it kind of makes it look like they're all on some sort of adventure or epic journey, to me, somehow!