Conceptual artwork for a cultural centre in Connemara with the guidance. The architect designed the building focusing on it’s viewpoints and perspectives of facing mountains and the sea with large windows revealing views of each. I used this to guide the design for this project, focussing on the shapes and patterns of the local environment as graphic elements and the idea of revealing using the cutout shapes of the centre’s name ‘MARA’ and the folded layers of the poster, which folds down to a flyer.
The word MARA is a play on the word Connemara and stands for the attractions offered in the cultural centre, such as Music, Arts, Reading and Action. The wood version of the poster was created using the laser cutting process, where the design is etched / burnt in to the wood and the shapes are cut out as separate elements, which can be used around the centre.
Two Videos Displaying the Laser Cutting & Etching Process of Typography on Wood:
Video Displaying the 3D Printing Process of Icons:
DesignWest is a creative growth design program set in Letterfrack in Connemara. It is designed for creatives worldwide who have previously been through university and are established in their careers, who are now seeking to grow creatively through new experiences, being inspired and collaborating with their peers and working on projects outside of their general day to day scope. There are mentors from top design agencies such as Pentagram New York, R2 Design Portugal, Isidro Ferrer Spain and also a number of high profile Irish agencies such as Design Factory, Studio Or and Unthink.
It was a really great experience. We got to use a wide range of facilities such as letterpress printing with Sean Sills from the National Print Museum, riso printing with Studio Or, laser cutting and etching to wood, large scale format printing, debossing and stitching, 3D printing and the use of the wood work room and team. The reputable mentors gave inspiring talks, workshops and advice – really encouraging us to get playful and more hands-on with our creativity, breaking away from the computer screens, with a number of different activities. There was also plenty of practical advice which can be easily applied to our everyday workflow, on return to our own client work.
We were inspired by the local environment, the beautiful west of Ireland, and brought on a number of trips to places such as mussel and oyster farms, the grounds of Alcock & Brown – the first transatlantic flight, Inishbofin island and artist’s studios and talks – all of which went on to inspire our individual projects. In the evenings, we sometimes watched design films in a special screenings cinema and there were some exhibitions also. We had two exhibitions of our work, one of which will travel from Letterfrack to Dublin later this year. It was impressive to see the finished work come together for everyone in the exhibitions and the overall experience of meeting and working with so many international creatives was really enjoyable and good to have established a new network of peers working in the design industry worldwide.
DesignWest was a great way to re-immerse myself in design and creativity and be re-inspired going forward in my career, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The end result was graduating with a NFQ Level 9 Special Purpose Award Certificate in Design Research with the subject ‘Design Unplugged’ at GMIT.
It was great to be part of the Incognito art exhibition this year in aid of Jack & Jill children’s charity. Irish and International artists submit works to the Incognito exhibition. The artist’s names (some very well-known) will remain incognito until the art is purchased and the artist’s signature is revealed on the back.
This year, it included work by Tracey Emin, John Kelly, Peter Curling, Martin Gale, Olivia Golden, P.J. Crook, Ed Miliano, Abigail O’Brien, and Richard Gorman. All pieces were exhibited anonymously, and sold for €50 each at the Solomon Gallery on 6th, 7th and 8th of April 2018.
This year, they made a profit of over €93,000 which will provide nearly 6000 nursing hours to our very sick babies.
I was delighted to have my work selected to be in the Halftone 2017 exhibition, featured in the Library Project in Temple Bar, Dublin.
HALFTONE is an initiative by PhotoIreland Foundation, hosted every year at The Library Project. Running for 18 days, the fair brings together a large selection of works by established and emerging artists, showcasing Ireland’s exciting Art scene.
This humorous and playful collection, depicts the famous seagulls which heavily populate Dublin city centre’s boardwalk, along the River Liffey. These seagulls are known to circulate people eating their lunches, hoping to get a bite.
One print features these birds characteristics of being feisty, friendly and fearless. It also plays on the Dublin slang word for women or girls which is ‘birds’. On another print in the set, the birds have been given popular Dublin girls names. On two of the prints, there is a play on the famous Irish / Dublin song, ‘Molly Malone’, changing the lyrics to feature the birds. This again could refer to the seagulls or Dublin girls.
Images of Dublin’s boardwalk and Liffey in the city centre can be seen through the silhouettes of the seagulls.
See more on the Halftone website here or if you would like to purchase one of these prints, please see them on Etsy.
It was great to take part in the monthly St Stephens Green Art Exhibition, where artists feature their paintings all around St Stephens Green Park, where passers-by can enjoy the art and purchase paintings.
I chose to display a collection I had created based around the concept of communication and the wonder of the story of ‘The Tower of Babel’; the story of how we all ended up speaking different languages. The paintings represent the bricks that make up the tower of Babel, with each brick depicting a different language / hieroglyphic or form of communication; various symbols from different languages falling in confusion when the tower collapsed; being tongue-tied with the confusion of so many different languages in the world;tow modern communication such as emojis and the universal understanding in communication such as thumbs up / fingers crossed / the ok hand gesture. They are painted in gouache acrylic in a bright and modern graphic way, with colours that really pop. With art being subjective, the viewer can take their own interpretation of what each painting is and what it may represent for them.
Being part of the exhibition is a great experience – some highlights include meeting and being inspired by other artists and talking to the public about art and what it means to them. I also had some greeting cards available to purchase, which many people enjoyed. They can be purchased here and also ordered at a number of sizes and formats here.
Entering in to the world of graphic design can be exciting! There is so much to discover to improve your knowledge and skills.
Here are some books I can recommend that I found helped me most along the way – hopefully they can help you to grow too and be as successful in your design career as you would like to be…
This book is great for teaching the complete background and history to graphic design. It’s a really thick, content-heavy book full of useful information and stories – it’s great to educate yourself on where the beginning of graphic design stems from. It’s important to understand this as it can help connect the past, present and future of design and form the decisions you make, adding more substance and context to your design work.
Again, this book teaches about the background and history in graphic design – the more you understand this, the better designer you can be, by playing on or remodernising styles in a new way or understanding the reasons as to why good design works.
I found this book along with Josef Müller-Brockmann’s book below brilliant in understanding grids and how they can create structure and bring design together through working with them. Sometimes you have to know the rules to break them! So when you can understand how using grids can enhance your design work, you can then afford to break them at times to add visual interest and create a unique point of interest.
Typography is an key element of graphic design. Learning about kerning, font choices, alignment, visual hierarchy and of course… dreaded widows, will really enhance your skills and knowledge and enable you to become a better designer.
Swiss design is known to be leading in design. As mentioned above, I loved learning about grids – it was a real eye-opener and offered so much more opportunities to create good design that worked well and looked visually appealing. Swiss designer Josef Müller-Brockmann is the master of grids and this book gives you a whole new system and way of working to add structure and order to your design work.
I love the title of this book. Irish designer Adrian O’Shaughnessy shares his tips and tricks on how to make it in the design world and many of the things that he has learned along the way. This is especially a good book if you want to become a freelancer or are thinking of setting up your own studio. It’s a good book to dip in and out of for helpful pointers.
This book is inspiring and makes you think. It is more advertising focussed and features clever ways of looking at things and selling products /services by portraying the story or idea in unique ways. It’s a large, easy to read book, which will leave you enthusiastic about creating your own ideas and how you can look at things differently.
Another book I love I added in as an extra. This isn’t strictly a graphic design book, although it is a creative book, centred around the design industry. I think you can find it inspiring no matter what you work at. It encourages the reader to think differently…bigger…to do the opposite…and to challenge what you see and think. It’s a small book which is inspiring, really easy to read and a great book to keep after you have first read it, to dip in and out of it, for fresh ideas or motivation when you need it.
The award-winning designer Paul Rand’s ‘Thoughts on Design‘ is another good book to read if you have got through this list! Happy reading and good luck bringing your design career ambitions to life or becoming a better designer if you are already working in the creative industry 🙂
In 2017, I participated in a programme which facilitates the exchange of skills and ideas of entrepreneurs working in different countries around Europe. The idea is where you work alongside people in other similar creative fields and gain inspiration and grow from eachother’s experiences and skillset.
The project I chose to participate in was with Argo Navis, spending a month in Galicia in Northern Spain. Argo Navis is a project started by six young people from Bueu who decided to create an innovative youth entrepreneurship platform that encourages engagement and collaboration. Their team consists of experts in many different creative fields such as photography, graphic design, and architecture; together they use interdisciplinary activities to promote a cultural agenda of local and sustainable development. Their space is facing the sea-front and this is a strong inspiration to their work. Every month Argo Navis uses these activities to engage the local community in creative and collaborative events covering important topics such as: giving meaning to life, sketching your own future, facing challenges and being creative. To achieve this goal, they needed an entrepreneur willing to cooperate and contribute, as well as to spread and internationalize the initiative. Their main motivation towards the exchange in the framework is to gain knowledge, skills and an entrepreneurial attitude allowing all of us to found and develop together our own personal projects, initiatives and ideas in a collaborative way that will be operating transnationally in Europe.
They are passionate about working with the local community and the opportunity to invent and implement creative ideas that deliver incredible cultural and social impact, and as a result build a better future. Bueu is a village in the metropolitan area of Rías Baixas on the southwestern coast of Galicia, Spain. Despite its northern location on the Atlantic Ocean seashore and its incredible landscape, the recent economic meltdown in Spain has badly affected the town and its people. According to data collected by Spain, over half a million young people (called “expatriate”) have left the country in order to find better job conditions in Europe. This is especially prevalent in Bueu, where the local economy, which is mostly based on tourism and maritime resources, does not offer a potential future to its many young graduates.
Nevertheless, the opportunities are there. New ways of working, based on social and collaborative principles, closely linked with local development, have started to appear globally as a way of starting something new. Argo Navis is a way of showing everyone that exploring creative methods for promoting young entrepreneurship based on a social commitment can foster economic development in a more inclusive, fair, and sustainable manner.
During the month, we worked on a number of projects, including a summer social media campaign (in English, Spanish and Galician) to further highlight and spread the word of the Argo Navis initiative and a winter campaign to promote an upcoming competition. It was a really enjoyable experience learning about Galician culture, working alongside passionate and creative people and seeing things from a new perspective. The people are very warm and welcoming and strongly associate with the Celtic culture in their music and warmth. They are very passionate, creative and well-educated people and extremely proud of their Galician roots.
Please see is a video we worked on during the month (best listened to with sound), some images of the work I created during the experience (photography taken by their photographer Alba Sotelo). Find out more about Argo Navis here.
Designing for the Future: Trends we Need to Consider Now
Design is something that has been around since the beginning of time. From the ten commandments of Moses or the Egyptian and stone age petroglyphs – using design to communicate a message is something that remains consistent.
It was great to be part of the group illustration exhibition recently in Filmbase, Temple Bar in Dublin city centre. There was lots of excitement with putting up our framed art after a year of hard work in developing our illustration style leading to all the prep work involved preparing for an exhibition. There was a huge turn-out on the opening night, everyone agreed it was a great success.
The theme I chose was the wonder of the Tower of Babel – the story of how we all ended up speaking different languages. The concept shows the confusion that followed the collapse of the tower in the story where everyone began speaking different languages, with the tongue-tiedness that the language barrier brought. I featured some of the earliest forms of communication – ancient hieroglyhics and pictograms – in a bright and modern graphic way, using gouache colours that pop. I went on to show how language and communication has developed to today – where we use smiley faces and hand gestures to communicate which work through all languages. I enjoyed researching this theme, learning about the Rosetta stone and Egyptian hieroglyphics. There are some beautiful symbols used among all the languages and, although it would be simpler if we all spoke the one language, I would hate to see such individuality and beauty of each language’s unique symbols and form of communicating ever to become extinct.
One of the advantages of the location was that during the week, there was still a lot of visitors popping in as the artworks are displayed in the windows of Filmbase and attract plenty of passers-by and art lovers. Many of us had our own pop-up shops selling our giclee prints and greeting cards, which still continued to attract interest throughout the week.
My greeting cards and prints are available to purchase on Etsy at:
Looking forward to the exhibition of the illustration course I have been attending over the last year. It’s on in Filmbase in Temple Bar, Dublin 2, opening 6.30pm on the 6th June and continuing until 10th June. It’s been great fun to be part of and I’ve met some really talented and friendly people along the way.
There’s a pop-up shop selling our giclee prints and greeting cards also. Come along and check out all the great work.
Poster artwork by Virginia Fiorini, graphic design by Fintan Wall.
Dublin’s annual creative design event, hosted in Grand Canal dock, was full of talented speakers and designers eager to soak up inspiration and pick up some design tips and goodies. This year had a high focus on illustration, which was great to see. I am currently enrolled in a one-year illustration course, to develop my illustration style and bring more illustration in to my graphic design work, so it was great to hear about illustrators who are doing well in the industry. Here are a few of the talented designers and illustrators that caught my eye this year:
Marion Deuchars
Marion Deuchars is a Scottish award-winning illlustrator and hand letterer. She is well-known for her children’s book designs, an area of graphic design I would love to get in to in the future, so I found her talk inspiring. She also works with brand and advertising agencies. Her illustration style is playful and appeals to children and adults alike. See more of her work here.
The Project Twins
Great to see young Irish designers speaking at such a big event. This duo hail from Cork and have accomplished a lot already in their careers. The printmakers have spent time in a residency in the Facebook offices, which sounds like it was a lot of creative fun and have been featured in a huge amount of shows and exhibitions. Their work is simple but quirky; their bright and playful illustrations clearly deliver each project message with accuracy and bring a smile to your face. Purchase a print for your home or studio here.
And last, but certainly not least, advertising agency Chemistry
I love Chemistry’s ideas. Their work is the type of work I look at and wish I had done it myself! For the sad death of the All Blacks rugby player Jonah Lomu, they designed this beautiful image below of the New Zealand fern with one of it’s leaves fallen, which very simply and eloquently reflected the tragedy of New Zealand and the All Blacks loss of such an important player and Kiwi legend.
Another strong campaign they spoke about was the ‘I want to get Cancer’ campaign. I must admit this was quite a controversial one. When I first saw it on a bus stop and then on a TV advert, I had mixed feelings. I understood the point but still didn’t like to see those words as they seemed like a negative affirmation at first glance and because of it’s in your face nature, it could pose insensitive to someone with a family member dealing with or having lost someone to cancer. However, the talk really brought more insight to this campaign. They asked half of the audience to stand up and said that by 2020, it is predicted that 1 in 2 of us will get cancer. The figure was quite striking and by separating the audience like that, it really hit home. They said they needed a message that really got attention and drove awareness with people that this isn’t something we should be turning a blind eye to, that we need to be more proactive rather than reactive with fighting it. Some of the team working on this campaign had actually fought cancer themselves, so they were actually in a strong position to speak up about it, after having gone through it personally. They spoke about how the campaign had been really effective and brought in a lot more calls and awareness, therefore it hit the objective of the brief very well and brought the desired outcome.
I also loved their LIDL Christmas advert, which was touching and well created with the story based around families and coming together to be there for eachother.
View it below:
Another striking image they created for an article on the history of the events at Chernobyl, using charred Russian Dolls was also very effective. I think they have the ability to deliver a message effectively in a way that touches on your heart strings and makes you think about the issue.
So that sums up my Offset 2017 highlights – there were many more talented designers speaking but I could only pick a few! Now to put that inspiration to good use…
