6.18.2011

Shortlisted for Hotpress Cover Competition

Shortlisted entry
Recently I entered the Hotpress Cover competition which coincided with the anniversary death of Thin Lizzy legend, Phil Lynott. The theme of the competition was musical icons. My idea involved using various printing technology techniques such as UV spot varnishes for the black and embossing the type. I was chuffed to bits to be selected to go onto the final round.
I found this competition very enjoyable, I find it important to note that the contact I dealt with over the phone/emails during the shortlisting stage had an incredibly nice manner.

6.10.2011

Exhibiting in Dublin Pride

Here's a sneak peak at a new piece I've been working on called Dream Catcher. I've been having a good few weird dreams lately involving sinking into people's heads, wandering eyes, beautiful creatures, fast moving objects, large letterforms and loud noises. I decided that it would be an interesting subject matter to explore a little further in terms of trying to visualise what the individual elements looked and felt like. The interesting thing is that since creating the piece, those particular dreams have stopped, Hence the name.




6.02.2011

Dundalk Gay Pride 2011 Campaign- This Time It's Bigger

Recently I got to work with Dundalk Outcomers, (a non profit organisation focused on LGBT issues) for the new Gay Pride campaign for Dundalk. This time we decided to build upon the existing materials but give the promotional materials and the brand a new lease of life. This came in the form of the pride birds. the colour of the birds is inspired by the multi coloured gay pride flag. These lil' fellas (and gals) take on various personalities and make some lighthearted comments about current gay culture. The strategy here is to build upon the fact that Dundalk offers something different to the other prides. It's smaller, very personal and targets the wider community to engage with the LGBT community. 

The Line up


The Campaign starts at easter to generate a bit of interest in the personalities and for people to grow to like them as the time goes on. We started this year with the idea of the pride eggs through social media like facebook and twitter. The basic premise is people can adopt a pride egg and own it see what it hatches into and follow their lil character through it's mini dialogues.

pride eggs shown from Easter Sunday onwards
The basic premise is people can adopt a pride egg and own it


Eggs begin to hatch on facebook in mid may
...see what it hatches into
one of the birds hatching from the purple eggs
...and follow the dialogue that stems from this through mini comics, simple animations and parodies

mini comic to be displayed in GCN and printed media



The poster's are to be used to raise awareness of the Dundalk Pride festival. It's a small event and will grow in time but as such could do with relating itself to other well known posters and materials for the general consumer to engage with.

HOPE
This poster is inspired by Frank Shepard Fairey's famous "HOPE"campaign for US president Barack Obama in 2008. This parody plays on the essence of a longstanding Hope for equality for LGBT people in the wider community.


Shake your tail feather
Pride began politically in response to the Stonewall riots, but it's important to remember to have fun and celebrate at a gay pride event. It's for everyone, the Uncle Sam poster by James Montgomery Flagg was chosen for the emphasis on the word "you". 



Encouragement through messages


J. Howard Miller's Rosie the riveter is commonly associated with the feminist movement and is a symbol of female power and independence. I wanted to use his poster as a reference point to represent the Lesbian and Bi Sexual women of the LGBT community.

All in all, the campaign is just released, so I thought it appropriate to blogg about it and get the word out there.

If you want to get involved with pride, or know more about it, then follow this link


I hope you enjoy reading/looking through these posts as much as I like writing about them. Feel free to add comments or opinions below. :)