Farmleigh Portraits Exhibition

Portraits of a Nation Exhibition

Featuring a wide range of portraits, old and new.

On a recent visit to the Farmleigh gallery in the Phoenix Park, the ‘Portraits of a Nation’ exhibition was on display and I was lucky enough to view it just before it finished up. It features 82 historic and contemporary portraits by 54 artists including paintings, photographs, original prints, sculpture and drawings.

I have always loved portraiture and the art of trying to capture the essence of someone’s character through drawing, painting or photography. This exhibition was unique in offering such a wide range of styles of portraiture between classic, traditional paintings and modern, contemporary drawings along with everything in between.

It’s amazing to see the level of detail that the artists capture, with some paintings being difficult to determine whether it’s a photograph or a painting as the quality is so good. I enjoy drawing and painting people myself, and can only aspire to someday reach even close to the talent these artists display.

Keep updated on current or future exhibitions at the Farmleigh gallery on their website.

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May 30, 2016 /

Phoenix Park Fun Run Design

Community Response Fun Run Campaign

Community Response approached Clare Lynch Creative to design posters and flyers to attract interest in their annual Fun Run. The Dublin-based charity provide help for people with substance abuse and this Fun Run helps raise awareness and funds for the charity.

The posters were designed to immediately have a feeling of energy and fun that the race itself is about. Using the lime green tone from their logo with a stampede of feet running haphazardly together across the poster, the message of the poster is clearly delivered.

The client loved the smiley face brought in to the race name lockup and went on to apply it to t-shirts, as seen below, along with other collateral to promote the run.

To sign up for the fun run on May 25th 2016 in Dublin’s Phoenix Park or read more about this charity, check out their website.

Have fun to all the runners!

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May 12, 2016 /

SocialiseDUB Highlights

SocialiseDUB Design Talks

Check out some of things that stood out at this design event, held in the Dean Dublin:

Motherland

Motherland’s passion is researching and creating films that tell a story, create interest and evoke feelings within the viewer. ‘Becoming Men’ is a short video they shared where the narrator talks about own his experiences of growing up and how children jumping in the rivers and canals of Dublin is nothing new but is steeped in the history of childhood growing up in inner-city Dublin:

Shape

Explaining Design to Children– Studio AAD were tasked with coming up with a video that explain why design is important and what it actually is to children. They were please to discover the children understood it after a Q&A session with the children after watching the final video.

Just Six Degrees

This new website launched by Michael McDermott plays on the idea that we are all within 6 degrees or 6 people away from each other – for example; how the phrase ‘small world’ is often used when discovering a close connection between two people that you know separately. The concept of the website is to get different designers and creatives to recommend 1-3 other people that are currently inspiring them, they then do a feature on these people and ask them to recommend 1-3 people who are inspiring them. And so the process continues. A great way to discover unique and possibly not well-known talent that’s currently out there.

justsixdegrees.com

Love and Robots

Using 3D technology, Irish company Love and Robots create personalised and bespoke jewellery where the customer can be involved in the design process via their website, selecting from a range of options including colour, material and shape with even being able to twist a piece to create the exact shape you would like using their software. Each piece is custom-made and feels like a collaborative project between the customer and Love and Robots. The look and feel is quite edgy and contemporary and would appeal to graphic designers, architects, fashion designers in particular due to their geometric shapes.

loveandrobots.com

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May 7, 2016 /

Offset Dublin 2016

Offset Dublin 2016 Highlights

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Each year, the Offset creative festival seems to be getting better. With more and more linked events created around it, it’s an inspiring festival that stands out on every creative’s calendar.

This year, among the range of great talent speaking, some highlights were:

Tado

This creative duo are very lovable and seem to work so well together. They are so inspired with their creative projects, they live eat and breathe the work when they are in the midst of each project. They create a massive selection of characters, all shapes and sizes, for children’s and adult projects including cartoons, branding and advertisements. You can’t help but fall in love with their enthusiastic fun personalities when presenting and all their playful creations. I like the interior graphics that they did for Sheffield Children’s Hospital, click below to see more of it…

Studio Dumbar

This Rotterdam-based branding company inspired the audience with some great projects. One that particularly stood out was the Alzheimer Netherland identity work. It was really interesting to see them show the process of a range of initial concepts that were discarded and their thought process with deciding this and then the chosen direction. The final identity is very cleverly created, whilst remaining very respectful to the Alzheimer community. It really demonstrated well the disease of alzheimers and how it can affect the memory and brain, with the sharpness and focus fading in and out, visually representing the condition accurately with great creative execution. View more about this campaign below…

Úna Burke

It’s inspiring to see a Irish fashion designer Úna Burke do so well at such a young age. The London-based designer’s work is intricate and detailed and her passion for what she does is immediately apparent. She has designed leather pieces for the Hunger Games, along with costume accessories for famous models and performers and worked with many of the greats. Her sculptural work is unique and highly creative, with a feeling of being from a previous era combined with a modern twist.

And finishing with the amazing Seb Lester

Seb Lester’s traditional hand-crafted calligraphy is a work of art, an art-form that is rare to see in modern times. It’s relaxing to watch the gentle swishes as his ink hits the paper and dances around from one point to another across the page to leave behind beautiful messages and artworks.

He talked about going back to his roots of what inspired him to follow a creative career path and advised any creatives in need of stimulation to do this. A quote he mentioned was ‘If you don’t ask, then you don’t get’ in relation to how he expressed interest in NASA in an interview online and he then got approached to design a logo for NASA space station which he would never have expected to become a reality! It’s a good motto to have when hesitating in anything in connection to following your dreams. His talk received a standing ovation at the end – a great roundup to 2016′ Offset event.

View a sample of Seb’s work and a video of him in action below…

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April 13, 2016 /

Offsketch Exhibition

Offsketch Exhibition Dublin

Offsketch is an Illustration Event held in connection with Offset and Illustrators Ireland:

A gathering of illustrators including myself joined up to sketch around various locations across Dublin city centre, led by well-known illustrators Steve Simpson and Steve Doogan. It was an enjoyable drawing day (despite some rain here and there!) and it was great to visit some new hidden-away places in Dublin to sketch.

The exhibition of work was held in Ogilvy Dublin. It was interesting and inspiring to see the range of different styles of drawing or subject point by each illustrator displayed in the exhibition, some samples can be viewed above.

A great build-up towards Offset 2016.

If you enjoy sketching, another good event to check out in Dublin is Melissa Doran’s drawing in the Botanic Gardens events. It’s a relaxing way to draw and connect with other illustrators amidst the colourful flowers and trees in the lovely gardens and greenhouses of the Botanics in Glasnevin. Find out more here.

March 20, 2016 /

Facebook Relationship Dance Steps

Featuring Artist Stephanie Posavec

I recently came across this data-art project created by London-based artist Stephanie Posavec for Facebook and found it interesting. It uses data to document couples early stages of interaction on Facebook and turns it in to an interactive dance steps installation for Facebook headquarters in California.

It’s funny how couples can often perform an orchestrated, public version of their relationship on social media. I think this project is clever in demonstrating this idea and the interactive art piece was very well implemented by Stephanie.

To see more of her work, you can view her website here

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March 14, 2016 /

L’Occitane is on-trend with 2016’s Pantone Colours

I love the packaging of this little L’Occitane gift I received recently and couldn’t help but add a post about it!

The designers of it are obviously very trend-aware as it falls close to Pantone’s Color of the Year in 2016 – which is Rose Quartz and Serenity. It’s not quite a match to serenity but still manages to convey the soft, tranquil tones of this year’s official Pantone colours of the year.

You can read more about it in this article:

http://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2016

It reminded me of an article I read on it on LinkedIn recently also, which you can read here.

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February 16, 2016 /

Tales for Tadpoles Beautiful Store

Tales for Tadpoles Store

It was great to see Tales for Tadpoles store up and running successfully at a recent visit on Nassau Street, right in the heart of Dublin city centre near the busy Grafton Street and just next door to the House of Ireland gift store.

The visual display inside the store is a complete treat and the owner of Tales for Tadpoles, Caroline O’Sullivan, always offers a friendly face and the personal touch to all her visitors in helping them choose a gift or find out more information about a children’s book or print.

It’s great to see a company we designed the logo for doing so well with their business.

They feature a great selection of classic treats for children from books, framed prints, notebooks, cushions, stationery and bookmarks. They feature classic illustrations and stories such as Le Petit Prince, The Princess and the Pea, Alice in Wonderland and many more of our childhood favourites.

See talesfortadpoles.ie for more 🙂

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January 19, 2016 /

A Warm Welcome to 2016!

A Warm Welcome in to the New Year

Here’s to a fresh, blank canvas to create all you would like to come in the year ahead.

The new year gives us all a fresh start to wipe the slate clean and start afresh with new focus and enthusiasm for all that we would like in our work and personal lives. It’s a good opportunity to reflect on successes and achievements in the year gone by and decide where we would like to shift our focus in the New Year.

The past year was a successful year for Clare Lynch Creative, with lots of enjoyable work with nice and inspiring people, further learning and growth through courses and networking and a healthy balance of work-life to enjoy time away from the studio also. This is important as it keeps the creative juices flowing and the mind and body healthy and energetic to stay inspired and switched on to get the most out of life and bring the most to life also.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone I have worked with in 2015 for your support, positive attitude and enthusiasm in your own business ventures. And of course my colleagues, family and friends 🙂 Here’s to another great year ahead full of new adventures, challenges and creative growth!

January 4, 2016 /

Tales for Tadpoles Success

It was great to see Tales for Tadpoles stall at the Dublin Flea market in Newmarket this month.

They have a great selection of classic treats for children from books, framed prints, notebooks, cushions, stationery and bookmarks. They feature classic illustrations and stories such as Le Petit Prince, The Princess and the Pea, Alice in Wonderland and many more of our childhood favourites.

Here are a few pieces purchased yesterday:

They have an online store and can be found at various craft markets around Dublin. Clare Lynch Creative is proud to have worked with Tales for Tadpoles to design their company logo.

Looking forward to see their first store premises opening later in the year!

Find out more and browse their online store at:

www.talesfortadpoles.ie

June 15, 2015 /

Vehicle Wrap Competition Winner

Clare Lynch Creative is grateful to be announced as the lucky winner of a vehicle wrap (car or van) by DMS Print, a print and vinyl wrapping company, based in Clane, Co. Kildare.

Customer’s names were then placed in a hat to decide who to award this free vehicle wrap to, along with the graphic design. The lucky winner was an existing client called Rubberstamp.io, an Irish company who provide an online software service for an easy-to-use Purchase Order Management System. They were delighted to have this great opportunity to have their vehicle branded with strong, unique graphics to help build their brand recognition and grow their customer base.

Take a look at the results in the photos below and check out DMS Print’s website and Facebook page to view more of the vehicles which they have expertly wrapped using mesh vinyl.

April 13, 2015 /

Offset 2015

It was great to see the inspiring and interesting work on show at Offset this year and hear the tips and advice from other creatives from all around the world.

Some highlights for me included:

The humourous Volvo ads that Forsman & Bodenfors created, featuring Jean Claude Van Damme:

I loved the entertaining presentation from Dublin advertising Boys and Girls.

And the enthusiasm and back to basics hand-craft approach from agencies such as as Hey Studio, a young and fun agency from Barcelona:

And some motivational words of advice from some other designers who even got to a point where they needed a break from design and tried something new for a while, only for it to lead on to a new and interesting direction in their design career such as Irish designer Sue Murphy and also Annie Atkins, who designed all collateral for the film ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’.

Overall, it was an extremely entertaining and inspiring event – keep up the good work Offset Dublin!

March 10, 2015 /

Blog

Portraits of a Nation Exhibition

Community Response Fun Run Campaign

SocialiseDUB Design Talks

Motherland

Shape

Just Six Degrees

Love and Robots

Offset Dublin 2016 Highlights

Offsketch Exhibition Dublin

Facebook Relationship Dance Steps

Tales for Tadpoles Store

A Warm Welcome in to the New Year

Tales for Tadpoles Success

Find out more and browse their online store at:

Clare Lynch Creative

Clare Lynch Creative

Award Winning Design Studio Specialising in Branding, Identity and Packaging Design Services