Client

ICAD Upstarts Programme

Services

Concept Creation, Branding, Animation, Illustration, Art Direction, Typography, Photography, UX/UI

The Upstarts programme provided me with the opportunity to work on a series of short briefs, each lasting one week, set by various design studios in Ireland. Here is a sample of the work I completed over a period of five weeks.

Brief 1

Platform for The Arts

Set by

CI Studio

Tidbit is an app I invented to help support the Irish Arts industry through the Covid-19 pandemic. “The Arts” is an extremely broad term, so it was challenging to come up with something that could help everyone involved, even in a small way. Tidbit is aimed at new, emerging members of the Arts, who perhaps don’t have a large enough following to host online events/live streams. Members of the public can sign up to Tidbit and for €1 a month the user will get personalised content based on their preferences (music/poetry/dance/visual art, etc.). The euro goes directly into a fund that’s divided up between the artists who take part and upload their work to the platform, as the platform itself is funded by The Arts Council of Ireland. This is a great opportunity for members of the public to support the Arts in a small way, but also to discover new emerging Irish talent in their own particular area of interest.

Brief 2

Help frontline workers destress from their jobs

Set by

Deloitte Digital

Having sex is scientifically proven to lower our stress levels instantly, but also over time in the bigger picture. There are many physical and mental health benefits of being sexually active, though it’s not discussed as much as it should be in public discourse. This campaign is a light-hearted approach to promote mental & physical health amongst frontline workers. Using eye-catching language and colours around the city, #MoreSexLessStress provides facts about the health benefits of staying sexually active even in times of stress and encourages frontliners to consider this as a method to relax after a long shift. Using sex puns around the situation Covid-19 has forced us all into keeps the campaign light, fun and memorable. It would certainly make me smile if these really were plastered around the city! #MoreSexLessStress

Brief 3

The Internet is your Enemy

Set by

Red&Grey

This brief was to create something different, without using the internet. I’m hugely interested in Irish mythology and so, had lots of books on the topic. One book in particular stood out to me for this project, Men Who Eat Ringforts by Sinead Mercier & Michael Holly, featuring Eddie Lenihan because of its rich aerial imagery. The book explains what’s happening to our ringforts and I decided this is an important cultural issue and created an interpretative motion piece telling the story of one particular ringfort in Co. Galway.

Brief 4

Self Portrait Still Life

Set by

Together We Create

This is a representation of the ‘me’ that I put out into the world – fun, bright, bubbly and colourful. Though a human being is so much more than what a selection of objects can communicate, this was a fascinating project to work on, exploring who I am to myself and to others, which is not always the same thing, and how I can visually represent that using objects I have in my bedroom.
Titled: All Eyes On Me

Brief 5

Digital Detox

Set by

Unthink

Habitat is a solution to the problem we all find ourselves in today – we’re too distracted and lost in a digital world. Habitat uses psychology around forming habits and behaviour change to help us become more present in our daily lives and to start achieving our goals away from our digital devices. It is proven that one of the main ways to help us change our behaviour and form new habits is by seeing visual cues in our regular environment reminding us of these goals. So, following this research, Habitat is simply a series of stickers personalised to our goals to be placed around our homes, our habitats! If you want to get into mediating, a sticker on your kettle reminding you to focus on your breath while the kettle boils will eventually make you associate boiling the kettle with meditating, and so on. Simple, but effective.