Irish design means different things to different people. For many it is Celtic whirls, illuminated manuscripts and Riverdance. For others it is something altogether more contemporary, yet no less Irish for all that.
The problem for contemporary design is that it tends to be hidden in plain sight; it makes up the wallpaper of our lives and so can go on noticed due to its very familiarity.
Every day we interact with and experience Irish design in myriad ways. We see it on TV advertising, on billboards, on the pages of newspapers, on shopfronts and in stores, and in the products we buy and consume from our supermarkets.
But when we see or use a product we tend to think of function first and form second, forgetting that design is very much about both.
For example, it could be argued that Apple has long since ceased to be a manufacturing company and is now primarily a design organisation focused on products which not only look extremely well but are also packed with great functions.
And the Irish are no slouches when it comes to international branding and design. Kerrygold is a classic example. Back in the 1950s it was almost hard to give away Irish butter in overseas markets.
Then along came a young marketing whizzkid named Tony O’Reilly to the Irish Dairy Board and he got the designers involved to repackage standard traditional Irish butter in gold foil with a great sounding name and attractive logo. Hey presto, Irish butter became seen as a premium product and sales skyrocketed.
Aer Lingus is another iconic Irish brand which owes much to design. Indeed, there was a national outcry back in the 1990s when the airline commissioned a refresh of its design which resulted in the shamrock logo being tilted.
Successful collaborations
Pearse McCaughey, creative director with Cawley Nea TBWA, one of Ireland’s top advertising agencies, and a former president of the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design (ICAD) believes that these are examples of successful collaborations between the creators of products and designers.
“The ads for some of the great iconic Irish brands such as Kerrygold and Guinness have now become part of our culture and when people see them again they remember where they were the first time they saw them,” he says.
"These are examples of successful partnerships between designers and manufacturers. Ballygowan was another; its first ad was on the back page of The Irish Times. It was written by Katherine Donnelly and it helped create a brand that punched well above its weight."
Current ICAD president Gavin O’Sullivan, creative director of another of Ireland’s leading advertising agencies DDFH&B, believes that despite this success Irish designers have not promoted themselves and the value of their work enough.
“The potential of the Irish design sector is relatively untapped”, he says. “Irish designers are of an international class, but I think it’s a national trait to hide our light under a bushel.
“We are naturally reticent as a people and we are unfortunate to live beside one of the world’s great design markets in the UK which still produces some of the world’s best advertising.”
He sees the key contribution design can make to the economy as the assistance it can offer Irish companies in promoting and selling their products and services.
Iconic brands
“Everyone starts to sell on their home market and if you can’t sell there you won’t be able to sell anywhere”, he points out.
“Irish products have to compete with imports for sales here and the competition is quite intense. But a lot of the success of Irish brands is due to advertising and design. You look at the great iconic brands such as Jacob’s Fig Rolls and Guinness and the role advertising has played in their success.
“The word viral is bandied about a lot, but the Guinness surfer was one of the earliest campaigns that went viral with Christy Moore singing about it, and ‘how do you get the figs into Fig Rolls?’ became a national catch phrase.”
David Smith is graphic designer with his own company Atelier and is also co-ordinator of the BA course in visual communication at IADT. He believes that the economic potential of Irish design will only be realised when designers are equal partners in the product and service development process.
“Design should not be considered as merely value add or an extra.It needs to be seen as a genuine differentiator and integral to the success of a product of service,” he contends.
“The Apples and Googles of this world put design at the centre of their innovation and Irish companies need to start doing this as well. The opportunity exists to build genuine collaborations of equals between the engineers and scientists on one side and designers on the other and that’s where the future lies.
"Designers are expert problem solvers and we are very nimble in terms of moving through different ideas very quickly and breaking down complexity."
Great centres
Smith points to the great centres of international design as examples for Ireland. “The Scandinavian countries and Italy understand that design is essential for good products, good experiences, good buildings and so on.
“In Northern Ireland there is a lot of exciting stuff happening in design, but they have the support of the UK Design Council. We need a champion at government level here who understands the value of design and will promote and support it.”
O’Sullivan concludes by pointing out the essence of that value. “You don’t sell anything with bad creative. All of the successful iconic brands are supported by great advertising and design.”
