15 Great Creatives You Should Have On Your Radar
Creative in experiential or events management takes on many shapes or forms. Depending on the story we’re trying to tell, how we want to make the audience feel and the key message that needs to be delivered with pinpoint accuracy, we can call on creatives from all walks of life. Graffiti artists to graphic designers, painters to potters, woodworkers to wordsmiths, we draw inspiration from those who catch our eye and/or who complement our existing in-house expertise or fill a gap in our offering. Ireland is bursting with world class creative work, an inspirational tapestry of skills and design minds.
Here, we take a look at an eclectic mix of some of those whose work routinely inspires us…
1) Buse Kanlikilic:
Buse is best known for her incredibly detailed and perfect tattoo artistry. An NCAD graduate, her attention to and creation of fine detail on a canvas as tricky as skin shows her prowess in artistry but also an impossibly steady hand. Nature, mindfulness, spirituality and sustainability are key themes which you’ll note on both her Instagram accounts @buse_tattoos and @buse_art. She has worked closely with well known collectives Subset and created beautiful murals for Facebook’s Dublin office.
2) Ahmad Fahkry
Formerly of Design Goat and currently based in Lisbon, Ahmad’s bespoke furniture and interior designs can be seen all over the city. His ability to solve a problem with certain spaces by marrying creative flair with functional comfort cannot be overlooked, transforming simple spaces into experiential works of art.
3) James Earley
Another artist whose personal style you can recognise instantly, James has been working his magic around Dublin for years with his stained-glass style graffiti popping up on buildings and walls, Bloom Hotel being his most prolific. He also designed a beautiful limited edition Jameson bottle in 2016 inspired by the bridges on the River Liffey.
4) Joanne McNally
Comedy is a really tough creative discipline to master, get it wrong and it can be a crushing blow to your campaign or event, get it right though and you’ll have people recalling it for many moons to come. Joanne’s acerbic commentary on modern Ireland through her shows “Bite Me” and the “The Prosecco Express” have seen her audiences grow steadily to her brand work across social media which puts her front of mind if you’re looking for an MC or talent to keep that audience laughing.
5) Joe Caslin
If you happen to stroll through the National Art Gallery any time soon, you’ll find it hard to miss one of Caslin’s enormous portraits resting comfortably in the central courtyard. His greyscale formula for giant murals reflect themes of equality, representation, activism and history has become prominent in recent years since his Georges St mural of two men kissing made headlines ahead of the marriage referendum in 2015.
Photo credit: Museum.ie
6) TheRealPan
If you’re after incredibly realistic portraits to hang on your wall, to give as a gift or to don the walls of an event space then Pan Cooke is your man. Using a variety of artistic disciplines, he’s captured the character and features of some of the world’s best known celebrities including Robin Williams, Cillian Murphy and Cara Delevingne. His Instagram is a wormhole of wonderful portraits.
7) Subset
Punchy, activist and artistic, the Subset crew are well known to most at this stage. Their murals constantly stir up critical conversations on social media and their unending battle with DCC ebbs and flows like the tide washing away footsteps on a beach. Over the years they’ve given us masterpieces on buildings across Dublin and Ireland with the likes of Stormzy, Kanye West, Trump and David Attenborough.
Stormzy at Subset’s mural in Smithfield
8) Macnas
If you’ve been lucky enough to attend the Halloween parade in Galway or got up close and personal with a mythical being at the St. Patrick’s Day parade then chances are it was one of Macnas’ amazing creations that took you breath away. We adore how much character they put in the faces and bodies of each piece, theatrical storytelling at its finest.
macnas.com
9) Studio Or – Jo & Kate
Jo & Kate are a go-to for any print detail you need. As you’ll see from their social channels their work is full of bright, vibrant and colourful art pieces pulled together in bespoke and neat books, booklets and posters and whatever you can imagine. Their printing workshops give students and print aficionados invaluable hands-on experience with expert guidance.
10) Natalya O’Flaherty
Spoken word has seen a resurgence in popularity over the last few years with the likes of Dave Tynan, Emmet Kirwan and Natalya O’Flaherty to the fore. Powerful, punchy and loaded with activism, her lyrics are cutting and celebratory in equal measure. She is a poet with explosive delivery and a localised prose that grips the audience from her first breath.
11) Naomi Arbuthnot
Screen print artist Naomi’s work is incredibly detailed in a discipline that sometimes moves away from the hyper-realistic style that is in abundance across her social media channels. The lino-cuts in particular show how patient and skilled she is when creating her pieces of art. Also incredibly relaxing/therapeutic to watch.
12) Brian Giles
Another screen print artist whose work catches the eye immediately. Think Banksy meets Warhol with a bit of marbling and you’re kind of on the right track. Brian’s work pops up at markets and boutiques all over the country under his moniker Son Of A Fox.
13) Eleanor McCaughey
It’s hard to put a single description on the work of Eleanor McCaughey. A mash-up of 2D and 3D creations full of colour, angles, textures and materials bring her wild imagination to life under a myriad of themes. These pieces keep you thinking, which is what we love about them. https://www.eleanormccaughey.net/oddly-accurate-things.html
14) Newgrange Willow Design
Ronan and Elaine Russell’s wicker/willow sculptures feature at nearly all of Ireland’s best loved festivals. By skilfully bending, tacking, lapping and forming sculptures and designs they create showstopping pieces that people constantly gravitate towards. The natural materials and feel of their work screams sustainability and heritage.
15) SO Fine Art Editions
Okay so not technically a creative as such, but still one of our favourite places to visit for creative inspiration is the SO Fine Art Editions gallery in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin. At any given time you’ll find a mix of paintings, ceramics, sculptures, textiles and contemporary art that challenges your perception, resets your thought process and sparks your imagination.
We get approached with all kinds of design and creative briefs from our current and prospective clients who are looking to stand out in the crowd. To ensure we don’t fall into a trap of regurgitating the same styles and motifs seen before we consume a huge amount of content and seek inspiration from as many different people and voices as we can. It’s a constant learning curve and with a canvas as broad and clean as brand experiential, we strive to improve all the time. We’re also very lucky to be surrounded in Ireland by some of the most brilliant creative minds anyone could ask for. Add them to your following list, you won’t be sorry.
- GC
All work showcased here was created by the listed creative, we do not claim or own any of the work