Plotting your course
Mar 10, 2010 - by Dawn
You may not have noticed but Monday 8th March was International Women Day. This day celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
I admit that I may not have been aware of this upcoming day if I had not signed up to attend the March DCEB Network for Women event. The night was a much larger event than expected with 250 in attendance. Speakers for the evening were Mary Anne O’Brien, founder and MD of Lily O’Brien’s and Lucy Gaffney Chairperson of Communicorp Group Ltd. Nicola Byrne, Managing Director of Call 11890 acted as MC on the evening.
The night kicked of with both Mary Anne O'Brien and Lucy Gaffney giving us all 'the story' behind how they got to where they are now. What made their stories interesting were the insights into their personal lives as well as their routes to success.
Both of them had unconventional pathways to their current careers. Mary Anne first realised her passion for chocolate on a trip to Africa for some much needed rest. She happened upon a local who was making chocolates and let Mary Anne try her hand at it. On returning to Ireland the dream developed into her establishing the now internationally successful brand by beginning in her home kitchen.
Lucy Gaffney worked in various jobs after repeating her Leaving Cert. She chopped and changed, realising many of the jobs her parents would like to see her in were not for her. The turning point was getting a secretarial role with Bell Advertising. From here she worked her way up to Account Director.
Lucy Gaffney is now Chairperson of Communicorp Group Limited an expanding communications group whose portfolio includes national radio stations Newstalk 106-108 and Today FM along with Dublin stations Dublin’s 98 and Spin 103.8.
Open networking afterwards was a great opportunity to exchange business cards over a glass of wine. All in all, a great event and thanks to the organisers for the effort involved.
Posted in Networking, Mary Anne O'Brien, Lucy Gaffney, Lily O'Briens, International Womens Day, DCEB Network for Women, Communicorp
Don't believe your eyes...
Mar 3, 2010 - by Dave
Illustrations by Alberto Cerriteno
Feb 24, 2010 - by Dawn
This week I had a lucky internet stumble when I came across Mexican Illustrator and Designer Alberto Cerriteno. I delved deeper and found not only was his illustration work creatively inspiring but he is also a designer. His prints now selling commercially printed as limited editions onto everything from cushions to eye masks.
His work is intricate in its details, his characters are given a kind of 3rd dimension in the use of collage style patterning. At a closer look at Alberto's drawings we see swirling flowers and ornate patterns reminiscent of our grandmother's wallpaper. The reoccurrence of pattern plays homage to his Mexican roots along with his love of colour through play between vivid colours set against raw earthy browns and coffee golds.
Indeed the playful subjects and surreal imaginings could be likened to the doodles of a child being given free reign, the results are outstanding. That's just my take, have a look, and let me know what you see in his creations...
www.albertocerriteno.com
www.etsy.com
www.clickforart.com
Posted in www.albertocerriteno.com, Surrealism, rich textures, Print, Mexican Art, Illustrator, Animated Characters, Alberto Cerriteno
Hi, here's my card...
Feb 10, 2010 - by Dave
What's the first thing you do when you meet someone in a business situation? Say hello? Shake hands? The next thing is most probably going to be the exchange of business cards. I have been going to a lot of networking events lately - they seem to be growing in popularity - and plenty of business cards are always exchanged.
Frequently the standard isn't good at all. You get business cards that are a mess, hard to read contact details, details crossed out and scrawled in with biro. Sometimes the paper stock isn't great and the card is flimsy and crumpled. It doesn't really add up to a great business impression and a lot of the time the suspicion is that these cards go into the pocket and from there to the bin!
Price is obviously a sensitive issue at the moment but a lot of the time the cheapest deal isn't the best one. When shopping around for your business card it is important to make sure that you are comparing like with like. Will the card be printed on good stock? Will it be a quality job? Have you seen a portfolio or any other design work? All points worth bearing in mind if you want a business card that will ensure you make the right impression!
Posted in Scapegoat Design, Printing, print design, Print, Networking, Graphic Design, creativity, Business Card, branding
Social Media - To Jump, or not to....
Feb 9, 2010 - by Dawn
As a member of DCEB Network for Women I attended the talk given by Lauren Fisher of Simply Zesty last night. OK at the end of the working day and being a Monday I confess to feeling a little under-enthused before heading into the Clarion. My mindset was quite dramatically reversed both on hearing the 20 sec intros of all attending and the presentation by Lauren. The women attending embody the meaning of self-starter and I was inspired by the variety and creativity of businesses which have been developed in recent years and are now forging to use every avenue to make sure their venture continues to grow in these tough times.
Social Media in itself provides us with a mass of tools to use in developing a companies online presence. Lauren likened the aim of all this to amounting "site real estate". It seems it may be easier to make your product "hot property" online with the right planning, brand image, targeted communication and time...
Many people in the room felt Linkedin was a good resource and can lead to potential contacts and down the line possible contracts. Newsletters, Blogs, Twitter and Facebook can also be valuable but the Golden Rule seems to be make sure communication is connected, each should serve as an outlet which leads back to the website. Also "measure, measure and measure again" the results (traffic to your site) you are achieving from your efforts. Social Media tools are free so you're not bound for life and again it may suit you better to pick the best to engage your target audience rather than throwing the whole kit and caboodle into the cart!
Posted in www.oneriot.com, www.irishblogs.ie, www.blogpulse.com, Trendistic.com, Social Media, Simply Zesty, Network for Women, Lauren Fisher, http://ie.linkedin.com/in/dawncolescapegoat, Dublin City Enterprise Board
Believe it or not this image is not a product of Photoshop. It is a four-storey sculpture made of welded steel and created by the New Zealand artist Neil Dawson. While it looks like an optical illusion it is very much the real thing and looks equally convincing from any angle.
