mily joined McCann Dublin in October having worked as a designer and art director in a variety of agencies in both Dublin and London. Looking for the perfect role between design and advertising, she joined the team as Senior Designer. Here, Emily explains her design process, what inspires and motivates her and her thoughts on females within the creative industry.
For years I worked as a designer and art director in a variety of agencies, on large-scale internal employee engagement campaigns and brand guidelines for M&S, BP and Barclays. I have also worked with in the cultural and tourism sectors, for clients such as Dublinia and Fáilte Ireland. However, since moving back from London three years ago, I’ve been looking for that sweet spot – the convergence of design and advertising. This is what drove me to join McCann Dublin as Senior Designer.
When people ask what I do as a graphic designer, I say that I’m a visual engineer, a creative problem solver with many hats. McCann Dublin gives me the opportunity and fluidity to continue to develop my strategy skills, come up with ideas for campaigns, and nail down brand identities while working across a broad range of media. It’s fast-paced and exciting, with a variety of global clients to keep me busy. Our process is strong, and it’s this clarity of thought that is important to me. A strong idea is a strong idea, but having a consistent creative process is really important to deliver a great end product.
One of my favourite artists is Olafur Eliasson. He embodies the perfect mix of logical thinking, creativity, inspiration and conceptual thinking. My aim is that our team will continue to collaborate and develop in this vein – as strong design and inspirational work is nothing without the research and building blocks of strategy behind it.
I’m also passionate about developing and nurturing new talent, especially women in design. As Ali Hanan of Creative Equals states, “Female creatives can’t be what they can’t see.” I have run internship programmes for the past seven years, and I’m looking forward to developing one at McCann Dublin, while working alongside David and Bren to expand our already highly skilled creative team.
When I’m not in the studio you can find me planning my next trip, on a street art tour or at a pop-up event (preferably gin related). The thing that really does it for me is ghost signage. Give me hand painted type on a dilapidated building any day!