IGI features
dcoy design Interview
Jun, 13, 2002Niall Kerrigan is creative director of dcoy design. Niall was the creative on a Centra/Road Safety Council awareness campaign that took an award at the recent Public Relations Awards.
How long have you been in working in design?
My career kicked off in 1986 after leaving school and a rather brief and horrible experience studying civil engineering in college (which I cut short), I decided to try my hand in the advertising/design industry. I thought it would prove to be a rather glamorous career move. So; I moved to London. I started as a finished-artist, basically putting together artwork for film and print within an advertising agency. This, I think, gave me a critical eye for both type and layout. After seeing and admiring Peter Saville’s work for the record industry, I then decided that graphic design would be an area I would love to be involved with. Bye-bye London: Welcome home Dublin.
On my return, I started freelancing as a finished-artist, but then joined the Creative Department design studio. It was here under the watchful eye of the type-master Frank O’Hare and creative Greg Murray that the interest developed further. We were probably the first company to install an Apple Macintosh. I always enjoyed working with type and it (the Mac) made playing with type so easy.
At that time in Dublin, there were no real design studios in existence. The attitude was that the ad agencies did everything. Thankfully, however, this was about to change. Both Design Works and Design Factory were relatively new and were turning out some great stuff. These were the type of people I wanted to be. After a spell with Frank O’Hare, I decided to spread my wings and started as a junior designer with BFK. The people there were very tolerant and I learnt a lot from both Paul Hogan and Johnny Frey. It was basically like been thrown in at the deep end and, as they say, sink or swim!
As BFK grew, so did my experience. From junior to senior designer, from senior designer to creative director. It was a very profitable and busy time for me.
When and why did you decide to set up dCoy design?
In 1997 after many man-hours spent working late nights weekends and of course pints of Guinness, it seemed like a good idea. I think I had naturally run my course in someone else’s employment and felt that now I had built up the experience I needed to do it for myself. It’s not as easy as just taking the brief and running with it. There is the client-liaison, designing, production and printing. You need experience in all these areas to make a project, and above all a company, work. But in saying that, I am still learning on a day-to-day basis.
Along with myself, there were others, of course, and as they say; three heads are better than one! There is more security when you are all at the coal face working away together; you are not just relying on your own ability. Someone’s strength is another’s weakness and vice-versa. It’s all about teamwork and I think we have that, at least.
Coming from a time when computers had little to do with design, do you still find good drawing skills important?
Yes, I find that it’s something you always use. Even before the actual design process begins, one would naturally start with some doodles/scamps to see if the idea is worth pursuing or not, or even to show it as a talking piece with other designers involved in the project.
Do you regard illustration as an important tool in day-to-day design briefs?
As a project progresses, one would invariably use some type of illustration -be it a logo or a background image created in Adobe PhotoShop that has an illustrative approach.
You recently had some success with an illustration based Centra/Road Safety campaign?
Yes, it took an award at the recent Public Relations Awards.
Can you explain why you chose to go the illustration route?
We chose illustration, as it was the natural medium to use. We were asked to create a mascot that would appeal to a young audience from three to thirteen years of age, to make them aware of road safety. This had not been achieved successfully since the days the character ‘Judge’. (From RTE’s Wanderley Wagon, for those of you who remember).
We briefed Steve Simpson because of his style. We initially talked about different characters, but between us decided the character should represent an indigenous animal that children would easily associate with and remember. It was purposely created as a colourful and cuddly character with the traffic light colours emblazoned across its sweater.
Steve produced a series of colour roughs that had an immediate impact on the client and us. The cat character showed versatility and an obvious appeal to both the younger and older children. We produced several posters, a couple of colouring competitions and a series of illustrations showing the ten steps to better road safety.
The cat was also developed into a life size three-dimensional character by the company, Living Visuals. It travelled around Ireland to the openings of shops, etc. I pity the poor man or woman that had to spend hours in that suit! In the TV ads, the cat was a puppet, animated by Caboom for Youngs advertising agency. It was amazing to see how the character translated into the different mediums.
The computer is now part and parcel of the illustration world both in Ireland and abroad. Is the convenience of this medium an important factor in deciding who you will work with or are you more concerned with the style of the illustrator’s work?
I don’t believe convenience should come into it, unless you’re screwed on a deadline -and that’s a decision no creative likes to make -budget can also be a huge factor. Mostly, the computer saves me time and the necessity of couriers.
I believe it’s not the only award it’s won?
No, I believe it has won a Safety Initiative Award for the Safety Council of Ireland. It’s great to see these things achieve status away from the typical design/advertising arena.
Do you find it easy to work with illustrators?
Yes, I would generally talk through and brief the illustrator, maybe show them some samples of the style that I wish to use and then really leave it up to them to come back to me with their masterpiece. I really like it when they elaborate on my initial discussion/sketch -it adds another dimension and provides added value to the finished piece.
Do you find it easy to sell illustration solution to a client?
Yes, of course. Clients can easily be sold the illustration option, which can often be a more direct solution to a brief. Illustration gives a unique approach to a design problem. Invariably, what clients are looking for is that little something that will make their product stand out. Illustration can do that job very nicely.
Photography has always been the natural competitor of illustration. When choosing between illustration and photography, what are the factors that bring about a decision?
It is sometimes easier to choose photography over illustration, particularly when you need to show a product, say food or a specific item but illustration adds a completely different dimension when you want to create a mood or portray an aspirational goal for a product. It’s also of great benefit when, say, designing a logo or icon or even something more graphical which is something that photography can’t capture easily.
Do you think an illustration, whether it is a simple graphic or an elaborate image, has more of an emotional impact on the viewer than a photograph?
No, not always - its very much dependent on what you want and obviously you have to take into account exactly what you are using the illustration for and who your end-user will be. For instance, would you buy fish fingers if they had an illustration of the product on the box instead of a photograph? However, I have worked with illustrators in the past and you would not be able to tell the difference between an item that they had illustrated and a photograph. Those types of illustrators are pure craftsmen.
