OFFSET 2016 | DAY THREE

Our final day opened with a bang and a snap as renowned fashion photographer and Limerick native, Niall McInerney offered up some treats for our eyes. Niall referred to “Naomi, Yves, Andy, Vivienne, Issey, Grace, Linda, Alexander and Christian by their first names” as he brought us back stage at some of the most illustrious fashion shows there are. After we were told how that iconic photo of Naomi Campbell’s fall in those skyscraper Vivienne Westwood heels was a total fluke, the crowd couldn’t help but be drawn into Niall’s world of fashion.

Niall McInerney by Neil Dorgan

Niall McInerney by Neil Dorgan

Next up were Liza Enebeis and Vincent Vrints of Studio Dumbar. Talking us through their creative process for visual identity systems as well as their application. The audience was treated to a dissection of the studio’s legacy while the duo peppered their talk with off the cuff one-liners that only enhanced the beautiful work they had to show.

Illustrator and animator Andy Ristaino capped the morning with gusto as die-hard Adventure Time fans packed the theatre. Showing us “very many weird and wonderful drawings and ideas for characters”, Andy detailed his Kickstarter success for Night of the Living Vidiots along with his influences from nature and the world around him.

Leather artisan and another homegrown talent, Úna Burke kicked off the final block of talks at this year’s OFFSET Dublin. With an insight into elaborate creations worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and the heroine Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games, Úna showed us just how hard she has worked to get to the top of her game.

Úna Burke by Bríd O'Donovan

Úna Burke by Bríd O’Donovan

London-based French illustrator, musician and co-owner of The Dudes, Mcbess was next on the main stage where he spoke of “evolving his work onto different platforms”, the transition from an animator at The Mill to a process that now includes video, illustration and design with each dot “painstakingly made in order to produce his visual masterpieces”.

Design heavyweights Stephen Averill and Shaughn McGrath delivered the penultimate talk of the day. As Ireland’s most garlanded pop-culture designers, the duo guided us through the process for each and every U2 album cover from Boy to Songs of Innocence and everything in between, keeping all eyes facing forward and bums firmly in their seats.

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Shaughn McGrath and Stephen Averill by Bríd O’Donovan

And just like that, we reached the end of another Offset. The three days were coming to a close but not without some creative fireworks to cap another great year, and with calligrapher Seb Lester taking to the main stage we knew we’d get just that. The talk weaved through the nuances of a career as a type designer to blossoming calligrapher with each stroke of Seb’s pen creating an emotional roller-coaster of the best kind. The man won over a captivated crowd with humour and wit, but the downright beauty of his work earned him a much deserved standing ovation from an awe-filled theatre.

We didn’t want to say goodbye, but it was time. The event was exhausting, exhilarating and most of all, enriching. The tired, the inspired and the everything in-between filed out of the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for the last time at OFFSET Dublin 2016, and that was it. The delegates shuffled off in their various directions, thinking caps and full notebooks in hand.

Oh, and *psst*, we’re already planning the next OFFSET. See you there!

The OFFSET Team