OFFSET Dublin 2017 | DAY THREE

OFFSET Dublin 2017 | Photo Caroline McNally

Our final day opened with a bang and a snap as Cork based duo, James and Michael Fitzgerald AKA The Project Twins, offered up some treats for our eyes. They were informative and honest as well as very funny and charming. Their powerful, simple, beautiful illustrative style really stood out and was the perfect tonic to start the last day. They made an forceful point of highlighting the huge benefits they have experienced from continuing to make their own personal work – a sentiment echoed by most speakers over the weekend.

The Project Twins @ OFFSET Dublin 2017 | photo Brid O Donovan

Next up was the highly anticipated Munich based creative Mirko Borsche, who told OFFSETers “Let’s begin with taking a smallish nap or two” summing up the feelings of a tired (but hopefully inspired) Day 3 crowd. No messing around here, the crowd were quickly inspired by his no-nonsense witty talk. His dogged determination and remarkable perseverance could be seen and admired when he unveiled his rejected covers for Phaidon’s Performance book. He warned us that “sometimes you don’t get it right” and with 450 iterations of the cover that Phaidon ultimately ended up rejecting he certainly lives by his word.

“Involving ourselves in our work can make a difference, our daily work. Apply yourself to every single project”.

It’s remarkable perseverance like this that produces world-class design studios like his very own Bureau Borsche.

French fashion photographer Nhu Xua Hua (pronounced “new swan”) capped the morning with her exquisite shoots, explaining how her family and early years influenced the narratives contained and explored in her work. “You experience life through living it. I wanted friends, not books!”  Her unique sensitivity to the elements surrounding her world reflects in her work and is really addictive to the viewer. “Distorted reality; shows my inconsistency, my doubts.”

A wonderful conclusion to the morning talks.

Nhu Xuan Hua @ OFFSET Dublin 2017 | photo Brid O Donovan

More homegrown talent in the form of Robert Cullen from Boulder Media, who kicked off the final block of talks at this year’s OFFSET Dublin and low and behold Danger Mouse takes over main stage! The audience were treated to an insight into the work involved in creating the rebooted Danger Mouse series and the process in updating it for a new generation while remaining true to the original style. Robert also dished out some great advice along the way “Draw EVERY day. You’re always getting better, always learning. If you stop drawing you get rusty so quickly.” and “Don’t stop drawing for pleasure, Remember why you did it in the first place.”

Continuing on the trend of local talent, Eamonn Doyle and OFFSET veteran Niall Sweeney were welcomed to the stage with a massive ovation. This creative duo spoke of their 25 year collaboration, where they have been instrumental in shaping the creative landscape in Dublin. While they have forged their own successful creative paths in Music, Design and Photography they still always worked on numerous projects together: the records put out by D1 Recordings “It was all about the place & everything would be produced from that spot. All from Dublin 1”  the danceclubs of Model One and Elevator, and eight years of Dublin Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF), “Turning Dublin into a massive nightclub!”.
More recently they’ve produced the acclaimed “i”, “ON” and “End” photo, book and exhibiton projects. They demonstrated a quirky synchronicity that makes their work together so awesome and effortless and shows why collaborations are so vital in the creative industry.

Eamonn Doyle + Niall Sweeney @ OFFSET Dublin 2017 | photo Brid O Donovan

As OFFSET 2017 was quickly coming to a close our penultimate speaker was the award winning UK Illustrator Laura Carlin. She spoke in a calm, charming and humorous way about her life, her mother, her influences and not getting lazy. “Learning to omit what’s necessary is the difference between drawing and illustrating“. Laura praised the child part of the brain and railed against the idea of good and bad art and advisied the audience to take on challenges and step out of their comfort zone by learning new skills. “If we spent more time honing in on our skills it means you can speak about them with passion.”

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 Legend Film Title Designer Dan Perri taking to the main stage we knew we’d get just that. It was a very special moment when he opened his talk with none other than the iconic Star Wars titles he created. BOOM! There they were in all their glory on the OFFSET main stage, those who didn’t know him where instantly in awe when it was revealed that he’s the man behind some of the most recognisable titles of all time, The Exorcist, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Raising Arizona, Gangs of New York and Airplane to name a few of over 400 movie and TV titles. The talk weaved through the nuances of a career and first hand experience working with some of the greatest directors of all time, from Scorsese to Altman. It was honestly hard to believe the volume of work Dan has produced. For those who missed him at OFFSET check out Liam Geraghty’s podcast where Dan Perri talks titles of course.

Dan Perri @ OFFSET Dublin 2017 | Photo Caroline McNally

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 2017, 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. Dates for your Diary March 23rd, 24th and 25th. See you there!

The OFFSET Team