City slickers: Dublin-inspired design

Back in my newspaper days, I met Andy Mac Manus, a very talented Irish graphic designer and artist who is now based in London.

At the time, he had painstakingly created a 360 degree view of Dublin's O'Connell Bridge and I was so taken with it that he printed off a section of it (my walls couldn't fit the whole thing!). 

ART CAPITAL: Two prints from Andy Mac Manus's Panoramic Dublin feature an extremely detailed view of O'Connell Bridge and hang in my living room

Andy, who last month completed a masters in graphic design at the London College of Communication, gave me a choice of two and I couldn't decide, so I took both!

I am obsessed with all things Dublin and the Panoramic Dublin prints take pride of place in my sitting room. You can see some of Andy other's work and the original Panoramic Dublin on his website, http://cargocollective.com/andymacmanus.

Here's a selection of other Dublin-inspired beauties:

SKY DRAPER: The view of the Liffey from the Ha'penny bridge onwards in this Dublin skyline print (approx €16.12 plus delivery) by Etsy shop birdAve is available in custom colours. Designed to fit into the IKEA Ribba 8" by 10" frame.

SITTING PRETTY IN THE CITY: Inspired by the city's Georgian architecture, this lovely digitally printed Dublin cushion designed by Zoe Beck (approx €60 plus delivery) is available from the Hidden Art shop.

TREE HOUSE: Turned into a 'tree towel' after it became the most popular print from their Eight Tree Exhibition, the Dublin 8 Tree Towel by Red Dog the Store has been reduced from €18 to €14.88. 

DRY ME A RIVER: This romantic Dublin Love gocco print (approx €12.09 plus delivery) is by artsharkdesigns on Etsy

PUB TRAWL: Marketed as a gift for your man on St. Valentine's Day, this typographical representation of Dublin's pubs and landmarks by Bates Mercantile Co on Etsy costs approx €5.60 for a printable PDF

STOP THE LIGHTS: This stunning laser cut map of Dublin is a feast for the eyes and was created by Dublin-based design company Alljoy. It costs €48 and is available from the Irish Design Store.

WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK (CAKE) AND ROLL: The Map of Dublin tea towel (€6.75 and made from organic cotton) is one of many design treats available from The Cake Café

CITY GUIDE: The gorgeous Dublin Landmarks notebook by Ursula Celano is made in our capital city and the landmarks featured include the Pigeon House, Liberty Hall and the Ha'penny Bridge. It costs €9.95 and is available from Ursula Celono or from Article, Powerscourt Townhouse, Dublin 2. Thanks for getting this for me, Nathalie!

TOTE-ALLY DUBLIN: Part of a range of Dublin-themed products designed by Designist in collaboration with Le Cool Dublin, this 100% cotton Love Dublin tote bag (€8.50) features tweets that trended on a particular day in 2011 which demonstrate why we Dubliners love our city.

Wall to wall photo opportunities

Took these photos on a New Year's Eve walk of the Great South Wall beside the Pigeon House. One of my favourite places to go for a windy walk. Driving past the grimy industrial district is worth it to get to the historic sea wall and the Poolbeg Lighthouse at its end. Good for views of ferries and cargo ships too if you're into that kind of thing, which I am!

POWER WALKING: The view of the ESB station at the Pigeon House from the halfway point of the South Wall.

STUCK BETWEEN A DOCK AND A HARD PLACE: A warning to walkers about high tides scribbled at the swimming club building which marks the halfway point. It reads 'We got stuck out here because we didn't check the tide times'. I like the way the days are crossed out on the top left.

RED CARPET: One of the buildings at the half-way point of the Great South Wall.  The northside of Dublin Port is in the left foreground.

STARRING ROLL: Mr T and his roller make an appearance on the back of the building above. Container ships are docked in the background.

PULL ME CLOSE: An old pulley near the Poolbeg Lighthouse. A friend got engaged at this very spot recently. 

OH BOUY: The view of Dublin in the distance from the side of the lighthouse

LIGHT UP, LIGHT UP: The Poolbeg Lighthouse. Not sure what this graffiti/artwork means but perhaps it was inspired by the porthole windows on ships.

HE'S A KEEPER: The back of the Poolbeg Lighthouse. Looks like a friendly cartoon character.

SEE SEA SHELLS BY THE SEA SHORE: The shells on a small beach beside the Great South Wall.

A Quarter Compounder: Proposed Asian Quarter on Parnell Street

I recently attended a lunch-time talk at darc space on the report 'Parnell Street East: A Vision for an Historic City Centre Street' by the Dublin Civic Trust (a brilliant organisation). I know this part of the city pretty well and love the community feel, which is embodied at Ozanam House on Mountjoy Square.

It would be great to see the recommendations of the Dublin Civic Trust report (commissioned by the Dublin City Business Association and Carroll's Gifts and Souvenirs) carried out but in these gloomy times the prospect of even widening the footpaths or tree-planting, let alone large scale refurbishment of the historic buildings and redeveloping the scarred sections of the street, seem unlikely.

GLOOMY: The Georgian architecture of numbers 76 to 78 Parnell Street East is almost hidden under layers of plaster and unsympathetic shopfronts.

Image from the Dublin Civic Trust.

VISION OF THE FUTURE: How the report has re-imagined the three buildings, restoring them to their former glory complete with original door.

Image from the Dublin Civic Trust.

The Asian businesses that have sprung up on the street have brought life and colour to the area, making Parnell Street East a culinary (and karaoke!) hotspot. The area would benefit from being designated as a quarter (not everyone likes the idea of having specific designated quarters in the city, but I believe it has worked well in the case of the Italian Quarter), but should it be an 'Oriental Quarter' as envisaged by the report?

A lady who attended the event suggested that, as Smithfield is set to become a food destination and there is no guarantee that the Asian community will favour the Parnell Street East location in the long-run (Capel Street is another growing centre of Asian cuisine), perhaps we should focus on making it a Literary Quarter instead, given the street's proximity to the James Joyce Museum, the Dublin Writers' Museum, Fighting Words, etc. Indeed, both Asian businesses and literary centres can happily co-exist. Whatever happens, I hope that Parnell Street East will be renewed in the not too distant future.

The report makes for an interesting read, great for a large-scale 'before and after' fix too.

http://www.dcba.ie/public/news/parnell-street-east-report/

http://www.dublincivictrust.ie/news.php

http://www.darcspace.ie/

Dublin's new tasty pin-up

Dublin's much-loved Cake Café not only serves up baked goods but also has an array of sweet city-inspired designs. The latest item on the menu is this delicious apron cleverly titled Baile Átha Bia. Designed by Pony, it features some of the capital's gastronomic street names, such as Marrowbone Lane, Pudding Row, Cow Parlour and Lime Street, and famous landmarks. Just €12.95, the screen-printed pinny is available in two colour-ways.

BAKE-OFF: It's difficult to choose between the two colour-ways.
Photo: The Cake Café

Other design delights on The Cake Café specials board include this Map of Dublin Tea Towel which seems too pretty to use. I would like to frame this to add to my collection of Dublin-related art and design. At just €6.75 and made from organic cotton, it's the perfect Kris Kindle present / stocking filler.

DUBLIN DISHED UP: This tea cloth features landmarks ranging from the Pigeon House to the Old Guinness Windmill.
Photo: The Cake Café

See a very inventive use of this tea towel on The Cake Café's blog, here.

There's also some rockin' crockery in the beautiful form of this Bone China Plate (€16), a contemporary Dublin take on the Willow Pattern that has featured on plates, mugs and egg cups across Ireland and abroad for manys the year. It's based on a story of star-crossed lovers Bin-Bin and Yo-Yo by Mark O'Halloran (he wrote Adam and Paul, among others), the text of which accompanies the plate.

SERVING UP A STORY: The Bone China Plate shows Dublin landmarks featured in Mark O'Halloran's love story Photo: The Cake Café

These treats are available by telephoning The Cake Café on (01) 478 9394 or, even better, calling in to the eco-sensitive Daintree Building and enjoying a cup of their excellent coffee and choosing some nom nom nom.

http://www.thecakecafe.ie/homepage.html
http://www.thecakecafe.ie/blog.aspx