Design 21: Social Design Network

My name is Niall O’Kelly, and I am a 29 year old Irish graphic designer. I have been working professionally for over 6 years now, for all levels of clients—from the E.U. and the Irish Government through pharmaceuticals (such as GlaxoSmithKline) and financials (primarily Bank of Ireland and TIAA-CREF) to service companies, local organizations and non-profit organizations.

I was initially trained through a 4 year degree programme in Visual Communications (Graphic Design) in the Dublin Institute of Technology. This is one of Ireland’s leading colleges in the field. I qualified in 2003 with an Upper Second Class Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree. I was immediately hired by XMI design, currently Ireland’s largest branding and design studio (following a merger with Huguenot Design) and worked there until leaving Ireland in December 2006.

I moved to New York in January 2007, having been granted permanent residency by the U.S. government. Until recently, I have been collaborating with MSDS in SoHo (a branding and interactive studio), freelancing for over a year before joining the team as their Senior Designer, and worked on a mix of Fortune 500 and non-profit companies. Their primary clients are SAFE (Washington Advocacy Group), Acumen Fund, TIAA-CREF and MetroSouth (a Chicago hospital).

I have extensive experience with interactive and print design, and have developed work flow processes to ensure absolute correctness and efficiency in these areas. I specialise in branding and identity design, and in print design such as advertising, brochures and collateral pieces.