London Design Festival

A trip to London never fails to inspire and our visit last weekend was no exception. There was lots going on as part of London Design Festival with a programme of over 300 events and exhibitions across the design spectrum.

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In a unique collaboration, Thornback and Peel teamed up with Winter’s Moon to show a range of vintage inspired homewares and mid-century furniture upholstered with their hand-printed fabrics – we love this vintage Ercol day bed upholstered in Pear ivory linen.

As part of the festival, (and for the first time), Karl Lagerfeld carried out an original photographic project for a furniture brand, Cassina

Once again, the V&A was the focal point for all matters festival related, with an exciting array of displays, installations, talks and workshops throughout the museum. Colonial Common, a pop-up bar at The Old Shoreditch Station, had lots of tastings, live music, and food from the likes of Beard to Tail and Anna Mae’s.

And located right outside the Tate Modern, this year’s landmark project, Endless Stair, remains open to the public until October 10th.

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Donegal Lighthouse Makes Top Ten

It’s great to see Donegal’s Fanad Lighthouse on this list of the world’s most beautiful lighthouses. We’re excited by its upcoming renovation and plans for a coffee and craft shop and look forward to the day that this impressive structure is open to the public. It’s exactly the kind of development required to boost tourism in the county.

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Brown Thomas CREATE

Irish Designers CREATE is a pop-up installation in Brown Thomas Dublin featuring fifteen Irish designers from the world of fashion, accessories, millinery and graphic print and textile design. There’s also a very special curated archival exhibition from Ireland’s famous couturier Sybil Connolly.

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Seamus Heaney, Keeper Of Language

The country and wider world is mourning the loss of a great man with the passing this week of poet and Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney.

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We had the pleasure of meeting the Derry man, and his wife Marie, at Artists / Heaney / Books: An Exhibition at IMMA celebrating the poet’s 70th birthday in 2009. IMMA specially commissioned a beautiful pair of prints by English-born artist, Barrie Cooke, and Seamus Heaney. The above Louis le Brocquy portrait of Heaney was also part of Imma Editions.

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Heaney leaves behind a wealth of material to remember him by. Here he reads one of our favourite poems, ‘Digging’

 

Coca Cola – The Happy Flag

Great example from Coca Cola of a big brand tapping into a national identity

 

PRWeek – PR And The Media Conference

‘Facebook is dead’ for young people, according to BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat and 1Xtra news editor Rod McKenzie. He was speaking at the PRWeek PR and the Media conference

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Irish Times – 60 Most Creative People In Ireland Right Now

Una Mullally has put together a great list of the 60 most creative people in Ireland right now, many of whom we’ve had the pleasure of working with.

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The Man Booker Prize 2013

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It’s wonderful to see three Irish writers, Colum McCann, Donal Ryan and Colm Tóibín, longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Having previously been shortlisted twice for The Blackwater Lightship in 1999 and in 2004 for The Master, Tóibín is on the list for The Testament of Mary. McCann is longlisted for TransAtlantic and Ryan for The Spinning Heart.

The shortlist of six authors will be announced on Tuesday, 10th September, with the winner announced on Tuesday, 15th October. Check out the full list here.

The Muppets Welcome the Royal Baby

Miss Piggy’s at it again as The Muppets welcome the royal baby…