What happens when you set a class of bitter, sarcastic and disillusioned graphics first years a brief which forces them to put a positive spin on a country whose main features are it's alcoholism, its unmerciful rain and its crooked political system?

THREE WEEKS OF BELLYACHING!!!

The brief - Positive Ireland. We had to design a cohesive campaign which included a billboard, a t shirt and some kind of freebie - give away promotional item.

Oh LAWD.

Thankfully, three days into my misery I received a visit from my muse and savior - Hazel Egan (who, as you might remember from previous posts once accompanied me to the emergency room for stitches and humiliation.). Hazel has many stories of her familys' various encounters with deer and is a person who I would always associate with wildlife (her sister calls her badger.). I've always loved animals too (kids in primary school used to call me Mrs. hibernation, and less creatively... freak of nature...thanks guys...). So that gave me my hook: Ireland - Wild at heart.

So I finally had my area of interest and was able to batter on from there. My concept was that both native Irish wildlife and Irish people share positive traits, and that various animals represent different specific traits.

So I started to research facts on 5 different animals which I picked based on their distinct physical features:

Red Deer - Antlers

Badger - Claws

Peacock Butterfly - Wings

Red Fox - Tail
Rabbit - Ears

And then began the long ARDUOUS and ultimately POINTLESS process of trying to pair my research with a series of illustrations I drew. I say pointless because they were all eventually eschewed for green filtered images of Irish celebrities who  embody the traits associated with each animal:

Red Deer - Olivia Wilde (A beautiful Irish actress, she appeared in the movie TRON and the t.v series house)
Badger - DJ Carey (A kilkenny hurler regarded as perhaps the greatest of all time)
Peacock Butterfly - Rosanna Davidson (Rose of Tralee who went on to win Miss World, also her dad is Chris de Burgh... good for her)

Red Fox - Ryan Tubridy (Late Late Show presenter)

Rabbit - Jedward (... cultural phenomenon)

So the billboards were paired with the freeb - the "Wild at heart" personality test. You answer questions to ascertain which animal you are most like. You then receive a costume item based on the animal.

So.... yeah, take the test, unveil your inner beasht...

So all in all it was a difficult project but - but - the future will be paved with difficult projects and I must fortify myself like so many turtles...