The Crafts Council of Ireland will once again present an exciting range of craft experiences at Bloom including demonstrations, workshops and a retail area selling only Irish made work.

Meet the talented makers behind some of the country’s most popular craft brands and learn more about their work. Browse through the 25 outdoor stands featuring beautiful products Imagined, Designed and Made in Ireland. From garden and homewares to fashion and accessories, there is something to appeal to everyone!

Let your children unleash their creativity in one of the many craft workshops taking place each day of the festival. While they’re having fun, take a moment to sit back and relax in this little haven of calm and beautiful craft work or experience craft making for yourself.

See craft in action and watch leading craftspeople working in a variety of disciplines. Through interactive demonstrations and installations, raw materials will be transformed into a finished piece of craft before your eyes.

Further details on craft experiences at Bloom 2012 will be announced as plans are confirmed. Watch this space!

The presentation will be made by Beryl Gibson, UK based Textile and Yarn consultant with many years experience of the industry in Ireland, UK, Europe, Far East, South Africa and South America.

Knit Presentation A/W 13-14

Part 1

The presentation will cover colour trends for the season with a look at the Pitti Filati and Premiere Vision colour presentations, plus cards from other leading international trend bureaux, pinpointing where the colour focus lies and looking at how to work colour combinations for both women’s and men’s knitwear. The presentation will also include a look at yarn trends with actual shade cards and sample yarn cones from many of the major spinners.

Part 2

This presentation will focus on knit garment silhouettes for the new season, putting emphasis on design details, and include new stitch structures and patterns emerging for the season. The visual power point presentation will include innovative and inspiring ideas and concepts from a number of international sources. A 24 page handout covering all the key areas will be available after the presentation.

* Course Content includes

- Business plan,
- Financing your business,
- Designing your collection,

- Photo shoots – what is needed?
- Brand image and marketing,
- Pricing structure and cash flow,
- Trade shows and selling your designs.

- Funding opportunities available.

* Fashion Manufacturing/Production Course* June 16th

Creativity is vital however it is important for anyone in the fashion
industry to understand the business side of things and the Importance of
Fashion Production. This is a vital element if you are serious about
succeeding in the Fashion industry.

* Course content includes:

- Design concept through fashion manufacturing/production in Detail,
- Product development,
- Spec Sheets,
- Tech packs,
- Costing and preparing for market

- Production planning,

- Quality Control and Shipping

- Funding opportunities available.

These courses are perfect for designers currently in the fashion business, college
graduates, fashion design students or simply anyone interested in starting
their own fashion label. It is a perfect opportunity to gain
invaluable insight into the international fashion world with an
emphasis on the importance of fashion production.

Special June Discount rates!!  The workshop costs €175 for one day or €300 for both to make them more accessible to all! Secure your place now! Pay on line now http://jrothwell.net/shop/index.php?c=25 or alternatively by cheque or over the phone 085 721 0702. Payments can be made in instalments if desired.
Workshops will be held in Jennifer’ Studio in Dublin and includes lunch. Free feel to call us if you have any questions on 085 721 0702.

*Recent testimonials from the manufacturing class Oct 11*

“The information given is crucial to surviving in the industry which you
are not given in college. It is all the things that you wouldn’t think of. I
would definitely recommend the course to anyone interested in working in
fashion”, Katie Smith.

“Certainly would highly recommend. Just loved the whole course. A great
amount of information available, invaluable”, Patricia Clifton.

“It provides practical knowledge than can be otherwise only gained by
working in the industry.I believe that knowledge gained will help to save
me making mistakes that I would have made otherwise!”, Justyne Gorka

About Jennifer Rothwell:
Renowned Irish Fashion Designer Jennifer Rothwell is highly experienced in the fashion field with over 20 years fashion Design/Production experience. Jennifer Rothwell knows the A to Z of the fashion industry as she gained vast experience as the director of Design and Production for many high profile New York Designer companies. Jennifer accredits her most valuable experience at Norma Kamali where she worked for several years. She later went on to work and gain further fashion experience with Katayone Adeli, Calvin Klein, Language and Yigal Azrouel and worked at Director level in all companies mentioned.
She was frequently hired as a consultant to restructure Design/ Production departments to ensure high productivity and profit. And Implemented product development and production systems to improve overall departmental efficiency.

In August 06 Jennifer decided to launch her own label, Jennifer Rothwell. After only a short 7 months launched the Jennifer Rothwell label she won the “Brown Thomas Designer Mentor Programme Award” at Dublin Fashion Week in 07. In January 2010 Jennifer won a highly commended New Product Award at the Showcase Expo and she showcased at the Irish Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo last year. Jennifer was cast as a judge on Norway’s Top Model TV Programme which was broadcast in Norway on March 14th 2011 providing a great showcase for the best of Irish design. She was appointed a peer mentor for the Crafts Council of Ireland in June 2010 and is also a DCEB and Intertrade Ireland Industry mentor.

The Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) is introducing a new series of training modules specifically for their interior design and architecture members but open to all designers.

The official launch of the training programme will take place on the 30^th May in the Malthouse Design Centre. The first module will consist of a workshop on lighting. We welcome all designers who have an interest in lighting to attend.

Why lighting?
There is now increasing acceptance of the importance of good lighting design. However, how do we know how much light we need? What kind of lighting do we use? Where best to locate it? The aim of the training seminar is to teach the importance of a good lighting plan, provide a basic understanding of how to plan an effective lighting scheme by introducing the concept of layering with the ultimate aim of integrating the lighting within the architecture of the building.

Training module: Designing an Effective Lighting Plan
Trainer: Rocky Wall, Wink Lighting
Venue: Malthouse Design Centre, Distillery Court, North Circular Rd, Dublin 1
Tel: 01.8558070 / www.themalthousedesigncentre.com
Date: Wednesday, May 30th
Time: 6.30pm
Admission: Free to members of the IDI and Interiors Association (IA), €30 for non-members.
RSVP: Friday, May 25th
Contact: Denis O’Kelly, IDI @ 01.4537492
Website: www.idi-design.ie

PIVOT with the RIAI invite you to a talk by Cathy Huang, Founder and President of CBi China Bridge on 28^th May 2012 in the Chester Beatty Library Dublin 2. This is in association with the Dublin -  Beijing twinning.

Cathy, a design and innovation strategy consultant based in Shanghai will address issues such as:

What are the business opportunities today and tomorrow in China?

How is design-thinking delivering innovation and economic growth in China?

What can we learn from the Chinese experience?

What’s important to Chines consumers?

How do we communicate between markets, east and west?

The presentation will start at 11.00am and finish by 12.30pm

Registration and Refreshments from 10.30am.

RSVP essential to design@dublincity.ie by 21^st May 2012.

As one of Designist’s series of ‘Uproar’ pop-up shops, Mint will encourage Cultural Quarter shoppers to take a break on their Tod Stool and enjoy the sensation of the cleverly designed cushion. Mint’s unique style of furniture lends itself perfectly to interaction and conversation.

The giveaway, dubbed Blue Steel for the Blue Stool invites members of the public to upload photos of their best ‘Blue Steel’ pose to Facebook.com/DesignByMint in order to win a one-off, special edition designer stool, which will be on show during the pop-up-shop in Designist.

The stool will be on sale in Designist from the 24th May along with other furniture and gardenware items from Mint Design. The call for ‘Blue Steel’ poses is open now and one lucky person will be announced as the winner of the limited edition stool during the launch party on Thurday, 24th May.

“We wanted to do something fun and interactive to reflect the playful nature of our designs.  People love to sit on these stools, so we decided that the event should be centered around that” says Jack Connolly of Mint Design, a new and ambitious young design house based in Dublin.

Mint Design was created in 2011 and this is the first line of their own products. The ethos of the company is to create objects that intrigue and excited. Mint Design was established in 2011 by three young industrial design graduates with the goal of producing inventive, and affordable consumer products that have a unique take on function and are highly desirable. The focus of this range has been using recycled materials and local manufacturing facilities in new and creative ways that result in products that are first and foremost desirable, while also being environmentally sound.

You can find more information at www.mintdesign.ie, www.designist.ie or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/designbymint or Twitter: @DesignByMint

Wandering Methods

Wandering Methods

Two professional craft artists, Linda Florence and Maeve Clancy, have been working with a small group of older people who live in the Rathfarnham area over the past month. They have spent time looking at the building and its contents, and learning about its history – from this they have been working with the artists (one who primarily works with print, and the other who primarily works with paper cutting and drawing) to create material that draws from their observations of and connections with the Castle.

During the Wandering Methods project, participants have learned learn craft skills from the two artists, as well as delving into the history of the Castle building and their own associations and histories of the Rathfarnham area. All are participants in a process which makes time to connect, build relationships, share knowledge and lived experience and engage in convivial activity. The Castle is a rich site to mine for memory, narrative and story. Interpreting these into imaginative, innovative contemporary visual art/craft pieces and presenting it for wider public participation and engagement is key – how can a shared creative process animate a historic building exploring the layering of time, history and heritage.

Participants have been meeting in the Castle, spending time observing the building’s details. They’ve heard about its chequered history, from fortified house defending the Pale, through lavish refurbishment in the 1700s, to its time as a Jesuit seminary for much of the 20th century, when it also became a national centre for earthquake information thanks to a seismograph built by one of the resident priests. Thanks to the Office of Public Work’s extensive refurbishment the building was saved from ruin in the 1980s when there were fears that it was to be demolished, and the extensive knowledge of the building’s history that the OPW staff has amassed will be a key part of the gathering of stories for the project.

A key theme or line of enquiry is time, and ideas of ‘slow’ in relation to the slow movement (slow food, slow travel etc.) and its ethos, philosophy and values. In a world in which ways of living and being have become increasingly reductive, the process of thinking and reflecting collectively through making can enable a re-assertion of more sustainable lifestyles and re-thinking models of prosperity and well-being. Craft has a currency beyond commodity with a resurgence in making and crafting for pleasure, to acquire new skills and also as a connective social process. Through the processes enacted is this project we aim to evidence the building of relationships, knowledge, creative and social capacity. Engaging with ideas of locality, relationship to place, the borrowing of design over time and layering of time are also key areas of exploration.

An exhibition of the work created by the participants in the Wandering Methods project will be exhibited in Rathfarnham Castle as part of Bealtaine Festival. The public will be invited to see the Castle anew through the eyes of the participants, opening a personal space for their own imaginings of the building’s history and stories.

Bealtaine Festival is an Age & Opportunity initiative.

Practical info

Wandering Methods exhibition will run from Wed 23^rd May in Rathfarnham Castle and is free to the public. The opening hours of the Castle are Tuesday to Friday from 10.30am to 4pm and Saturday & Sunday from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Please note: parts of the Castle are not suitable for people with limited mobility. For further information contact the Castle on (01) 493 9462.

Linda Florence

http://lindaflorence.me.uk
Linda produces bespoke hand printed wallpaper and installation artwork for public, commercial and domestic interiors.  Florence’s printing techniques incorporate a mixture of traditional and new technologies. Clients include the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Jerwood Space, Swarovski, The National Trust, Ted Baker and Penguin. Florence has won multiple design awards including a British Design Award and is currently visiting professor Weißensee Kunsthochschule, Berlin and senior lecturer at Central Saint Martins, London.

Linda was part a similar project in 2009 for Craftspace, where she worked a group of local Afro-Caribbean elders at the National Trust property, Wightwick Manor, to develop a collection of contemporary wallpapers and prints inspired by the property’s extensive collection of Arts and Craft design.

Maeve Clancy

www.maeveclancy.com
Maeve Clancy is a Dublin-based artist and writer. She produces comics, illustration and animation in cut paper, ink and pop-up. She writes and draws a weekly webcomic Flatmates and is currently working on Inheritance, a graphic novel set in Dublin and Berlin.

She has created paper artwork for music video, exhibitions and once-off installations. Recent commissions include Paper Tales, a visual art exhibition designed for children which included large scale cut paper work, animation, pop up and comics at the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Ireland during October 2011. At the Solihull Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK her 2010 solo exhibition, An Outsider in your Mother(s)land explored immigration and identity through paper cityscapes of Dublin and Birmingham.

Craftspace

www.craftspace.co.uk
Craftspace is a crafts development organisation based in Birmingham. We work to push boundaries and perceptions of crafts practice, presentation and learning. They build relationships between artists, people and organisations, and their ideas explore crafts in diverse social and cultural settings.

For further information see: http://bealtaine.com/bealtaine-2012/wandering-methods-may-23rd

“Become a Top Seller Online”

Buswells Hotel Dublin, 7.00 – 9.00pm.

According to Forrester Research online retail is growing at an 11% annual rate in Europe, some new research from the Boston Consulting Group reveals that the UK is ranked top of all G20 nations in terms of the amount the internet contributes to its GDP. But are Irish sellers and retailers alike taking advantage of this enormous growth potential?

Now is your chance to learn how to become a Top Seller on the popular selling site eBay, learn how to compete and how to get your items found.

In this free masterclass we will detail the actions you must take to rise to the top of eBay’s search order. The more your products appear on the first pages of a given search, the more traffic you will attract and the greater the opportunity to convert these visits to actual sales.

We will walk you through eBay’s search algorithm, ‘Best Match’. Looking at all the actions you can take to gain higher ranking for your items and the pitfalls that many sellers ignore that could result in your products actually being demoted on the search results by eBay.

This two hour free masterclass is brought to you by the eBay Ireland Academy (www.ebayirelandacademy.ie) , we regularly run full day workshop programmes to cater for Beginner and Advanced sellers. Aine Murphy, former Head of Education & Training with eBay Ireland, will deliver the masterclass programme.

Guest Speaker on the night will be Pauric Logue from Wiseloads (www.wiseloads.com). In such a competitive marketplace it is vital to offer cost effective shipping solutions to your customer. Pauric will detail how to make this possible and he also has a unique selling solution to increase your export potential.

The masterclass is free but places are limited, please send an email to aine@encorebiz.ie to book your place.