As you know I worked in the Brown Thomas Arnotts graphic design department for a time. This really opened my eyes to the role graphic design plays in retail. My early career had splashes of graphic design for retail in the specific area of FMCG. So you would see my work in places like Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes. I worked on the Simple Better initial roll out, numerous SuperValu own brands and a variety in-store campaigns and promotions from Johnny Cupcakes to Lucozade, Kilmeaden Cheese, Brennans bread etc. So retail work was familiar to me. As my career progressed, I worked on a variety of make up and beauty brands like Neostrata, Thalgo, some work for Benefit and Flormar and all of it gave me an introduction to one of Ireland’s biggest retailers.
Brown Thomas Arnotts
This is where I was introduced to the design world of luxury retail, high end brands, familiar brands in fashion and skincare and make-up. It just sparked something in me. Something I hadn’t really experienced creatively for a long time. Creativity and curiosity. The pitch in Beauty and Retail is somewhat different to on shelf in supermarkets. Often a purchase at Brown Thomas Arnotts is a little splurge, it’s a product with some thought put in to it. But sometimes its about an event in store which meant my day to day graphic design work was varied and intuitive. This meant designing wasn’t a chore or ever felt like a job and this gave me the grounding to move forward in my design career.
SOSU Cosmetics
Shortly after my time at BTs, I engaged with the design department of SOSU Cosmetics. This opportunity changed everything. Firstly I have to say, the SOSU graphic design department head was so supportive. As a baby graphic designer a million years ago and fresh from college, I came to know a community of creatives that were competitive and would crawl over their granny to get one up professionally on you! SOSU wasn’t like this. This was the new female professional type that would fix your crown and allow you to shine. This comes from the top down and you see it everyday when Suzanne consistently supports others online and in social media. Ultimately the combination of a specific area of design I enjoyed, my own curiosity, the opportunity to be creative and a supportive team, well, this made my little design heart happy. And when a graphic designer is happy, many great things happen. And they did. I had a fantastic year there. I was able to work on all their Christmas Packaging, in-store point of sale (FSDUs and CDUs), all branded. I worked to support the team on their pop up store in Dundrum Town Centre and I also worked on Dripping Gold extension range and Bahama Body, a new youth targeted skincare brand which has been a huge success. Headed up by influencer Suzanne Jackson, this was a world of make up and beauty in the influencer arena and I was hooked. Creativity was sparked and a love for packaging design emerged. The contract ended and there were staff changes shortly after and I moved to my next challenge but I have since re engaged with the new management team and I continue to work on the brand as it launches into a new look and range of products for 2025. Looking back I know I am blessed to have such an opportunity, to be creative, to be challenged and to engage in a female driven industry. Beauty was where I want to stay and so I looked to my next opportunity.
Poco Beauty
While I wait for some of the product packaging I designed to launch, I continue to strengthen the brand. This is a baby company and launched late 2023. While Pippa O’Connor, also an influencer and fashion designer, has been around for a while, her recent move into make up and beauty has been met with an incredible response and the brand is quite literally exploding. The packaging design has been one of the biggest challenges of my career. The colour choice is muted and understated so design is minimalist and restrained. The look is also muted and establishing packaging brand guidelines was my first project. So while all EU guidelines for graphic design has to be met, the colour palette has had challenges. So we continue to work on it to bring it together.
Beauty Packaging Design is a very niche specific area of design. Firstly it’s technical. You have to know your EU guidelines, how a barcode is used and printed, what information needs to be on the pack, the print keylines, how its displayed in pack and then your in-store presence in terms of FSDUs and POS. It also comes with a range of technical terms like Components, Quads, INCI, PAO, etc.. So its not for the faint hearted. A packaging graphic designer is also a technician, we work in an ever changing world and it’s thrilling! Going from a well established brand like Brown Thomas Arnotts to SoSu Cosmetics to Poco Beauty has been a massive change and huge challenge but I am all in and ready to go. Watch this space.
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