The digital dividendfor Irish design
Web shops and social media mean Irish designers can reach whole new markets
It’s hard to imagine a time when you couldn’t search for a style of lamp, discover the must-have print pattern or happen across a cool piece of furniture online.
Delve a little deeper to see where it is stocked, if it can be shipped to Ireland, who also likes it or even who else bought it. One click later and, hey presto, you’ve purchased.
And with an explosion of lifestyle blogs, Instagram and Pinterest boards constantly feeding beautifully styled (if a little sickeningly trendy) offices, bedrooms and sitting rooms to the #FOMO generation, is it any wonder the homewares and lifestyle industry is booming?
In Ireland we’ve seen a steady growth in the number of smaller independent lifestyle stores such as Dust.ie, Aprilandthebear.ie, CA Design and NordicElements.com blogging about interior design and selling their eclectic collection of lifestyle products online and in real life. All seek to satisfy this generation of homeowners’ appetite for quirky, individual homes fuelled by their digital pin-boards, with exclusive, artisanal and limited edition offerings.
For the new breed of emerging designers and product makers attempting to capitalise on the ever-growing industry there has never been an easier time.
As long as they embrace social media of course!
Where once a producer had to approach a store owner with their work, now, those looking to stock exciting but affordable home accessories created by designers who themselves are a USP are following them online and their all-important discoverable hashtags.
And with the trend for artisanal products only getter stronger even bigger brands like Marks & Spencer, Habitat and IKEA are on the hunt for future collaborators with an interesting back story.
‘I think anyone who is not on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter is really missing a trick,’ says Marie Varley a 27-year-old printmaker based in Dublin City.
‘It’s really easy to tap into the type of people that are interested in your work, just by using hashtags like #printspotters or #printisntdead, suddenly you’ve made yourself visible.’
Marie, a screenprinter who
works out of the Damn Fine Print studio in Dublin, specialises in the imagery found on retro postage stamps and match boxes from the Sixties onwards which she incorporates into larger limited edition prints that she sells online (MarieVarley.com) to an international market.
‘When I use a tag like #graphicdesign or #postagestamp, people who are interested in postage stamps are going to see it come up in their feeds and maybe I’ll make a sale,’ she adds.
Following her graduation from Limerick School of Art & Design in 2011, she moved to Edinburgh where she discovered a host of independent lifestyle stores with strong online presence stocking work from local creatives. ‘My stamp series went down really well in Edinburgh. It was 2012 and I think in the UK there was definitely more of a scene for affordable art that wasn’t too out there or twee. For the mass renter market that Edinburgh has prints are a really affordable and creative way to inject a bit of personality into your space and you can put them up and take them down and move them around as you please.’
In the three years she spent living in the city, Varley not only sold her work in these stores but she developed her own web store and social media platforms actively engaging with her consumers.
‘I found it really interesting, this international market for my work, and that people who bought the stamp series found a nostalgic value in them; they remembered them from their childhoods, and they made their homes more personal I suppose.’
Similarly Kildare-based Amanda Vencatasamy and Joe Hayden of Hey Bulldog Design find a market in today’s social media renter generation. ‘We think people are getting a bit tired of the “throwaway” culture and the lack of affordable alternatives,’ says Amanda.
‘People see something different on social media and want to buy, but sometimes shipping from the US or Australia or even the UK can be pricey, especially if it’s a large item.’
Catering to this market, the duo create playful furniture and accessories from salvaged and sustainably sourced materials. Amanda adds: ‘I think we appeal to people who are interested in “alternative” design, we like to use strong colours and leave as much history to our materials as possible, with a high-quality finish. Nail holes, and wear and tear are most welcome in our designs!
‘From talking to people as markets, we’ve noticed that young couples who have recently moved into a new house or apartment get most animated when seeing our products.’
Amanda, a self-confessed Instagram addict, admits the visual social platform has definitely helped influence sales.
‘We actively post on Instagram and through this there’s been a number of occasions where people have come in especially to meet us and to see our tables in the flesh,’ she says.
And for small businesses like Hey Bulldog Design this can be only a good thing.
‘People like choice, and it’s great to see more choice in Ireland,’ says Amanda.
Marie Varley agrees that the scene at home is getting buoyant. Since relocating back to Dublin, she has seen a significant influence from the online lifestyle culture in the number of stylish homeware stores popping up.
She says: ‘There’s lots happening in the creative scene and definitely more of a market for affordable art and more young professionals willing to spend their money on something different on their walls.’
‘People see something different on social media and want it, but shipping can be pricey’