The big highlight of my weekend was stumbling upon a fantastic new work by Conor Harrington in Temple Bar, Dublin.

Conor Harrington is probably Ireland’s most renown street artist on the International stage but to date there hasn’t been many big examples of his work in Ireland.

Conor who is originally from Cork, is now based in London and his unique style of street art which crosses the boundary with fine art has seen him become a favourite of collectors around the work.

The photos below show the work about 3 days in to a 5 day job. While the style is unmistakably Harrington’s there seems to be a departure from his traditional militaria influences.

Update: Conor has updated his blog with much nicer photos than mine

Did you mean to say Water Bottle? Nope meet the curiously named Water Bobble a stylish water bottle with integrated carbon filter. The Water Bobble has being generating quite a buzz over the last 6 months and I have to throw in my 2 cents on the matter. Having owned one for the past 4 months I have to report that I love my Water Bobble

Does it work?
Yes it does. Unable to see what microscopic organism the filter is cleaning out I can say that the Water Bobble will make hard tap water taste far more pleasant.

Will it last?
4 months on the Water Bobble is going strong. Not a scratch on it?

Any downsides?
Yes the bottle part is not that big, and not enough for a tough gym session. There is a recently launched version that is 34oz size, so that might be the one to go for.

Where can I get one?
The Water Bobble Website, but if you want to pick out your favourite colour or inspect them in person, Irish natives should try the Science Gallery in Trinity College.

We always like to keep an eye on what our clients are up to and detail their progress. So its great to see the guys from Director have launched their excellent new video for the Europe wide release ‘Play Pretend’. Here is what the guys had to say about the video on their website;

“Director have teamed up with the man on the up and up, video director Eoghan Kidney to produce this slice of death-filled gore.  The promo for ‘Play Pretend’ released Europe-wide is a nasty take on the sci-fi /B-movie genre.  As Director take to the murky stage and an eerie crowd gathers the natural elements combine to transform the nocturnal gathering into an all out blood bath.”

We enjoyed working closely with Director to design their website and in return we got the added bonus of free tickets and beers for their last gig in Cork when they played in Cyrus Avenue. They are an excellent live band and really got the crowd going that night. It looks like they are playing in Cork again soon in the Crane Lane Theatre as part of the Hot Press Jagermeister Shows on June 3rd and the Ballinhassig Pitch Party w/Frank and Walters, on July 16. If you are in Cork on any of those dates they are definitely worth checking out.

Warning – video contains strobing effects

The London 2012 Olympics Mascots have been unveiled. The mascots are neither animal, vegetable nor mineral and resemble something dreamed up by a Pixar alien movie. It was claimed on the mascots webpage that Wenlock and Mandeville the mascots were brought to life by a rainbow, or so said the caption beneath the image below found here.

London 2012’s Wenlock and Mandeville have a lot to live up to. Last year Berlino the mascot from the 12th IAAF World Championsips Berlin 2009 was a brilliant  success. The self proclaimed, “happy and fun-loving bear who isn’t shy to get pictures taken” brought fun back into top class athletics as he celebrated with the athletes in style. Berlino celebrations with the athletes were spectacularly random and funny which really got the crowd in the stadium behind the athletes. I’d like to see Wenlock & Mandeville try and beat Berlino dance moves!

Peter Maher of Mahers Sports Therapy asked us to transform his sports therapy company from a family named business into an international sports brand that offers expert services in sport therapy, nutrition, orthotics and coaching. Peter already had a name in mind, Areté. Peter even had Areté tattooed to his shoulder under his Olympic rings he earned by competing in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Areté is a Greek word which means goodness, excellence, or virtue of any kind, to achieve fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential. Areté also means courage and strength in the face of adversity in ancient Greek culture.

It was a word that resonated with Peter, as the Areté philosophy of courage and strength in the face of adversity is what he strove for as an Olympic Athlete and one of Canada’s most successful marathon athletes of all time.

We took Peter’s vision on board and got to work. After much research and design development we decided to design a hand drawn font for the name Areté and incorporate Mount Olympus (right) in the logo to show where the origins of the Areté philosophy came from. For the colour we chose an aqua/sky blue hue that is a uniquely Greek colour once more to highlight the Greek origins of the name.

We are currently working on the Areté website and hope to launch it very soon. Below is an image of Peter and a taste of the style of graphics we are putting into the website. Stay tuned for the launch!