Ally is an artist & designer.
Normally an about page would suffice for an overview of what we do but my work feels like an ever-evolving organism that’s hard to pin down so let’s do a blog post for now because, I still believe in blogging.
In a nutshell, I see myself as more artist than designer but, design pays the bills and has done for almost 10 years now. This why it says ‘Ally is an artist & designer on the homepage. And also, last year I was able to sell some art so I feel far more comfortable using the title ‘artist’ now than ever before.
As a designer though, I have created and delivered design work for dozens of local businesses. This work has largely been freelance and carried out on behalf of another local business so, unfortunately I’m unable to share that work. If you live in Ballymena you will have seen my work on billboards, shop fronts, magazines, flyers and countless other destinations. It’s a shame I can’t share more of that work. It is what it is. 🤷🏼♂️
Here are a few of my own clients
To sum a little of that work up
- collaboration on the branding and design for one of the most popular and successful coffee shops currently operating in Northern Ireland.
- re-branded a popular local craft brewery and took their design in a direction that has helped them reach a new and wider audience.
- worked on designs for home brew products and materials that are sold all across Europe and farther afield.
- all of the above includes working with Adobe Creative Suite, Wordpress, Squarespace, Procreate and Apple Pencil.
Conclusion
The pandemic brought challenges for everyone. I have less of that established design work than I had and things are a little scrappy but, this has enabled me to take on some commissioned art pieces which is exciting. I won’t rule out the further evolution of what I do and how I deliver work and get paid for it though because nobody knows what’s further on up the road.
I never used to like the word hustle in relation to work but I think 2021 is already looking like perhaps we may need a little more hustle.
They already know this but, for the people who have recommended and given me work or commissioned artwork, I am incredibly grateful.
Thank you.
Onwards.
