Brief: The brief for this campaign involved the development of a marquee illustration for use in all visual promotions of the St. Patrick's Day Parade 2017.

The theme was Tuam, "A Town for Artists", due to a disproportionately successful creative scene in the town since the 60s in the Showband Era.

The brief said to include the following local celebrated personalities:

Padraig Stevens - Poet, Drummer, Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter. His professional music career commenced as a member of 'The Problems' showband, - a band with a unique rock aesthetic for the time, more reminiscent of The Cure or My Bloody Valentine 15-20 years before punk would really gain ground. Stevens still produces music today, with his "Tuam Beat" gaining chart popularity from Christy Moore's popular cover in 2017.  

Frankie Carroll - Singer from the Showband Era and a feature of the world famous "Frankie Carroll" by Thin Lizzy. The man who delivered "Whiskey in the Jar" to the ears of Phil Lynott.

Paul Cunniffe - Tragically lost-to-soon son of Tuam, Paul had a successful music career in full flow in the UK at the time of his loss. A top 10 charting artist domestically, with Davy Carton and 'Blaze-X', a pioneering 80s punk act, that would evolve into 'The Saw Doctors', a UK and Ireland repeat number 1 and top 10 folk-punk band from the town. His final solo album remains an inspiration to musicians and songwriters in the know.

Johnny Flynn - With a showband boasting stars of the scene like Frankie Hannon and Danny Kelly, Johnny Flynn's roaring singing and multi-instrumental career spanned 40 years from the showband era on. A contemporary of Frankie Carroll, the two lead to the draw of musicians to the town of Tuam in the 60s and seeded the art scene to this day.

Brendan Conroy - Actor, famous for his work with Red Kettle Theatre Company, appearances on the stage of the Abbey Theatre and one of the iconic performances for The Bird in the original theatre run of "The Field". Featured in television and movies frequently.

Joanne Hynes - Fashion Designer, jumping right into contemporary success stories now with Joanne Hynes, a household name in fashion and interior design (textiles) in Ireland and the UK. Joanne experienced a rocketship rise to success in the 2000/10s with her vivid, energetic and fresh designs, shapes and colour palettes.

Joan McBreen - Poet, a later success in her career really commencing in the 90s with her pioneering introduction and promotion of Irish female poets, now household names - e.g. Eavan Boland. Joan's own poetry blossomed along with her commentary's success, delivering series after series of wonderful, sensitive and charming verses right through to today.

Davy Carton - Singer, Guitarist, Songwriter, one half of Tuam's most famous son's 'The Saw Doctors', with chart-topping hits like 'I Useta Lover' (written with Paul Cunniffe) and 'N17', Davy is the voice of a generation of Irish party music, with the likes of 'Joyce-Country Ceili Band', 'Clare Island' and 'Hay Wrap' all mainstays of Irish party playlists.

Leo Moran - Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter, the other half of Tuam's most famous son's, 'The Saw Doctors'. Leo is the other voice in The Saw Doctors and took over songwriting duties in earnest when the band began their recording career. Leo and Davy and Paul all came up from the success of pioneering punk and reggae acts 'Blaze-X' (Davy and Paul) and "Too Much for the White Man" (Leo) respectively. Leo also has toured more recently as 'Leo & Anto' with Antony Thistlethwaite, formerly of 'The Waterboys', and later member of the Saw Doctors.

Tom Murphy - Playwright, one of the most influential Irish playwrights of the postmodern slant since Beckett, strongly influencing the work of Druid Theatre company, and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and delivering success in the West End and on Broadway. His catalogue is extensive and filled with keen insights and critique and observations of universal human tensions and aspirations through the lens of normal people and laced in charming vernacular. A titanic playwright in his own right, Murphy's legacy lives on as an influence on what was to come from the McDonagh's later in the Irish theatre scene and eventually in Oscar-level Hollywood.

All of the faces composed as an emblem of the celebration.

To aid recognition, all of the images were vector pen tracings of noteworthy photos of the subjects, slightly tweaked for a unified aesthetic. These are not Adobe Illustrator's Image Traces, although these were used to help layer the tones, the shapes are handmade with pen tool.

The final poster (with space for details). Used on posters, hoarding, signage, flyers and social media for the year's celebration.

Time: 3 hours