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Published: 3 Apr 2018

Meet the Panel: Ruth Graham, Ruth Graham Illustration

On Thursday 12 April a creative momentum project closing event takes place at Electric Galway, Ireland. This free lunchtime event will present some of the resources and toolkits f developed by a creative momentum project.  Book here.  The event will also feature a panel discussion ‘Creativity & peripherality in the West of Ireland – how does the picture look?’ featuring creative entrepreneurs and support agencies from across the West of Ireland.

Among the speakers on the panel is Donegal-based illustrator Ruth Graham. Ruth’s core business ‘Ruth Graham Illustration & Design’ sits alongside her wedding stationery business Aye Do and working with live content agency Visual Newsdesk.

‘I graduated straight into a recession – with a degree in art! I thought I’d made a huge mistake,’ says Ruth. ‘I managed to get a job at a Visitor Centre where I started doing some promotional designs for them. That led to other small design jobs for more people, getting my name out there. I then did a ‘Start Your Own Business’ course with Donegal Local Enterprise Office and the business was born.’

Ruth is now in business for nearly three years. She produces illustration and design of fun, colourful visual content through drawings, graphics and illustration for advertising purposes, packaging, logos and social media.  Another side to Ruth’s work is live drawing at events to capture the outcomes of a conference or workshop in a visual way.  She is part of Visual Newsdesk, a live content agency composed of journalists, illustrators and designers who aim to capture and record events live.  They’ve worked for a number of high-profile clients including AIB and charities such as ISPCC and Concern.

In the midst of working for her business clients, Ruth started to get commissions from friends for wedding invitations and found it was a nice change of pace. ‘Working with individuals, brides or couples, was a complete change from the quick turnarounds I was used to. I enjoyed taking my time and coming up with the weird and the wonderful.’ she says. So Ruth set up ‘Aye Do’. A lot of their work is custom orders but the company does have a number of ‘off the shelf’ wedding stationery designs that sell online.

Ruth will share her experience of starting and growing a West of Ireland based creative enterprise during the conference.

For more information and to book this free event, click here.

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