Just Do You

A big theme at Dublin’s premier creative festival this year was to make your own way, as Julia Sagar finds out.

- Julia Sagar

OFFSET Dublin kicked off this year’s creative calendar with a lively line-up of speakers, and busy schedule of industry-related discussion and debate. Graphic designer Mirko Borsche, type expert Bruno Maag, illustrator Marion Deuchars and film title pro Dan Perri were among the headliners, while Steve Simpson and Annie Atkins headed up an inspiring programme of workshops during OFFSET’s fringe festival, OFFSITE.

One recurring theme noticed by speaker and designer Kelli Anderson was that of humanness, or human expression. “A lot of work celebrated the imperfect, touchable, warm, handmade and idiosyncratically expressive,” she reflects. “Kirsten Lepore’s stop motion animation stood out as being particularly chock-full of tiny observed nuances about people, which made it relatable and hilarious – to the point of extreme awkwardness in some cases, like with her short film, Hi Stranger.”