Here at Oriana B, we think artwork is essential to creating a cosy and welcoming home. We hear so often that a home never feels complete with empty walls, it may be filled with beautiful things but it lacks personality. Depending whether it's a memory or feeling, a piece of art can expose powerful emotions when we look at it. It can provide comfort after a long hard day and make us remember or inspire us to do more in life. Functionally, art acts as a focal point and makes the space look finished. It can show immediately your interests and aesthetic to visitors. It's more than a piece of furniture; it's a true expression of each persons taste, creativity and individuality.
Aoibhne Hogan is true believer in the power of art. She is a Dublin-based designer, illustrator and artist and owner of the creative studio, Greet Street. Greet Street stems from creativity, people and communication, where Aoibhne creates branding and graphic design solutions as well as her own print studio. Read our Intriguing Insider Interview with Aoibhne to find out more.
Aoibhne Hogan
1. What does your business Greet Street do, and what type of projects do you get involved with?
Greet Street is an art & design studio, we do a lot of branding for various industries, in particular Hospitality. We also supply art, design bespoke art ranges for fit-outs small & large-scale. Each project varies so much from the other, our favourite is large scale lobby art, & we also love working with Interior Architects with styles & themes to design an art collection in keeping with their project.
This large-scale art is now installed in St Clare’s Park development in Harolds Cross. This is the converted chapel on site which will be open exclusively for occupants of the apartments as an amenity area.
2. Do you have a signature style? How would you describe it?
I have too many styles to really pinpoint a signature style - between architectural, botanical & abstract artwork and the graphic design! If I had to give all work across the board a description, I would say there is an creative, elegant & playful aesthetic to most of my work.
3. When did you first become interested in design? Tell our readers a little about your career.
I had wanted to be an architect since I was 4, then discovered what graphic design was when I was 17 & took a big turn towards it, it was a very hard decision, I applied for both art & architectural colleges but ended up being strongly drawn to graphic design. In the 90's there was a huge emergence of graphics & the designers behind them. I was really inspired by Raygun Magazine, David Carson's typography & MTV visuals! I use architecture whenever I can in art & design. I did pure graphic design for work for 20 years, but I always did art projects on the side. Only when COVID-19 hit & I found myself with no work at all as I was very niched in the hospitality & events industries, so I did the art full time & after a few months I set up a new website with art work & began art licensing with an agent in Toronto & I do collaborations with print-on-demand sites around the world, this is a passive income source, the rest of the art business is working directly with people here in Ireland.
A selection of Aoibhne's prints.
4. What does a typical day look like for you?
A early swim or gym always, then straight to the office where my list from the night before is sitting on my desk for me, as I know my morning self is not the best! I don't like stopping for lunch when I'm in the middle of something as it can be hard to get the flow back, so lunch is had anywhere between 11.30 am & 16.30 pm! When possible, which might be 3 days a week, I'll work later into the evening as I am much more alert & creative the later it gets. I adore working at night. Generally I rotate between design work, updating art catalogues with new pieces, editing the website & trying to post on social media. (without getting stuck on it!)
Aoibhne working on her new piece to be installed in St Clare's Park development in Harolds Cross whilst showing her everyday workspace for when she's being creative.
5. And to help our readers get to know you a bit better...What's your favourite food? Your favourite place to go on a day off? And your favourite piece of furniture and why?
Chocolate, Thai food & coffee springs to mind. I love cooking & I always have Asian ingredients, my 2 kids love Asian too. Chocolate all day...On days off I would love to walk into the city centre, have coffee in the window of Fallon & Byrne people watching, then have a long browse while it's quieter & then have lunch with anyone I can find with a day off too!
I consider wine at lunch an absolute treat so I would add this to a perfect day! My dad was an architect & loved furniture, we have this cane rocking chair, which he bought in the 70's, it's a Scandinavian design (I'm sure I can find exact name) it's really comfortable & light & very timeless design. It's my chair when I call into my mum!
The 1970's Scandinavian Cane Rocking Chair that Aoibhne's dad purchased back in the day!
6. Can you please give us an insight into your design process?
I use pencil to sketch out everything first, then I use Adobe Illustrator for graphic design, mainly branding or menus. For illustrative work I go between Illustrator & Photoshop, I also use Procreate on the iPad, it's amazing for illustration. When I am doing artwork, my work is compiled of layers & different elements. Firstly I paint marks & brushstrokes, creating different textures on an A4 sheet & scan them into Photoshop at a very high resolution. I 'clean' & file the different textures, they can be changed to different colours & transparencies in Photoshop.
Next stage is creating shapes in Illustrator in all different colours which I bring into Photoshop & place in separate layers, then bring back the painted textures, add pencil marks & sometimes botanicals. Playing about with different combinations of colours, shapes & textures will get the look I like. I would have about 5-6 files open at the same time so play between all of them, creating a 'range' as they're all done the same time. If were to do only one, then come back a day later to do a second piece in the same style or look, I wouldn't be able to just pick it up again in the same way, they have to be all juggled together! In the case of an architectural illustration, I create the whole structure in in Illustrator then bring it into Photoshop & add textures from a bank of collected photos I have taken over the years of cement walls, metal sheets, marble tables, rusty walls...
Aoibhne sources large scale pieces custom to each home or business she works with.
7. What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Being commissioned to do large-scale architectural illustrations for Lobbies. Dream job.
8. Any exciting plans for the future you can tell us about?
I love where I am now & I hope it expands in the same direction! There are definite talks & plans to spend more time abroad in the future, I won't ever retire from doing art so I'll do it wherever I am. I look forward to that.
Visit Greet Street on Instagram @greetstreet.art or website here.
