My name is Daragh and I am a User Experience Designer and Creative Technologist based in London.
Originally from Dublin, Ireland, I'm an alumnus of the Design and Interaction programme at Central Saint Martins in Kings Cross, London.
My work has seen me win three D&AD New Blood pencils (1 in 2017 for a brief with Monotype, and two in 2018 for separate briefs set by Dropbox) I have been featured in the 2017 and 2018 D&AD annuals and been shortlisted for the Communication Arts Typography awards in California.
In 2018 my graduate portfolio was selected in the top 20 global design portfolios at the TDK awards.
In 2019 my work was shortlisted for a professional D&AD award.
Computer Arts, Creative Review, Frieze, Digital Arts Magazine, London Deisgn Festival and the Open Data Institue have featured my work to date which is lovely of them, if somewhat terrifying and surreal. :)
The aim of my work is to provoke intrigue through design, to convey messages and ask questions in new ways and to engage an audience through thoughtful, creative presentation of information. My work is digitally focused ( UI/UX, data visualization, creative coding, web, VR/AR) I also dabble in system design, and interactive experiential design.
The core focus of my self-directed work sits at the fringes of design and science, where I believe truly interesting things can be created by coming up with visual analogies for complex scientific principles. By doing this, we enrich the visual culture of science and encourage interest and understanding.
Say hello on Instagram over at @daraghanderson
Projects
- Hexagram Regular : Typeface & Interactive VR Type SpecimenI constructed a modern geometric typeface based on six angular strokes. Using this typeface and thinking about the increasing prevalence of immersive type in VR and AR, I wanted to create a type specimen that a prospective user could walk around and interact with. I constructed and coded this in C# using the Unity engine. Type in this space is architecture and as designers working in increasingy immersive media, a user can see in real time how shadows, different materials and perspectives alter
- Remember.ttf : D&AD Pencil Winning Entry for Monotype 2017In a D&AD brief for Monotype, participants were asked to consider an undervalued or unrepresented group in society and to craft a typography-led campaign to highlight an issue. Working with Ollie Pearson and Jordan Smith, we created an interactive wall of memories to raise awareness about dementia. The installation documented and then generated a typeface which could be used in a number of formats including posters, social media marketing, film, the typeface itself and a pop-up installation which could be rolled out to increase engagement with the cause. This project won a D&AD graphite pencil and was featured in the D&AD annual 2017. The project also found wider acclaim at the Communication Arts awards where it was shortlisted in the Best in Typography category.
- Okoupon : UX Design For An App Promoting Sustainable Consumer BehaviourOkoupon is an application that tracks how sustainable your shopping behaviour is and rewards your good behaviour with money back against a future purchase. Tracking information from supermarket supply chain APIs, users can have a clearer idea on how much wasteful packaging, logistical emissions and carbon impact every product they buy can have. Consumers can scan their reciept for an itemised breakdown and have their last transactions track how green each item really is. Retailers will benefit from environmental tax incentives and some of these savings can be passed on directly to the conumers who are helping to drive twoards a more sustainable and less wasteful future.
- Breathing Space : London Design Festival 2017Working on a project for London Design Festival 2017 where a physical installation in a public square in shoreditch would raise awareness about air quality issues in Lodnon by displaying real time air quality data. We measured the main causes of detrimental air pollutants to humans and deployed a number of means including infographics and data visualisation of the data we had collected. These were featured to drive users to the site whoch was erected in parnership with ARUP and Hassell architects. The main takeaway from our findings was the sheer variance that taking a less congested route can make in the amount of pollutants you encounter, even within a busy city like London. We hoped this would encourage users to consider taking a little extra breathing space in their day to benefit their own wellbeing. Visit breathingspaceldn.com for more information on London's air quality.
- And Arrows And Aarrows : Kinetic TypographyHaving been inspired by motion typography in the commercial world and it’s prevalence and effectiveness in internet and television advertising, I decided to attempt my own creation using Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D and Premiere. I wanted the overall aesthetic to be simple, clinical and punchy and was inspired by industrial and utility typefaces such as the ‘Transport’ road signage font set and the New Johnston style signage used by Transport For London. The colour scheme and type elements for this lyric video were chosen to meet the brand specifications of the band’s artwork which I developed myself. I took inspiration from each lyric to create unique animatics for every sentence. I positioned certain markers throughout the video to keep time with instruments in the track where it was solely instrumental. These visual elements mirrored the instrumentation of the track, which would, in turn give the viewer multiple areas of focus. To develop and help give impact, the fonts separate in the chorus section into two different colour channels, red and cyan. This mimics the anaglyphic style of retro 3D processes which I feel gives a sense of impact and a contrasting level of depth.
- A Brief Guide To The Dimensionality Of Nature : An Exploration Of String TheoryAs a keen science entusiast, I always find myself fascinated with exploring the esoteric. In this project I wanted to find a visually compelling way to teach others about the leading concepts in String Theory. The theory itself postulates that at the smallest scale, the fabric of the universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings of energy which gives rise to everything we see in nature. Leading theorists believe that in order to function the way that it does, the physical universe must have 10 dimensions of space, and oneof time. I worked to explore the concept of dimensionality in nature to explain how this wonderfully complex theory might work in practice and in particular, how to visualise 11 dimensions. I consulted with professors at Imperial College London to solidify my understanding and came up with a brief guide to dimensionality that I hope is informative and visually compelling and well as serving as a self contained metaphor for explaining dimensionality in a novel way.
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Projects credited in
- D&AD New Blood. Dropbox Paper: You&AIIt’s predicted that by 2030, 800 million people worldwide will lose their jobs to automation. That’s more than 1/5 of the global workforce. You&AI is a campaign and digital platform aimed at bridging the gap between humans and machines. You&AI puts humans at the centre of machine learning, making AI more accessible through education, and encouraging collaboration to start the conversation on the future of AI. PENCIL WINNER.
- D&AD New Blood. Dropbox Paper: beecauseLast year alone, deadly parasites, mites and crop pesticides caused a 34% decrease in UK bee colonies. With our food chain so heavily dependant on pollination, bees are integral to human survival. beecause is a social media led campaign that spreads the message: if the bees go, we go. PENCIL WINNER.
Work history
Creative Technology & UX DesignArup
- London, United KingdomFull Time
Working as a Creative tech & UX designer for Arup London's Digital team. I work on live technical, speculative and client-driven visualisations and data representations for engineers, city planners, data scientists, global energy specialists, transport authorities and governments who seek creative tech led solutions to all kinds of technical problems. Notably, worked with Arup on a partnership with Hassel architects on a project exhibited as part of London Design Festival 2017 which measured and raised awareness about air quality issues as well as being Longlisted at the 2019 Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards for my concept ‘Exoflags’ which used NASA and Caltech data to auto-generate visual identities for newly discovered worlds beyond our solar system by using data collected about them.
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Graphic DesignerOxfam
- Dublin, IrelandInternship
Graphic Design Intern for Oxfam Ireland's Campaigns Department
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Skills
- Ui/ux Design
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Creative Coding
- Typography Design
- Unity3d
- Augmented Reality
- Virtual Reality
- Music Production
- Photographer Videographer
- Data Visualisation
Education
(hons) BA Graphic DesignUniversity of The Arts London (UAL)
London, United Kingdom
Graduating 2018 - specialism in Design & Interaction
Awards
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Information is Beautiful Awards LonglistKantar Information is Beautiful Awards
Longlisted for Kantar Information is Beautiful awards as creative director for digital platform ‘Exoflags’ which uses data collected by NASA & Caltech’s exoplanet archive to automatically generate visual identities for newly discovered worlds by using data collected about them.D&AD Professional AwardD&AD
Winner at the D&AD Professional Awards for an interactive digital and multimedia event installation and campaign ‘Emerge’ for University of the Arts, London in 2019.+ Show more