Who are you and what do you do?

 

My name is James Earley. I run a graphic design agency called Inputout. It specializes in branding, illustration, web and large scale graphic murals. As well as that, I am a partner in Curate&Design - a company that curates design retrospective shows in Dublin - and an active spray paint/graffiti artist.

 

Tell us more about this cover

 

I decided to have a bit of fun with this cover and went with a bold, playful style to illustrate Paddy's Day. The day is usually one monster piss-up with people in a heap puking and falling all over the shop. Instead of focusing solely on this fact, I wanted to celebrate other Irish clichés such as pots of gold at the end of rainbows and our terrible weather. 

 

When were your formative years?

 

Graffiti art has always had a large effect on my work. I first stumbled upon this art movement in secondary school. A friend of mine got a present of a book called Subway Art which he brought into school one day. It's scale, immediacy and visual punch of colours blew my mind. The obsession hasn't really subsided to be honest. Another key moment - which had a profound effect on my love of design - was a summers work experience for a graphic agency in Amsterdam between my 3rd and 4th years of study in NCAD. 

 

...to be continued next week.