Molly Riordan is an interdisciplinary designer working in both print and digital media. Her work is influenced by her Irish and Spanish heritage. She mainly focuses on illustration and typography. Her illustration work can be found in private collections including Harvey’s Point Hotel.
This project is a response to Dublin’s lack of affordable activities. With the rising cost of living many leisure activities and events cost too much for young people who often earn minimum wage. This project highlights a selection of the affordable activities in Dublin.
The outcome of the project is a booklet that consists of a map and five removable postcards. The rationale for a printed outcome is the recent revival of analogue media within youth culture. The map is broken into five categories; swimming spots, hiking spots, art galleries, picnic spots and 24/7 bus routes. The map highlights all there is to do from each category. The five postcards illustrate each of the categories featured on the map. The original illustrations for this project was created using ink on paper.
This project is a response to the ISTD brief 100 books that changed the world. This project focuses on was Elizabeth David’s ‘A book of Mediterranean Food’. Elizabeth David’s book revolutionised how the British public viewed food. She published the book in 1950 at a time when Britain was still recovering from World War Two. Her food inspired the public with new flavours and recipes that had never seen before. Molly Riordan drew a personal connection to David’s story as her grandmother Alicia Coello emigrated to Ireland from Madrid in the late 1950s. Her story was similar to David’s but on a micro scale. Her grandmother was able to introduce her whole family to Mediterranean cooking and food.
This is a very important project to Molly personally but it also ties in to a broader audience. Food is something we all celebrate on a daily basis. ‘A book of Mediterranean Food’ delves into food as an experience not just a necessity. Molly uses this concept to create her response to the brief, celebrating how food can bring people together. The idea of this book is to set up a story and allow the reader to become part of it by creating the recipes from both women Elizabeth David and Alicia Coello.