Seizing St. Patrick’s Day as a green-and-gold opportunity, we’ll be profiling a few Irish Dribbblers over the next week.
Sheena Oosten loves her new website.
“I must admit I’m pretty happy and excited to have finished my own portfolio redesign,” she told Dribbble.
We’re happy and excited too, Sheena. We know it’s going to be great: You won the 2012 Eircom Award for Best Non-Profit Website for ChallengeTheGreenway.com. You were short-listed in two categories at the 2012 Irish Web Awards. Tell us more!
“At the risk of sounding like a self-promotional advert, perhaps it’s best if I discuss one of my client projects instead.”
Sheena Sheena Sheena. This is a profile. Of you! An award-winning designer! And have you read our tagline? It’s not “What are you working on but please whatever you do don’t tell us about your website?” Go for it!
“Modern with a touch of vintage/retro design in style, [my site] is a lot like me really,” Oosten said. “It’s also responsive to boot!”
As for the client work, the Castlebar-based designer was tasked with branding a new seafood product line. The client, an established, family-run business, wanted the logo to speak to the family’s tradition but in a modern, forward-thinking way. Oosten drew inspiration from both modern and vintage elements for the final product.
“The strong, traditional typeface, combined with the colors of black/gold fit the gourmet, luxury look the client was aiming for and the high-end market they were hoping to target,” she said. “The end result was a simple, appropriate, and versatile logo that works well across multiple mediums.”
Lovely! Also lovely: County Mayo, where Oosten lives.
“Castlebar, the capital town of Mayo, is set on the idyllic west coast of Ireland,” she said. “It’s a bustling market town steeped in history, culture, and a buzzing atmosphere. … If only it were a little warmer here, it would be heaven.”
County Mayo is home to perhaps the most important site for the true St. Patrick’s Day pilgrim: Croagh Patrick, considered the holiest mountain in Ireland. Back in 441 AD, the saint himself hiked to the top and hunkered down for 40 days of fasting. Following in his footsteps, Oosten will do the same on the 17th, minus the fasting bit.
“In honor of our patron saint, on Lá Fhéile Pádraig, you’ll likely find me climbing the mountain for the fifth time, enjoying the day’s festivities and topping it off with a few pints in my local pub.”
Guinness, right? “I most certainly won’t be downing the so-called ‘black stuff.’ An acquired taste that Guinness is, I’m telling you!”
Oosten finds inspiration from a slew of Dribbblers, including the guys at Focus Lab in Savannah. “Their branding skills are top notch and I love how a lot of their earlier projects have a vintage theme running through them. As you can probably tell I have a soft spot for this style of design.”
You can find Oosten at sheenaoosten.com and on Twitter @sheenaoosten.
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