Lismore Craft Collective

In 2013 I was the advisor to the Lismore Marketing Committee (LMC) judging panel on the ‘BRAND LISMORE’ design competition in which Lismore’s visual identity was chosen for the the towns marketing and promotional needs. Afterwards I was tasked with rolling out the identity across various marketing devices and merchandising culminating with the design of the Lismore Heritage Town web site in early 2014.

In the new year I become part of the LMC to help further ways to promote the town as a tourism destination. Part of me had been thinking however, like most towns of a similar size around the country effected by the recession, the Main Street was becoming a thoroughfare of vacant shops with less and less business being done, and was certainly having a negative effect on the community, a town’s Main Street being it’s heart after all. I thought that the LMC needed firstly to focus on a project that would be more grounded in the community and that the Main Street Regeneration Project could be a way of bringing life back to the town while creating something for visitors to the town to enjoy. As is always the way, I wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines and so we set set out to initiate a pilot venture for the revitalisation of the Main Street, starting with acting as facilitators to partner creative artisans with property owners who had vacant spaces for use.

It took a while, but I am glad to say, the LISMORE CRAFT COLLECTIVE, the first iteration of this partnership and the first step in the Main Street Regeneration Initiative opened on Saturday 19th July. I designed branding for the collective to be used on the windows of the premises they were moving into (even put it up myself!!) and a brochure for them to hand out etc., including a social media campaign over the week leading up to the opening. All this in the hope that we can give them the best chance of surviving the next couple of months and which will help bring life back to the heart of our town for locals and visitors alike. If you plan on visiting Lismore, go to the lismoreheritagetown.ie website for all the information you need and visit the LCC shop on the Main Street. You will be surprised what you might find there.

p.s. – since, writing this post I am glad to say that the LCC will be remaining open having signed a 1 year lease with the owner of the premises. The pilot scheme has been a resounding success both in terms of sales for the individual artisans and interest by visiting tourists and local alike.