When we thought to create window installations as part of our OFFSITE festival we had in mind a mix between set design and entertaining graphics that could evoke the spirit of Dublin. For the latter reason, we could not think of anyone more appropriate than Ruan van Vliet.

Along with other fantastic creatives, Ruan has created his own window installation which showcase his cartoon-y illustrations that we are sure to bring an explosion of colours into the grey Dublin streets. Head along to Kaph on Drury Street from March 31st to check out Ruan’s installation.

 

Ruan is an illustrator and a designer, whose work has been clearly influenced by his other persona as a musician playing in a lot of bands, co-founder of Popical Island and acting as a drummer in the feature film Lost in the Living.

Ruan has been named by Hot Press one of 14 creatives to watch, and we could not agree more; with his grungy but colorful illustrations Ruan brings to life surreal characters that we could see featuring in a cartoon adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

In 2014, Bobby Aherne enlisted Ruan to draw comic illustrations for his book D’you Remember Yer Man?– about the most eccentric inhabitants of Dublin. Ruan’s illustrations add more vibrancy to the book and make its characters even more alive.

You might have recognised some of his work from the traffic light boxes spotted around the streets of Dublin. As part of the Dublin Canvas Project, Ruan turned some of those boxes into what we picture as the image of an urban ogre.

Ruan’s illustrations have been featured in magazines such as Thin Air and Totally Dublin; he has also been commissioned by AirBnb to design some visitors’ guides for its guests.

However, his musician’s soul brought him to design mainly posters for music events and album covers, which are always ironic and, at times, they recall the surrealism of Dalí.

Information on all the OFFSITE events can be found here.