Elaine Kellegher is a designer and DCCI member who runs her business, LAINEY K, from her studio in Dublin.
The LAINEY K range of greeting cards and wall art contains a mix of stand-out typography and creative design features, each with a contemporary feel – packed with a mix of wit, inspiration, happiness and fun. All of Elaine’s work involves supporting local business and using local suppliers, each piece is imagined, designed and created in Ireland.
What’s a typical day in the studio like for you?
Running your own business means you have to wear a lot of hats and be ready for whatever the day can throw at you, being flexible is very important and a must have in business.
Every day is different – be it out on the road visiting stockists, doing some local deliveries, designing some new work, getting stuck into marketing, sales, accounts, customer service, and much more! Many days you will find yourself working on all of these aspects of the business, which makes the working day exciting and very enjoyable. It is so varied that I guess you could say there is no typical day in the studio!
What do you like most about your work?
I am very passionate about producing designs that will give you a ‘feel-good factor’ every time you see them. The customer is at the heart of everything I create. I am designing and making for them, thinking about the lovely feeling they will get from gifting one of my designs or having one for themselves! One of the best feelings is seeing people‘s reaction when they pick up one of my cards or prints – the cheeky smile it puts on their face, the belly laugh it gives them, or watching them call their friends over to take a look and share the experience. That is the real motivator, and what has taken me from my first ever design to the growing range of cards and prints I have today.
What do you like least about your work?
Obviously as designers and makers we would love to be creating all day long – it’s just not possible when you are running a business, so more time to be creative would be good!
What advice would you give someone who is considering this craft career?
LAINEY K was founded in 2016 by me, Elaine Kellegher, born out of my love for typography, illustration and all things design led. After years of working in travel, marketing and branding, I took the leap into something completely new! I built LAINEY K, learning as I went, with a vision of producing visually-appealing, high-quality products here in Ireland. Over the last few years, LAINEY K has grown just as I had hoped, from an initial range of Christmas greeting cards, to a wide range of cards and art prints that are now on sale right across Ireland and beyond, with plans for more.
Starting a business from scratch has been an exhilarating, wonderful, sometimes daunting, and a very gratifying experience. It’s been this and more! My advice is if you have a dream to try something new, go for it – as Beckett said “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
