If you frequent electronic music nights in the city, keep up-to-date with creative collectives, or are a fan of Lucky’s Coke Lane pizza, you’ll likely be aware of Jen Mongey Balfe’s art. Her work, which spans poster design, merchandise, tattoos, murals and more, is exemplified by her colourful, playful and psychedelic style.
As part of our series about Gen Z in Irish design, I sit down with her to learn about her career journey so far, the benefits and challenges of being a full-time freelancer, and her love for designing for the communities she is a part of.
Mongey Balfe began studying Media at NCAD in 2016 but soon switched to the college’s new Studio+ program. This program provided a foundation year, exposure to client briefs, and more opportunities for experimentation compared to traditional courses. Studio+ allowed her to delve into graphic design, learning the fundamentals of editorial design, merchandising, packaging design and more. In her final year, she specialised in Illustration. “Drawing was always my thing,” she tells me.
Her first foray into music—the industry she now primarily works in—came via an Instagram DM from an Irish promoter based in Osaka. “I used to do these black and white drawings in marker, these bold graphic illustrations, in an A6 sketchbook and post them on Instagram. He said they were cool and asked me to do a poster for his hardcore techno night.” The project allowed her to combine two of her passions, music and art, and the experience led to further work, such as a merchandise project for Irish band NewDad.
Her final year project focused on outsider art, an art style largely made by self-taught individuals which goes against traditional art world conventions. “I realised that [in that project] my work was based on elevating others as opposed to only my own,” she says. “But that has become a bit of a thread throughout my work now. I prefer to work in collaboration with other people to create something bigger and more significant. I’ve found that I’m not as interested in telling people what I think, specifically, as much as I am in collaborating with others.”
This sense of collaboration continued when she co-founded No Bad News, a multidisciplinary design studio, with fellow NCAD graduates Orla King, Emily Peat and Brandon O'Rourke in 2020. The studio was later joined by Jonathan Theobald in 2021. “It was in the midst of COVID and there were no opportunities at all. We created the collective to try and navigate it together, to try and make money—or not—and make work we liked and experiment.” The collective quickly carved out their space in the Irish creative scene, releasing posters, merchandise and publications, and hosting events like Drink & Draw sessions.
The collective went on hiatus while they all focused on personal projects, but its impact lives on through her work. “We had loads of fun,” she reflects. “We had loads of stuff going on, we were creating a community. It really did build something special at the time. I learned so much from doing that, and I learned so much from the others. I think I’ve taken a lot of that and elements of what I’ve learned into my own work now.”
Noting that Irish design courses are more aimed at preparing students to work in studios, as opposed to setting them up for freelance careers, she had to rely on the support of her peers. As they learned about being self-employed creatives, they shared knowledge about things like invoice templates, registering as sole traders, and rates.
“I think everyone should talk about money more. Usually, you find that you’re under-charging yourself. It can be scary to set higher rates because you might be scared you’ll lose the job, but it’s important to ask for what you’re worth.”
Her advice for aspiring freelance creatives? “Just be nice! Be open to negotiating. Understand what’s within your client’s remit and what’s possible.”
When asked if she has any hopes for the future of the Irish design industry, our conversation once again heads towards transparency. “More unions would be good.” She says, as well as more open communication between people in the industry. “Just sharing information is so important.”
Now four years on from graduating, Mongey Balfe works across a variety of mediums, including graphic design, illustration, murals, and tattooing. A thread that links all of these practices together is a love for analogue forms and hand-drawn elements. Her graphic design work always originates from a hand-drawn sketch, as do her tattoos. “Tattooing started as an outlet for some drawings that I wasn’t using in my design work; more fluid, random, abstract styles.”
From her studies to her work with No Bad News, to her continuous involvement with artist-run collective Dublin Modular, Mongey Balfe’s work has always been rooted in the thing she cares most about: community. She first got involved with the collective in 2022, when she attended an outdoor day party. After that, her involvement grew: “I volunteered at one of the events and did a poster or two for their events before I was fully involved. Now I do the graphics for them and help run the events.”
When I ask where she gets her inspiration, she cites nature, friendship, and her social circles. “Bringing people together, being a part of a community...it's my favourite thing. The creative community in Ireland in particular is amazing, and Dublin Modular brings that together. It’s how I’ve met so many people. There are so many different groups from different fields and different art practices. It’s a core part of why I make work in the first place.”
—
Cover graphic by Róisín Jordan