‘I’m a Galway native, but studied design in Letterkenny, Donegal. My career started working in a printing firm in Galway and from there I moved to Dublin where I worked in many printers, publishing houses and design studios before moving to Drogheda. My husband is from the nearby beautiful village of Slane in Co. Meath. When we were expecting our first child we decided to return to rural living, packed up and left Dublin. There were no suitable jobs in the Drogheda area at that time, and refusing to commute I decided to create my own job and set up shop as a sole trader. Bammedia was born.’
We speak to Bridget Kerrigan, creative director and founder of Bammedia, based in co-working space The Mill in Drogheda, Co. Louth. Bammedia is a small studio focussing mainly on brand creation and development, but with a strong in-house web and digital arm too. Along with Bridget, the team is made up of Cormac Kerrigan, Head of Web Services and Operational Manager and Beth Toner, a print based graphic designer, while a freelance desk hosts freelancers who hop in and out with demand. They have quite a varied client base, ‘ranging from financial service providers to potato farmers and lots in between!’, laughs Bridget, and the main area of their work focuses around fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) retail brands.
‘A dream job for us is developing a new retail brand from naming, brand positioning and brand creation, designing the packaging and providing marketing supports for product launch right up to building their ecommerce platform and following up with promotional campaigns. Luckily, that’s often what we get to do!’ Bridget cites recent work with local gin distillery Listoke, beauty brand Nunaia and children’s clothing range Rain & Conker as examples of Bammedia working from inception to completion and beyond.
‘Rain & Conker started out as a "pigeon-holed" baby product called Kosybaby and felt it needed to broaden its range to kids of all ages and re-invent itself. We were delighted to be tasked with name generation and total brand overhaul to match. Our primary focus was to develop a strong name that captured the essence of an innocent Irish childhood, a name that evoked memories of a time when dreams were big and little kids ruled. A matching monochrome illustrative style sets the tone of the brand, but most of all makes the brand very adaptable for future marketing to older kids.’
Despite an impressive portfolio, Bammedia nevertheless faces its challenges. ‘Like lots of other businesses of our size, we face challenges: maintaining a steady stream of work, project management, cashflow, keeping up to speed on training/software/technology etc. However the main challenge for us is attracting suitable talent away from the capital. People have a perception that Drogheda is miles away but in fact you can nip up the M1 into Dublin city centre in an hour,’ Bridget explains. That said, she feels she’s at the heart of a vibrant creative community where she is: ‘The creative community in the northeast is alive and well. One initiative of merit is Refresh Boyne who host 8—10 talks a year on a range of digital topics relevant to designers and developers alike.’
But it’s not all about work! Bridget loves where she is for the work-life balance and proximity to nature that Drogheda offers. ‘Drogheda really is a wonderful place to live and work. It’s relatively contained and it’s very possible to pop out to Termonfeckin beach for a lunchtime stroll. For me, the absolute main advantage of our location is the work-life balance it affords me. My commute is 10 minutes door to door! Well, maybe 30 minutes if you include the school and creche drops…’