A design-tour of Dublin
Owing to a workshop I was attending and a sneaky thing called Annual Leave (big shout out to my two week holiday in February), I only had a day to cram in as many colours and coffees as an enthusiastic slow-walker like myself could muster. If you haven’t heard of On The Grid, I heartily recommend it. It’s a selection of local hotspots in various cities around the world, curated by local designers and creators – as such, it’s a sure-fire way to avoid spending your time circling the drain of tourist traps.
If you like lots of old printing machines, gazing lovingly over letterpress pieces at elderly Irish men, and chatting to very enthusiastic people about their favourite punctuation mark, this is the place for you. It’s a sweet little museum with a lot of heart, and the tour is especially worthwhile.
Essentially the model for how I’d like my walls to look, Hen’s Teeth is packed to the brim with colourful prints and handy reads. My personal faves were Egle Zvirblyte, who I picked a print up by in Copenhagen this year, and the Our Type Project postcards, which document various shopfronts and signage around Ireland. Chatting to the guys in the store, I think they’re running an exhibition with Zvirblyte in early 2020 - exciting stuff.
The tour here is obligatory, which I’ll admit I did initially groan at. But then I pulled my socks up and went in with an open mind, and it all made sense. If you’ve got a spare 45 minutes I’d recommend a gander. Someone sings, there’s audience participation, and it covers Irish history at a truly remarkable pace. I also picked up Oscar Wilde’s Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast from the charming little gift shop here, which is full of wisdom nuggets.
Excellent for picking up a design book, provided you flew with cabin baggage. I picked up the nifty Print Handbook, which has lots of real-size examples of fonts, colours, and line thicknesses for print.
Also worth a mention is Damn Fine Print, for their lovely screen prints and welcoming studio.
Listen and heed my words: you will always know a place is going to be good if there’s an ampersand involved. I will fight you on this. I had a pastrami sandwich and the mustard was so spicy it made my nose smoky. Immensely enjoyable and only slightly regrettable, like poking a baby dragon.
I came here for a drink with some local pals. Very distinct vibe with excellent ‘90s and ‘00s tunes, and massive outdoor area. The drinks also didn’t break the bank - a rarity for Dublin.
This burger, this burger. My kingdom for this burger. Is this place’s Google Review off the charts? No. Is it ranked on TripAdvisor? No. But I ate it in ten seconds and wanted more. Man alive, and apologies if you're a vegetarian, you could have snapped the bacon in half and ridden it down the stairs like a toboggan, that’s how crispy it was. You HAVE TO eat this burger.
Despite having only one chilly day to explore the city, I was pretty pleased with the ground I covered. I missed out on Trinity Gardens, a couple of lovely cafés, and apparently ‘the best Thai in Ireland’, but me and my burger are very happy running off into the sunset together. Look out for a feature film about our lives together, sure to be a box office hit.
