BRAND POSITIONING  |  BRAND IDENTITY |  BRAND PLATFORM |  COMMUNICATIONS |  DESIGN

In 2024 Dublin Port, arguably one of Ireland’s most important pieces of infrastructure, came to us with a very specific problem.

Connect the people to the port and the port to the people. To take this vital, complex, world-class utility and transform it into a loved and relevant cultural brand and destination.

The problem was that to Dubliners the port was a grey, industrial place hidden behind high safety fences. It wasn’t that they thought bad of it, they simply didn’t think about it at all.

To kick the project off we guided the leadership team through an organisational restructure and dived deep into the business and the culture. Discovering a business of staggering economic importance that supplies almost 90% of everything we, as an island people own in our lives.

Together with them, we aligned all the business pillars – trade, environment, community, culture and heritage under a single North Star – The Hardworking Heart of Dublin.

Working closely with key internal stakeholders, we assisted in planning submissions and bringing government ministers and international partners along the journey with us.

We met so many great port people along the way. Ones who park ships the size of football pitches. Ones who manage the flow of data that puts fresh bread on the nation’s shelves each morning. Artists who perform in the cultural spaces. Birdwatchers who nestle down in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Local rowers that test themselves in our bay each morning. Historians who make sense of where we came from. And dozens of Irish exporters who stand on the quays and watch their first container sail off to destinations all over the world.

Autumn 2024 saw the launch of the Dublin Port Greenway, a revitalised stretch of coastline that gives Dubliners and tourists alike a brand new view of Dublin bay. It’s been a roaring success and home to huge numbers of walkers and cyclists from all over the city.

And to tie all of this great work together we created a modern identity built from the endless data that flows in and out of the port each day. Turning tide patterns, ship traffic, audio from dockers long since passed and birdsong from returning migratory terns into a visual language. So that everyone can see the hardworking heart of Dublin for themselves.