iya; I'm Akaihane (pronounced "ah-kah-hah-nei"). I am a Graphic Designer, as well as a budding Illustrator. I’ve had a love of art and design since I was a child, back when I used to "design" album covers for my much older brother's band.
Design is my passion, whether it is Print Design, Branding Design, Interactive Design, or even Fashion and Interior. I strive to make sites that not only look great and unique, but are intuitive and fun to use.
I work on everything from the standard stays of Graphic Design (Design for Print, Branding Design), to Digital Design (responsive websites, Apps, etc., though I no longer work on the coding end of these).
Away from work, my biggest loves are reading, both novels and comics/manga, illustration (though discovering my own style is a little work-in-progress at the moment), and creating/personalising clothing.
Programmes
Adobe Photoshop CS5
Adobe Illustrator CS5
Adobe InDesign CS5
Adobe Flash CS5
Adobe After Effects CS5
Degree
1st Class Hons BSc Interactive Multimedia Design (2005)
Diploma in Industrial Studies
University of Ulster, Belfast/Jordanstown
C.V.
elow are a choice selection of some of the web projects I've been involved over the past few years. Some have been done purely for my own entertainment, and others as a web and graphic designer, either at various companies or as a freelancer.
Akaihane, Version 2
Role // Designer
Website // Not Yet Complete
Year // 2012
About // I'm currently working on new branding for myself, as well as a new website to replace this current one. Progress is going well, but it will still be a few months before the live date (as you can see form the mock-up to the left), so unfortunately you'll need to use this old (over two years!) site for now.
Daisychain Day Nursery
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; jQuery Implementation; Wordpress Integration
Website // DaisychainDayNursery.co.uk
Year // 2012
About // The client wanted a bright, cheerful site to help attract more parents/guardians to their day care centre. I took inspiration for this site from the murals the centre has as well as current trends in interior design for children's rooms.
Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference
Role // UX & Visual Designer
Website // RightsCon.org
Year // 2011
About // I was heavily involved from planning stage of this website, and was responsible for the user experience and the complete design, liaising with clients in San Franciso. The coding site of the site was undertaken by Clever Web Dev. I also designed their Facebook page.
The Least of Things
Role // Visual Designer
Website // Currently under development
Year // 2012
About // Another glimpse at a project that is currently under development.
Tra-Art
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; jQuery Implementation; Wordpress Integration; Paypal Intergration
Website // Tra-Art.co.uk
Year // 2011
About //Tra-Art required an easy to update, Paypal-integrated website to sell the contents of their art gallery.
Vertical Structure
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; jQuery Implimentation; Wordpress Integration
Website // VerticalStructure.com
Year // 2011
About //A collaboration between myself and Damian Heavern of Filled Soda.
Giants Causeway Coast Sportive
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; jQuery Implimentation; Wordpress Integration
Website // GiantsCausewayCoastSportive.com
Year // 2011
About //A collaboration between myself and Damian Heavern of Filled Soda.
Nandos - Spin the Bottle
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder
Website // Site no longer active
Year // 2010
About // A new microsite for Nandos aimed at students, this work was done in conjunction with PCW Media. In addition to this site,
I've also worked on the Nando's UK homepage.
Dublin Dental University Hospital - Trinity College
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Wordpress Integration
Website // DentalSchool.ie
Year // 2011
About // A new website for the Dublin Dental University Hospital, a part of Trinity College, Dublin. This is another project done in conjunction with Mad Dog Media.
Red Sky Photography
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Wordpress Integration
Website // RedSkyNI.com
Year // 2010
About // When Rick Trainor, a local photographer, had a new corporate identity designed, he needed a new website to go along with it. By using the Magazeen Wordpress theme as a base, I created for Rick and all-new online presence to fit in with this new era of his business.
Branch & Worth
Role // Designer
Website // None
Year // 2012
About // This is a little quick design I did just to pull together a little idea I had for a modern, minimal but funky looking one-page website.
Hollystown Golf Club
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder
Website // Hollystown.com
Year // 2011
About // This site was commissioned by SiteCaddy, who, after I cut & built the site into XHTML/CSS, integrated it into their CMS.
Beech Park Golf Club
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder
Website // BeechPark.ie
Year // 2011
About // This site was commissioned by SiteCaddy, who, after I cut & built the site into XHTML/CSS, integrated it into their CMS.
Pretty Ginger
Role // Designer
Website // Currently under development
Year // 2011
About // A new website for a local band, Pretty Ginger. The guys wanted something that invoked the psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix posters. This website is currently under development.
JSNI // Japan Society of Northern Ireland
Role // Designer
Website // JSNI
Year // 2011
About // A new website for the Japan Society of Northern Ireland.
Oscar's Bistro
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Wordpress Integration
Website // OscarsBistro.ie
Year // 2010
About // A Simple one-page site for Oscar's Bistro in Galway, done in conjunction with Mad Dog Media.
Sara-Jane Kelly | Pianist
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Wordpress Integration
Website // SaraJanePianist.co.uk
Year // 2010
About // After employing Red Sky Photography to produce amazing portfolio shots, pianist Sara-Jane
Kelly felt that a clean, professional website using these images would help bolster her career as both a professional and a tutor.
FMI
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Wordpress Integration
Website // FMI.ie
Year // 2010
About // A Wordpress-powered website, created in conjunction with Mad Dog Media.
SineadMoriarty
Role // CSS/XHTML Coder; Wordpress Integration
Website // SineadMoriarty.com
Year // 2010
About // A Wordpress-powered website. Mad Dog Media provided the design for this site, and I undertook the cut & build/Wordpress integration.
Donaghy's Shoes
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Nitrosell Integration
Website // Donaghys.co.uk
Year // 2009/2010
About // Donaghy's already had an e-commerce back-end built, but needed a complete re-design, pushing the new photography they had invested in, and front-end re-code of their new online store. In less than two weeks, I turned the site around into what it is today.
Akaihane's Blog
Role // Designer; Blogger;
Website // Blog.Akaihane.co.uk
Year // 2009
About // This my online blog. It has three sections, each dedicated to a specific area of my interests. I have, taking
the basic Wordpress theme, customised it fully to my own needs, including an large rewrite of the HTML and CSS, and added some additional
PHP functionality.
Planet Environmental Design
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder
Website // PlanetEnvironmentalDesign.com
Year // 2009
About // To promote their services, Planet Environmental Design required a small, easy to maintain site that would
still give enough impact to put their company above the rest.
NMNI
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder;
Website // NMNI.com
Year // 2009
About // The new extensive website for the National Museums, Northern Ireland, incorporating mini-sites for each of the
four museums and more.
Armagh GAA
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder;
Website // Armagh-GAA.com
Year // 2008
About // Armagh GAA required a website from where GAA fans and team members themselves would have an online
base, somewhere to find out about everything from news, events and about the players themselves.
Belfast City Airport
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder
Website // BCA.aero
Year // 2008
About // BCA required a site where visitors could not only check on the times of departures and arrivals, but also
find all of the information they required to make their journeys go as smoothly as possible.
Golfing Union of Ireland
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Flash Developer
Website // GUI.ie
Year // 2007
About // GUI required an in-depth site that not only promoted their organisation, but would also enable, using Google Maps, visitors to find clubs throughout Ireland, as well as hotel accommodation, news and more.
Irish Ladies Golf Union
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Flash Developer
Website // ILGU.ie
Year // 2007
About // As a companion to the GUI website, the ILGU required a site with the same scope, but one that was designed
to fit a different primary audience.
Altruism // A Sumeragi Subaru Shrine
Role // Designer; CSS/XHTML Coder; Content Writer
Website // Akaihane.co.uk/Altruism
Year // 2005
About // A just-for-fun site I created around one of my favourite manga characters.
From scanning required material, designing and coding the site, and writing all of the articles, the site is 100% my baby, and was made during my last few months at university (six long years ago!), as a way to get my head away from my final major project work.
've been working lately to incorporate more Graphic Design and Illustration into my work, both as something to offer clients as well as in order to produce my own printed material.
Recipe Booklet
Role // Designer
Website // None
Year // 2012
About // I enjoy cooking, but like having all my recipes in measurements I understand. Unfortunately most on the net seem to be in imperial and/or American quantities. So I've begun to compile my favourite recipes in a booklet for my reference in metric units, styling the booklet with illustration and using Adobe InDesign CS5.
'm currently not accepting new clients as I am booked with contracts for the foreseeable future. And when I do return, I'll be looking solely for Design work, not coding. But if there is anything you'd like to talk to me about, please feel free to email me.