Ross O’ Ceallaigh
Graphic Design
Portfolio
085 777 1838 oceallaighross@gmail.com
Hello, I’m Ross O’ Ceallaigh Thanks for taking the time to review my portfolio. It contains a sample of Graphic Design work I’ve completed during my MA Urban Design and personal time. For the last 6 years I’ve been an obsessed semi-professional Photographer. This interest has expanded into a fascination of Graphic Design generally. I’ve jumped on every chance to create photographs and designs, free of charge. Now I am ready to pursue a career in Design in earnest. My experience so far has been largely in Print and Layout Design, so I am eager to expand into other areas, such as Web Design and Branding.
Skills Photoshop Illustrator InDesign Drawing Photography Microsoft Office Writing
Proficiency
CV Education MA Urban Design (Merit)
2014 - 2015
Leeds Beckett University (formerly Leeds Metropolitan University) Class Rep (14/15) During my MA, I developed Graphic Design skills in Map Design, Photo Manipulation and Layout Design. During these projects I became interested in using graphics to tell a story. I took the opportunity to design logos, vector icons and cover designs, to create a “branding� for each project. This culminated in my meticulously designned, 104 page Dissertation project. I found the Graphic Design element of the course the most enjoyable, which is why I am pursuing a career in it.
BA Planning, Geography and Environmental Policy (Hons) University College Dublin Class Rep (12/13) Competitions Officer, Trampoline Club (12/13)
2011 - 2014
Photography Experience Msc Business Open Day, UCD
March 2014
Secondary School Debs, Co. Galway
July 2013
Wedding, Co. Sligo
April 2012
This event involved taking photos of the location before hand to set the scene and subtle candid shots of speakers during the day. The photos were featured on the University College Dublin website.
This job really allowed me to use my personality to get great shots. My friendly and professional demeaner resulted in a mixture of fun and formal photos.
I worked with one other photographer on a large wedding in County Sligo. It involved detailed planning of photographs, lots of candid on-the-spot photography, and attention to detail in post-production. Working under pressure really brought out the best in my photographs, and the clients were ecstatic with the results.
Employment Assistant Planning Officer/Researcher
Aug/Sept 2014
Brighton & Hove City Council My role with the council involved deliberating planning applications, meeting with members of the public and going on site visits. I also acted as a Researcher to do the ground work for a Technical Note on Building Materials. During this I became increasingly interested in colour theory and how colours in the built environment change our experience of a place.
References Jeanette Walsh Head of Development Control, Brighton & Hove City Council jeanette.walsh@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Edwin Knighton Head of MA Urban Design, Leeds Beckett University e.knighton@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Right: A Typography poster design made for a poem. A simple colour scheme of blue and teal was determined to reflect the sombre subject matter. The background image is a photgraph of my own which was cropped and colourised for the poster.
The victors write down history
to preserve their place,
for the future. The people bring forth the next people
and therefore the future with it. This is the reason why the victors spend so much
of everything they have, to rule over the people and the future,
way before it actually arrives... Herein lies the strength and weakness of both parties. In their never ending cycle of birth and death,
forever shadowed and restricted
with tension and conflict and all the ills that are brought forth with it, Everyone from all angles gets hopelessly stuck in place,
dust
orgotten.
Logo Design
One of my MA projects was set in an area of Leeds with a landmark building and a buried stream called Lady Beck. This logo was designed with the footprints of the building and stream to be used as a poster header.
Rediscovering Lady Beck Valley A Catalyst for New Connections
Fact Sheet/Infographic New York Congressional District #1
Children 18.4%
20% Hispanic
3.5%
14,034
24%
of children (5-17) speak a language other than English
of children are uninsured
Family 93.6%
children in poverty
are working parents
children are living with a single parent
Community 4.4%
Educational Attainment
Youth (16-19) not in school & not working
Adults aged 25-34 39%
26%
13%
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Adults voted in the last election
Leaflet Design A promotional leaflet for an English Language School in France. The school is in a medievel hilltop village so including the iconic loation in the design was key. Including both French and English in the leaflet informed the colour scheme of yellow text to mimic the colour of the stone.
Map Design During my MA, I created these simple, bold maps with Illustrator. This taught me to convey information with as few elements as possible so the user can immedietely understand what is being portrayed.
I also created more complex, detailed maps. These two designs were first created in Illustrator and later textures were added in Photoshop. Again, making the design easily understandable was paramount, but adding extra detail created a more realistic feel.
Photo Manipulation Photoshop is definitely my strongest skill. By taking various individual photographs and editing over a simple SketchUp model, I am able to create visualisations of places that are both realistic and magical. These skills can be carried over to product images, adverts and packaging design
LAYOUT DESIGN
Right: A magazine style layout for a usually dull and drab aluminium journal. A simple metallic colour scheme was determined to lift the content.
Highly Efficient Power Conversion Systems with the Latest Safety Design for Aluminium Smelters
Power Conversion Station with 105kA/1800VDC Units at 230kV, primary voltage. Ras Al Khair, Ma’aden Aluminium, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2012) - World’s highest rated aluminium conversion rectiformer. or a typical aluminium smelter, F electric power accounts for up to 35% of total metal production costs. New, more efficient high-current conversion units can therefore save money by reducing power costs. These high-current conversion units can create high arc power should there be internal damage requiring new designs for arc flash protection. The context describes the new technology of converter units rated for more than 100 kA and their benefits for the overall efficiency of a power system, while ensuring optimal safety levels. Modern ABB technology, which measures potline direct currents, is also described. Industrial plants can only improve
efficiency when they make use of the latest available overall system, Today, there are five plants in designed to optimize power quality. operation with single-unit ratings of more than 100kA.
Introduction Primary aluminium is produced in an electrolytic process via use of DC electrical power of up to 900MW/per single potline. ACto-DC power conversion units (rectifiers) use diode or thyristor semiconductors to produce the DC current required for the process. Smelter projects applying up to 650kA pot-current may soon be built. With increased potline currents, the single conversion units also need an increased rating to remain highly efficient.
substation for such plants need to be very efficient, as electrical costs alone, with a 1500MW smelter (two pot-lines with 400 cells and 460kA) will result in losses in excess of $5M per annum.
Smelter Rating
Power
System
Efficiency demands show that potline currents of 460kA and voltages at 1800V will be commonly used (i.e. 400 cell potlines) in the future. The AC-DC
These measures in optimizing the current-sharing factor become very important for rectifiers especially with high current.
Rectifier Overload
Considering ratings of 460kA at 1800V, the most efficient arrangement for a power conversion system is a six-unit parallel connection with the power factor correction connected, either on the tertiary side of the regulation transformers or at the high voltage (HV) level.
Rectiformer Layout Design
With these increased ratings, the plant can operate close-to-or at full production in an N-2 operation mode (N-2 is defined as three out of five installed units operating at a time).
The semiconductor mainly defines the overload capability of Rectifier Current Sharing Measurement for one a high-current rectifier unit. The Rectifier Branch maximal junction temperature, e.g. 150 °C, is normally a strict limit rectifier rated higher than 100kA, Current-Sharing Factor and must not be exceeded under it used to be necessary to improve on the semiconductor arrangement One of the most important design normal operating conditions. Some as well as the semiconductor fuses. specifications of a rectifier is semiconductor suppliers allow With previous rectifier designs, the current-sharing factor (ks). exceeding the limit for a short semiconductor fuses were only The key rectifier components, time, e.g. an additional 50 °C, for cooled on one side. Today, ABB semiconductor and fuse can only be one minute. The overload factor design fuses are cooled on both rated correctly when the ks factor is has a high value for brief overloadsides, reducing aging effects known. The current-sharing factor ing and goes down to 1 p.u. after tremendously. In addition to the is mainly defined by the rectifier’s approximately one minute. semiconductor arrangement and mechanical construction. Due to fuse improvements, the rectifier’s the geometrical arrangement of fuse For potlines operated with diode mechanical geometry needed and semiconductor, the impedance rectifiers, an overload capability improvement in order to optimize varies from semiconductor position of 50% for one minute is required (duty class II according to IEC the current-sharing capacity. on the commutation bar to the Standards). During potline next semiconductor location. This switching operation, the current impedance variation results in a regulation with tap changers and Highest Safety Standards difference in current through the saturated core reactors is not parallel components. In addition, for Rectifier Enclosure always fast enough to prevent the manufacturing tolerance of the overload currents. In the case of Greenfield smelters make use of components must be considered. thyristor rectifiers, the regulation The current-sharing factor rises rectifier substations where the is faster and the overload condition, rectifiers are installed in aluminium with the number of parallel according to duty class II, is not enclosures. This “packaged” design elements. Therefore with increased required. makes it possible to simplify the unit currents the additional civil arrangement and reduce required parallel elements rises Rectiformer Measurements installation time. The rectifier accordingly. enclosures are commonly recooled ABB has developed a family of high For a 110 kA / 1800 V diode with water-to-air heat exchangers. rectifier group, 14 parallel elements accuracy fibre-optic current sensors based on the magneto-optic effect per branch are now required. For The rectifier enclosure, similar to (Faraday Effect) in an optical fibre LV and MV switchgear, needs to this quantity of paralleled elements, to measure uni- or bidirectional be designed for the latest arc flash the arrangement on one single heatsink is not pos-sible. The so-called DC currents up to 700 kA. The and arc force standards. commutation bus bars need to be sensors also recover AC current components up to 4 kHz. Latest experiences from arc flash installed to reduce the currentevents have been implemented sharing factor to an acceptable The sensors consist of an optical value. Furthermore, the flexible in the new enclosure designs to fibre in a flexible, single-ended meet highest safety standards. AC connections between the fuses cable and an optoelectronics and semiconductors, as well as The cooling units, along with the module including the light source, controls, can also be installed in the the distance between the parallel elements, require detailed design an optical detection circuit, and a rectifier enclosure. digital signal processor. to ensure the
110kA Diode Enclosure
Optimised
Higher primary voltages and potline current system ratings require in-depth technical review to ensure the optimal technical and 100kA Conversion Unit with 132kV Primary, BHP Billiton, Hillside commercial solution. Smelter in South Africa When engineers talk about a back-to-back arrangement, they are referring to a configuration where the rectifier and regulation transformers connect to each other back-to-back. The advantage of this arrangement is a reduction in the space required for the bay. However, with the increase in the unit rating, the physical separation of the regulation and the rectifier transformer is advisable, as without it, transportation and installation can become a costly issue. The picture below shows a backto-back arrangement with a 132kV 105kA Conversion unit with 220kV primary voltage. Sohar Smelter, cable connected to the regulation Sultanate of Oman. transformer. the direction for the most suitable is designed, it is necessary to ensure For higher primary voltages, the arrangement. In most installations, free and unrestricted air movement side and front arrangement as air is used as a recooling medium. is factored in. utilised at Sohar is preferred and ABB designs their heat exchangers commonly used. Here again, the in horizontal arrangements for Rectiformer System Design technical and practical aims for the maximum efficiency and minimal aging. When a conversion unit bay In order to manufacture a single transformer design provide unit
impedance distribution has an optimal value.
Page Layout
These two example pages are extracts from my MA projects. I believe in a strong colour scheme, balanced pages and a clean design. The content is king, and shouldn’t be overshadowed by destracting page designs.
Hamburg Green Network
Fig. 3.2 A plan to cover a highway with a linear park, including food growing space. Fig. 3.3 The Hamburg Green Network strategy, showing green corridors extending into the city centre. Fig. 3.4 Playground in residential area. Fig. 3.5 One of Hamburg’s Urban Forests. Fig. 3.6 A Formal green space in the city centre.
Connecting Spaces Key Actors Hamburg City Planners
Description (The following information is cited from Hamburg Landscape Programme, n.d.).
“These around 245,000 trees lining the streets not only beautify the city, they are also vital for the micro-climate, the mitigation of air pollution, and they are habitats for a variety of wildlife, especially birds” (Hamburg Landscape Programme, n.d.).
Hamburg has styled itself as the “Green Metropolis” of northern Germany. Indeed, the city’s focus on interconnected green space and tree planting began in the early 20th Century, with the Axial Concept of 1919. The head of Hamburg’s Building Department devised a plan of concentrated development along radial axes, with “green interaxial spaces” in between to provide public open space. Green corridors gave structure to the city, linking the city centre to the countryside. This meant that as Hamburg grew, the protection of open space was built right into the planning system. The system is still visible today with two Green Rings (one around the historical city centre, and other between the inner and outer city, about 8-10km from the town hall) and the outer Landscape Axes reaching to the countryside. The green links include riverside walks, marshland, woodland, arable land, public parks, cemeteries, playgrounds and allotments. Now Hamburg is embarking on an ambitious plan to connect together the small fragmented green spaces in the inner city.
“Narrow green corridors and footpaths in the shape of green streets with reduced traffic will connect the smaller green open spaces and create links to the Landscape Axes and the Green Rings. Many journeys home, to work, to the shops and to the recreational areas can be separated from the traffic and take place in pleasant green surroundings” (Hamburg Landscape Programme, n.d.).
Fig. 3.4
Fig. 3.2
Methods
Fig. 3.5
• Strong Planning Controls • Public Realm Design
Design Lessons • Extensive Tree Planting • “Green Streets” • Designing at Multiple Scales (From strategy to street level)
Fig. 3.3
Fig. 3.6
3 Key Theories Schon (1983)
Concrete Experience
Schon’s book, The Reflective Practitioner (1983), is considered to be a seminal work in Reflective Practice literature (Finlay 2008). He identifies two forms of reflection; reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action (Schon 1983). Reflection-on-action is a deliberate and conscious review of past action with the aim of gaining insight to inform future action. Reflection-in-action is the process of examining experiences and responses as they occur. This is the basis of ‘professional artistry’ in contrastto‘technicalrationality’,wherepractitionersdon’tsimplyclingtoestablishedprotocols,butact creatively and improvise as a situation unfolds (Schon 1983). This represents a view that Reflection happens (or should happen) organically as part of professional life. Indeed, Schon posits that reflection often happens without us even realising.
“Competent practitioners usually know more than they can say. They exhibit a kind of knowing in practice, most of which is tacit.… Indeed, practitioners themselves often reveal a capacity for reflection on their intuitive knowing in the midst of action and sometimes use this capacity to cope with the unique, uncertain, and conflicted situations of practice” (Schon 1983, p8-9).
Kolb (1984)
Active Experimentation
Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Reflective Observation
Around the same time that Schon was writing about how practitioners reflect in and on their work, Kolb was discussing Experiential Learning (1984). The strapline of his 1984 book is, “Experience as The Source of Learning and Development”, which essentially sums up the concept. Kolb’s Learning Cycle places Reflection as a critical component in the learning process. The cycle begins when we have a ‘concrete experience’, which applies to professionals and students alike. We must then consciously reflect on this experience in order to make abstract conceptualisations. The final stage of the cycle comprises of active experimentation, which feed into our future experiences, thus restarting the loop.
Abstract Conceptualisation
Section Headers
Using images from the project, these Section Headers appear on the opposite page to the content. The idea was to create a kind of ribbon effect, like a wrapped gift.
Abstract
Contents
PHOTOGRAPHY
Right: A candid close up of a Bride during the ceremony. A pink hue was emphasised to giive a dream like quality to the shot.
Event Photography
I love getting candid, natural shots at events. I’ve photographed at a wedding, Debs, live music events and an Open Day for UCD.
Food Photography
Food is naturally photogenic, so I took these photos by using natural lighting and getting just the right angle.
Travel Photography