Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Carlow County Council’s Arts Office on Arts for a Flourishing Carlow — the new Carlow Strategic Arts Plan 2025–2035.

My role was to help make the plan visible — using illustration and design to translate the brilliant work already happening, along with shared values and future ambitions, into something the people of Carlow can really connect with and feel ownership of.

‘Working with Becky was a pleasure from start to finish. She listened, discussed and ultimately supported us in delivering our vision for our new arts plan in a way that surpassed our expectations. Becky was always willing to adapt as the project developed, take calls when we needed to make quick decisions and it always felt that she was as invested in the project just as much as we were! I have and will continue to highly recommend her work. Thanks Becky!’ - Aileen Nolan, CARLOW COUNTY Arts officer

This was one of my favourite projects of 2025. It felt genuinely collaborative, with plenty of space for artistic licence and for shaping a visual story that complements the Arts Office’s thoughtful, ambitious vision for Carlow. That vision — rooted in listening, collaboration, conversation and a strong sense of place — guided the work throughout, and there was real trust on all sides to create something engaging, human and accessible.

I worked across the project from early visual consultation through to final delivery, creating a hand-drawn illustrated timeline of Carlow’s arts journey and a suite of bespoke illustrations used throughout the plan. These were brought together in a fully accessible, WCAG-compliant report, designed with clarity, strong contrast, screen-reader compatibility and detailed alt text built in from the start.

The work also extended into launch materials and projection visuals, and the full plan was translated into Irish, with care taken to keep both versions visually consistent and accessible.

Huge thanks to the Carlow Arts Office for the trust and openness throughout — it was a real pleasure to work together on this.

The Carlow Strategic Arts Plan 2025–2035 can be downloaded here from Carlow.ie