About Lucy O'Reilly
Brand strategist and designer who builds brands that work at the level you're actually operating at
Nearly a decade in. Hundreds of founders worked with. An approach that starts with strategy every time, because design without it is decoration.
I'm based in Dublin and I work with founders at inflection points: the moment when the business has grown beyond the brand, and surface-level fixes won't close the gap.
My clients have built something real, a team, a track record, a methodology that delivers, and they need a brand that finally reflects it.
What I actually do
Most branding conversations start in the wrong place. A new logo, a refreshed website, a better colour palette. These things matter — but they're the expression of a strategy, not a substitute for one.
My work starts with clarity: who you are at this stage of your business, what you're really building, how you need to be positioned in the market, and what your brand needs to do without you in the room. Then - and only then - do we design something that earns its place.
The people I work with don't need a cheerleader. They need a thinking partner who can hold the strategic vision and execute it with precision. That's what I do.
How I Got Here
It was 5am in a soggy field in West Cork. I was lying in a cheap tent with my three kids, rain dripping on my face, wondering how I'd ended up there. Fresh from a relationship breakdown, struggling to find work after years away from the workplace, I felt like a failure.
That moment could have broken me. Instead, it became the turning point.
I'd been designing websites as a hobby. With my career at a crossroads, I decided to turn that into a lifeline. I went back to school — not once, but twice — earning degrees in digital technology, design and marketing, all while raising three sons on my own.
What that experience gave me wasn't just technical skill. It gave me a deep understanding of what it takes to build something from nothing, to back yourself when it's not obvious you should, and to make decisions about your brand and business when the stakes feel very real.
That's why I work best with founders who are building something serious. I know what it costs, in every sense, and I know what it takes to make a brand carry that weight.
“Lucy didn’t just get into the trenches with me, she dug them. She listened to my vision and developed a brand that was entirely me, visually and emotionally.”
My approach
Strategy first, always. Every engagement begins with brand clarity — who you are now, what makes you different, and how to position you to attract the clients and opportunities you actually want.
The full ecosystem. From strategy and visual identity to website, copy and photography — everything is built to work together, as one coherent system.
Precision over encouragement. I'll tell you what your brand is actually saying, not what you hope it's saying. That's where the real work begins..
Amuse Bouches
♥️ I captained France's only women's cricket team in the early 1990s — we had to travel abroad to find opponents.
♥️ I speak English, French, Spanish, conversational Arabic, and very little Irish.
♥️ I once guided a tour bus of 70 Belgians around Paris, standing in for a guide who didn't show up. I wasn't a tour guide. I gave it a go anyway.
♥️ I'm an avid choral singer. The highlight of 2025/26 was Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri at the National Concert Hall.
♥️ I'm proof that online dating works. And that 55 can look however you want it to.
