{"id":659156,"date":"2026-10-19T08:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/659156\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T08:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:34:40","slug":"a-belfast-designer-on-making-it-big-in-new-york-there-are-still-days-when-i-have-to-pinch-myself-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/659156\/","title":{"rendered":"A Belfast designer on making it big in New York: \u2018There are still days when I have to pinch myself\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

As anyone who runs their own business knows, life is busy, often chaotic, and can come at you fast. Throw a schedule that requires transatlantic travel into the mix and things get even busier. But this doesn\u2019t faze Ryan Crown, who runs his own design business, Crown Creative, while dividing his time between his home near Belfast<\/a> and New York City<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The business began in the Big Apple in 2018, but the writing was in the stars two years before that. Crown wet his feet working as a marketing manager for The Dead Rabbit, named \u201cthe world\u2019s best bar\u201d in 2016 and founded by Belfast natives Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry. He then moved to a larger hospitality group as creative director, working across everything from Michelin-starred restaurants and cocktail bars to food halls, Italian restaurants and steakhouses. <\/p>\n

The variety of projects saw him fall in love with the job and the city itself, but it wasn\u2019t long before he decided he wanted to branch out on his own. After convincing his employer that \u201cthey weren\u2019t losing an employee, they were gaining an entire creative studio\u201d, Crown Creative had its first client. <\/p>\n

Now, eight years on, the company has a team of 25 working in Belfast, New York and London, and has grown from a branding and design agency, into a full-service studio offering brand strategy, graphic design, interiors and digital, all under one roof.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat model came from my own frustration as a client, having to co-ordinate several different agencies on a single project,\u201d he says. \u201cWe wanted to offer something more joined-up: a single team which understands the entire vision and behaves like an extension of the client\u2019s own business. We describe ourselves as a creative partner because, on the best projects, that\u2019s genuinely what we become.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are still days when I have to pinch myself at the calibre of the clients and projects coming through our doors. To see work created by our team in Belfast, London and New York come to life globally is genuinely humbling. It feels as though we\u2019re not simply designing places \u2013 we\u2019re helping to create brands and experiences with a real legacy. In the last year we\u2019ve seen a luxury safari resort open in Africa, a restaurant we designed in Grand Central Terminal in New York and a boutique wine hotel in Oregon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old, who has a 20-month old daughter with his partner, Ema, wasn\u2019t always destined to be a designer as he studied drama and English at college, before doing a master\u2019s in drama at Queen\u2019s University Belfast. But, although he never trained as a designer, he says that his background taught him \u201ca great deal about storytelling and how to understand an audience \u2013 both of which are fundamental to the work undertaken at Crown today\u201d.<\/p>\n

Travel is another great source of inspiration for the designer, who says that being away for \u201cat least one week a month\u201d, and also looking beyond his own industry, helps to get the creative juices flowing. <\/p>\n

\u201cInspiration often comes from somewhere unexpected: the pacing of a theatrical production, the typography on an old street sign, or the way a small neighbourhood restaurant makes people feel completely at home,\u201d he says. \u201cAlso, my guilty pleasure is magazines. I subscribe to far too many \u2013 Monocle, Bon App\u00e9tit and Wallpaper among them \u2013 and feel guilty every month when I don\u2019t get through the pile. But I love the discovery involved in print, and the physical experience of holding a beautifully made magazine in my hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NeighbourhoodNeighbourhood Cafe, in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter \"NeighbourhoodNeighbourhood Cafe: ‘Lighting is the quickest transformation for me,’ says Ryan Crown <\/p>\n

The projects undertaken by Crown can vary vastly in size \u2013 from the St Regis Cap Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic, where the team created nine individual food-and-beverage brands over the course of two years, to the Neighbourhood Cafe in Belfast, which the founder co-owns with his business partner and best friend, Ois\u00edn McEvoy.<\/p>\n

Another recent project was The Kithmore in St Andrews, and also a refreshing of the global identity of Peacock Alley, the historic institution associated with the Waldorf Astoria.<\/p>\n

But, regardless of the scale, each job is meticulously thought out and executed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe budgets and commercial details of many of these projects are confidential, but the developments range from independent hospitality businesses to significant, multimillion-pound international hotel investments,\u201d says Crown. \u201cWhat matters to us is the same at every scale: finding the story, expressing it consistently, and making every detail feel intentional.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there\u2019s something quite surreal about standing in one of New York\u2019s most iconic hotels and seeing a brand developed by our team in Belfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fashion trends are constantly changing, and the interior design world is no different. But the businessman says while that he and his team are conscious of trends, they \u201ctry not to follow them too closely, because if a design is built around a passing visual fashion, it can date very quickly\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"CrownCrown Creative project: The Kithmore boutique hotel in St Andrews, Scotland \"CrownCrown Creative project: Si Cara, Boston <\/p>\n

\u201cThe strongest movement I see is away from the generic, copy-and-paste international aesthetic and towards spaces that feel rooted in their location,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a renewed appreciation for character, craft, natural materials and vintage pieces \u2013 interiors which can develop a patina over time, rather than looking perfect only on opening day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we began, there was a great deal of emphasis on creating highly \u2018Instagrammable\u2019 moments. And while that still has its place, clients are now looking for something deeper. They want comfort, atmosphere, authenticity and a sense that a space could only exist in that particular place.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery detail matters, but people rarely leave a hotel remembering a particular wallpaper or bed throw. They remember how the place made them feel. A trend might give you a moment, but a strong narrative gives longevity to a project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The design expert says there are many large-scale ideas that can be adapted and work very well in the home, but it is important to be aware of your own style and environment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith so many beautiful interiors online it\u2019s tempting to go Pinterest shopping and turn your home into one large mood board,\u201d he says. \u201cBut before buying anything, it\u2019s worth understanding your own taste and how you actually want your home to feel. The most interesting homes say something about the people living in them, rather than replicating a nice image online.<\/p>\n

\u201cLighting is the quickest transformation for me. I\u2019ll always choose several small lamps at different heights over switching on the \u2018big light\u2019 as warm, layered lighting can change the atmosphere of a room immediately and make even an inexpensive interior feel considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith more of us working from home, it\u2019s also important to create some separation between working and living \u2013 even if that simply means a good chair, a dedicated lamp, and being able to put the laptop out of sight at the end of the day. Your home should support the way you actually live, not just photograph well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CrownCrown Creative’s Belfast office \"CrownCrown Creative office <\/p>\n

While Crown and his team are currently working on several beautiful Michelin-starred restaurant projects in New York, as well as beginning the interior design of two restaurant and bar spaces at The Ritz-Carlton in Geneva, they have also just launched a Substack called Hospitality Everywhere, which is a home for the team\u2019s \u201cobservations, opinions and discoveries \u2013 from travel and current projects to the bigger questions shaping hospitality\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0A Wicklow mansion rescued from ruin by seven people: \u2018I felt sorry for the house\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

So the future looks bright as he is looking forward to further success and new developments both in his personal and professional life. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such a breadth of experience within the studio, so I\u2019m excited to give more of the team a platform [with the Substack] and see where it goes,\u201d he says. \u201cBut, personally, my next major project is the arrival of our second child in October. And amid the nappies, sleepless nights and chaos of having two children under two, I\u2019m also hugely excited about continuing to grow Crown. I genuinely feel we\u2019re only at the beginning of what the agency can achieve, and I\u2019m incredibly thankful for the people I get to work alongside every day.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Why you should choose your furniture before renovating your homeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking further ahead, I think the word \u2018luxury\u2019 has become overused. We\u2019re going to see a return to a more meaningful idea of it \u2013 less about marble, thread counts or the size of a bedroom, and more about genuine, authentic experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs our lives become increasingly digital, people will place greater value on experiences that feel human, generous and connected to their location. They won\u2019t necessarily remember every object in a room, but they\u2019ll remember how warmly they were welcomed, who they met and how it all made them feel. To me, that\u2019s the future of hospitality [and design].\u201d<\/p>\n

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