Dublin is a small town. Pay a visit and you’ll find that every one you meet has some sort of connection to U2.

In my case the connection began when I joined Four5Oneº Creative. One of the projects that landed on my desk was U2’s official autobiography ‘U2 BY U2’ – and it was epic: 350 pages, over 1500 photographs, two years in the making. I was thrilled and terrified, in equal measure!

U2 BY U2, a coffee table book written by the band with writer Neil McCormick, made it to both The New York Times and the USA Today non-fiction best seller lists.

There was a great deal of work involved, trawling through the band’s personal archives, narrowing a mountain of photographs down to the 1500 included. Each chapter of the book delves into a different phase of the band’s development, incorporating the iconic imagery and style of the albums from that period.

It goes without saying, it was a collaborative process that involved working closely with – among others – Harper Collins publishing, author Neil McCormick, long-time U2 designers Shaughn McGrath and Steve Averill, and members of the band. The journey concluded with a massive promotional campaign, involving poster design, advertising, online banners and TV graphics.