Irish Design 2015 - Making Design Matter

1

2

Irish Design 2015 Making Design Matter 1

1

2

2

3

4

3

5

6

7

9

8

4

10

11

Irish Design 2015 Making Design Matter 5

Editors Alex Milton Karen Hennessy Rachel Donnelly

142

2

3

Mapping the State by Zero-G. Image: Zero-G

143

Message from President Michael D. Higgins

4

Irish Design 2015, an initiative of which I was pleased to be Patron, has given Ireland a valuable opportunity for demonstrating, and indeed celebrating, the great wealth of innovative skill and talent that exists in this country.

Ireland, known for a rich heritage in design, has, through this 2015 initiative, shown how rich are the achievements and possibilities in contemporary design and craft. Ó cheann ceann na bliana, tá clár Irish Design 2015 tar éis ardán a thabhairt d'ár earnáil dearaidh tréitheach, fuinniúil, agus lucht féachana nua in Éirinn agus thar lear a thabhairt isteach ar a gcuid oibre.

So much of our craft is rooted in the skills heritage of our ancestors and the narrative of Irish design that is woven into our cultural history. The work of today’s Irish designers is, however, not just shaped by that past but also informed by an ever-changing world of materials, science, technology and inter-dependence. Irish designers are, while building on a rich tradition of Irish design, extending it and bringing it on a new journey.

Irish Design 2015 has succeeded in its task of raising the profile of our vibrant and inventive Irish design sector both at home and abroad, with an impressive programme encompassing almost seven hundred projects, including exhibitions, trade events and design weeks, which have attracted an audience in excess of 1.5 million people.

Moreover, this year celebrating Irish design constituted a much-deserved recognition of the cultural space as a source of vision, experimentation and diversity, building and maintaining a relationship between creativity, culture and the economy – a relationship which is critical to a truly functioning society.

Is mian liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh le gach éinne a thug dá gcuid ama, dá gcuid tallainne agus dá gcuid oibre chun Irish Design 2015 a chur i gcrích. This initiative has demonstrated not only the great creative talent that continues to thrive and develop in Ireland, but also the great spirit of collaboration, co-operation and partnership on which our design sector will grow and prosper.

Michael D. Higgins Uachtarán na hÉireann President of Ireland Patron of Irish Design 2015

Logitech Mouse by Design Partners.

Image: Design Partners

5

Hidden Heroes by Vitra Design Museum at Design Hub, Dublin Castle. Image: Ste Murray

6 01

FOREWORD Ged Nash Minister for Business and Employment (Jul 2014–Feb 2016)

Ireland’s creativity in areas such as literature and music is world-renowned. But in Ireland we also have many great businesses producing creative products and services using excellent internationally competitive and innovative design. The Irish Government’s ambition is to grow, and grow more, world-class design-led businesses and support them in selling their goods and services internationally. It is important that we recognise the difference that good quality design can make to the long-term competitiveness of individual enterprises and the economy as a whole, and promote this agenda to our greatest advantage.

The idea of designating a year to promoting and developing Irish design emerged from the Global Irish Economic Forum in 2013. The Government backed this proposal, supporting a comprehensive programme of national and international events and activities throughout 2015. The aim of Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) was to bring visibility to Ireland’s dynamic design businesses, to encourage more businesses to utilise design, ultimately creating jobs at home.

The comprehensive programme of events and activities for ID2015 has played an instrumental role in positioning design at the heart of our creative economy, growing an understanding of the value of design at home and growing Ireland’s reputation abroad for innovative design products and services. The reaction to the work of Irish designers at key international design weeks, architectural biennales and fashion weeks highlights the success of ID2015 in promoting the breadth of Ireland’s design talent on the world stage.

I was delighted to support the ID2015 initiative from its inception and to have been closely involved in many of the events and activities during the year. In closing out the ID2015 programme, it was a particular pleasure to announce the outcomes of research into design in Ireland that was commissioned as part of the initiative. The study - Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise in Ireland - shows that: • • • •

the design sector accounts for €38bn in exports or 20% of total exports 48,000 people or 2.5% of the workforce are employed in design roles in Ireland between 80% and 90% of firms cite the importance of design to innovation, customer service and profit Ireland’s design-sector exports are higher relative to those of the UK

ID2015 has confirmed that design creativity is alive and well in Ireland, both at the individual and the business level. But it also tells us that investing in our design capability and performance has the potential to yield new export sales, create quality jobs and boost Ireland’s international creative brand.

The Government’s commitment to pursuing concrete actions on design is reflected in the 2016 Action Plan for Jobs. These design-focused actions will maintain the momentum created by the year of Irish design and build on the legacy of ID2015. There is huge potential to grow both employment and exports in businesses that embrace design as a core function of their enterprise. We also have the opportunity to further cement Ireland’s reputation as a source of quality design.

In congratulating the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) on the success of ID2015, I would urge them to continue the excellent work they have started; building relationships with the key stakeholders in education, the design sector, small businesses which can benefit from design, the designers and makers themselves and our State agencies - to be design in Ireland’s greatest advocate and most dynamic voice.

7

New Horizon Red Pavilion by Clancy Moore, Steve Larkin and TAKA at London Festival of Architecture.

Image: Jon Bosworth

8

INTRODUCTION Laura Magahy Executive Chairman ID2015

Building on the legacy of the internationally renowned Kilkenny Design Workshops, on the design community mobilisation spear-headed by Pivot Dublin, and on the awareness building of the Year of Craft 2011 pioneered by DCCoI, ID2015 brought together people involved and interested in design to plan and take part in the year-long initiative that focused on encouraging investment in design, creating an understanding of the value of design thinking, and on promoting Irish design and craft talent internationally. I hugely value, and acknowledge with sincere thanks, the role the Inaugural Programme Advisory Group played in setting the tone and ambition for the year and the response of the design community to this initiative was wholeheartedly enthusiastic as momentum built across the year.

Over a year of planning went into preparing for the commencement of ID2015 as a year-long celebration and promotion of Irish design and creativity. The programme of events and activities both at home and abroad was founded on ensuring that the work of talented Irish designers achieves the awareness and appreciation it so richly deserves.

Delivering on the ambitious programme for ID2015 would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our colleagues in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland who believed in our ability to succeed in planning and implementing this landmark initiative, who funded the programme, and who chaired the ID2015 Interdepartmental Steering Committee. The involvement of the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and the network of Embassies around the world were invaluable in promoting Irish design on the international stage. The support of the many Government Departments and Agencies with whom we have engaged during 2015 has also been very much appreciated.

The enthusiastic support of a large number of strategic partners, both nationally and internationally, was central to the successful implementation of the programme, extending the reach of ID2015 and allowing us to support designers of all disciplines, paving the way for a strong and vibrant sector into the future. I would like to thank ID2015’s Accommodation Partners (The Doyle Collection), Venue Partners (OPW), Exhibition Partners (DAA), Technology Partners (IBM), Transport Partners (Bus Éireann Expressway) and Construction Partners (SISK).

The inclusion of ID2015 in the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs reflects the potential for design to make a significant contribution to the growth of our economy. I look forward to seeing Ireland’s vibrant design sector continue to develop and succeed over the years to come, sustaining jobs and fostering new employment opportunities, but most particularly in contributing to the improvement of people’s lives through thoughtful and sustainable design.

I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to the Board of Directors of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and Irish Design 2015, as well as Karen Hennessy and the DCCoI and ID2015 teams for their focus and commitment in working on behalf of the sector. It has been an honour and a privilege to have been involved as Founding Partner, through MCO, and to have been Executive Chairman of ID2015.

9

10

Enignum Shelf XII by Joseph Walsh. Image: Andrew Bradley, courtesy of Joseph Walsh Studio

11

CONTENTS

1 Forewords

4—9

Message from President Michael D. Higgins Foreword by Minister Ged Nash Introduction by Laura Magahy

2 Reflections

14—39

Making Design Matter Karen Hennessy

Promoting Irish Design Susan Brindley 40—55

Reaching goals Return on investment Community Innovation Awareness Education Media

International Trade Fairs Design Start-Up Programmes Design4Growth Ibec CEO Conference Dolmen and the Irish Design + Medical Technology Showcase International Trade Fund

128—143

5 Discussions 58—73

Design Networks ID2015 Website Researching the Value of Design in Ireland Design Innovation Fund Design Directory Ireland Enterprise

Narrative Photographic installation at Dublin Airport Design Island app Bus Éireann Expressway ID2015 coaches Global Irish Design Challenge We Built This City The Souvenir Project PORTFOLIO @ Solomon Fine Art

4 Highlights Infrastructure

112—127

Education and Engagement Education to Enterprise Toolkits ITERATIONS: design research and practice review designED: Shaping Experiences Library Programme FAULTLINES – Irish Design Research Conference EUNIC Masterclass Series

Bringing Irish Design to the World Louise Allen

3 The Year in Numbers

90—111

Liminal – Irish design at the threshold New Horizon_architecture from Ireland The Ogham Wall Unfold and In the Fold at London Fashion Week The Embassy Network Programme Dublin Castle Design Hub National Craft Gallery Exhibition Programme

Education

Redesigning Ireland Alex Milton

12

Awareness

Alex Milton and Karen Hennessy in conversation with leading figures from the Irish and international design communities

Community Kathryn Meghen Marc Ó’Riain Eddie Shanahan Kathryn Wilson

146—155

Business Alastair Blair Bill Kearney Danny McCoy

156—163

74—89

Learning Hugh Campbell Muireann McMahon Barry Sheehan

Connection Ben Evans John McLaughlin Ray Ryan Gemma Williams

Innovation Stephen Hughes Laura Magahy John Mathers Brian Stephens

164—173

6 ID2015 in Print

204—237

7 Design Matters

238—251

8 A Year of Design

252—280

ID2015 Partners

282—283

Appendix

284—297

ID2015 Board Members

298—299

ID2015 Team

300—301

DCCoI Team

302—303

Index

304—312

Contributors

314—315

With an Introduction by David Smith

174—183

A selection of columns published in The Irish Times Magazine in association with Irish Design 2015

Full Programme

184—193

13

Culture Andrew Bradley Angela Brady Linda King Sandra O’Connell

194—203

14

REFLECTIONS Some of the minds behind ID2015 reflect on the strategy and motivations that drove the year

15

IRISH DESIGN 2015  REFLECTIONS

16

Employment in design roles in Ireland has increased from 45,000 in 2011 to 48,000 in 2014, an increase of 6.7%

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

MAKING DESIGN MATTER Karen Hennessy ID2015 CEO

Ireland has always been known for its creativity and craftsmanship. The country is home to a vibrant, creative, artisan-based craft sector which has its roots in Ireland’s heritage and tradition but is continually innovating, exploring new materials, approaches and techniques. Taking elements of the island’s past and reinventing them for our contemporary world, Irish designers create products of value and beauty, which embody quality and skill while celebrating Irish materials, culture and heritage, and telling a unique story. They also create valuable services which enhance our daily lives by creating efficiencies and putting the user first in designing an experience.

The Global Irish Economic Forum in 2013 took place at a pivotal time in the Irish economy. Over the two-day biennial event, business leaders and politicians met to discuss the economic improvement and promotion of Ireland, including potential policy initiatives and methods of job creation. Coming out of a period of global recession, rebuilding Ireland’s reputation abroad and proving our ability to compete and win in competitive international markets was key to our economic recovery.

There was a strong belief across Government, the design community and industry that Ireland as a creative nation must take its rightful position on the global design stage and it was at that Forum in November 2013 that Laura Magahy, the then Chair of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI), proposed the concept of a year of Irish design.

The suggestion presented an opportunity to act as a catalyst for significant and transformational change for our country’s future. It was backed by the Irish Government and planning commenced for the landmark Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) initiative. (It is

interesting to note that one of the recommendations in the seminal ‘Scandinavian Report’ back in 1963 was a year of design.)

This concept became embedded as a major Government-led initiative strategically positioning the sector and enabling us to tell the world the Irish design story. Reflecting the opportunities the sector represents for growth and further employment, ID2015 was included in the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs.

While it was clear that Ireland could learn from the design policies of other countries, it was important when creating the ID2015 programme that we respected our nuanced and multi-faceted design culture and heritage. As such we designed a bespoke programme appropriate for the Irish design landscape that could grow sustainably, rather than merely parachuting in ready-made solutions from abroad.

So how did ID2015 move from concept to reality?

The programme was developed in consultation with the design sector and representatives from Irish industry, and sought to involve all the relevant stakeholders.

“There was a strong belief across Government, the design community and industry that Ireland as a creative nation must take its rightful position on the global design stage.”

17

IRISH DESIGN 2015  REFLECTIONS

design roles account for 2.5% of employment in Ireland

18

The Inaugural ID2015 Programme Advisory Group was set up comprising respected practitioners from the main design disciplines, who oversaw the development of appropriate and impactful objectives, aligned to a programme of national and international activities that reflected the breadth, diversity and high quality of Irish design.

The next step was to secure full Government support across the many Ministries and Departments.

With the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade taking the lead, an Interdepartmental Steering Group was established, which then ensured that multiple Ministries and Government Agencies now bought into the initiative, making certain that the success could be maximised and additional resources and support garnered.

The final piece of the jigsaw was the establishment of working groups across the key sectors in order to bring together the central stakeholders, in many cases for the first time ever. And so groups from diverse sectors, ranging from built environment to industrial design, from service design to tourism, started speaking to each other. We then set about recruiting additional team members for the year to work with the dedicated and passionate DCCoI team in delivering on the objectives of ID2015. Alex Milton, as ID2015 Programme Director, headed up a team of designers and disciplinary experts in executing innovative and creative first-class projects on the island of Ireland and all over the world, while Brian McGee, Market Development Director, led the delivery of DCCoI programmes.

What differentiated ID2015 from other international design promotion and policy initiatives was the setting

of ambitious economic targets for job creation, design export growth and the founding of start-ups, enabling the initiative to clearly demonstrate and provide evidence for the real economic impact of design on the international stage. In addition to stimulating the supply of, and demand for, Irish design, the programme encouraged the cross-pollination of design ideas, processes and people.

Bringing the design community together and encouraging them to engage in a constructive way that has not been seen before in Ireland has truly galvanised the Irish design community and embedded a renewed confidence in the capabilities and potential of the sector. It is fair to say that groundwork laid by Pivot Dublin, and initiatives such as the Cities of Culture in Derry and Limerick, alongside local infrastructures enabled by Year of Craft 2011, The Gathering, and

by Local Authorities made it possible to mobilise the grassroots design community across the island in a relatively short space of time, helping to make ID2015 happen.

It is also important to recognise the enthusiasm of the professional bodies such as the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) and the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI). Representing the interests of professionals making a living through design in Ireland, their contribution to the year was invaluable, as was the contribution of third level universities and design colleges, students and staff.

The ID2015 programme embraced the full range of design disciplines, building upon our rich craft tradition and technological expertise to showcase a fusion of the old and new. The success of ID2015 has led to design being embedded in Government policy, most notably through the publication of the first Policy Framework for Design since the 1960s, and the recognition that design-led innovation will be a vital economic driver for the future.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Armed with this evidence, the Government’s 2016 Action Plan for Jobs features a number of specific actions relating to the development of design in Ireland which build upon the legacy of ID2015, including: •

• •

•

•

•

strengthening Ireland’s design capability and performance through Enterprise Ireland and DCCoI supports such as Regional Collaboration Funds, Start-Up Funds, International Trade Promotion, Clustering initiatives, Technology Gateways, Incubator initiatives, and regional and sectoral networks exploiting opportunities for Ireland to win EU design collaboration funding expanding the ‘Design4Growth’ initiative launched as part of ID2015 and led by Dublin City Local Enterprise Office, bringing small firms and designers together continued promotion of Irish design through our Embassies abroad and through Enterprise Ireland’s export promotion activity Enterprise Ireland working with DCCoI in promoting design thinking to their clients as a strategic element of business management the Government’s Future Skills Group looking at current provision of design skills and scoping out future skills needs

↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗

The strategic role of design for national and industrial competitiveness is now universally recognised. DCCoI has been asked by Government to develop a National Design Strategy for Ireland in consultation with key stakeholders. This will be the next step towards embedding design policy across all Government Departments and State Agencies.

However, we need further seismic changes to happen, such as the establishment of regional National Design Innovation Centres, and it is imperative for our Business Colleges to fully embrace design and become design-led. Critical to this is integration of design thinking into all third level education, and not only into design-focused courses. In the business sphere, companies need to commit to design thinking at a strategic level in their organisations.

The adoption of design by public and private companies is rising and the increased need for designers in the tech and other non-design intensive industries is growing and requires recalibration of our education system. But the gap between what is being created in the education space and what is needed for technology companies and other non-design companies is widening.

A new future beckons for Ireland – where our agility and flexibility couples with design and will lead the way into the ‘knowledge economy’. Design isn’t just about creating objects and spaces of beauty; it is about market relevance and sound business thinking.

Innovation is essential to the sustained prosperity of Ireland. Design is by its very nature innovative; it involves examining how things work and how they can be improved, a process that continually generates new ideas and combinations. As a driver of innovation, design can help companies develop new ways of making and selling products, environments and services. It can provide tools to develop new business models and ways to deliver value to customers, and commercialise new technologies by making them accessible to users. Investment in the design sector and design education is essential to ensure that this creative mindset can contribute to driving innovation across disciplines and throughout the Irish economy.

↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗

At > €38bn in 2013, exports from Design Sectors account for over 21% of total exports

19

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

Given the success of ID2015 in raising the profile of Irish creativity and innovation nationally and internationally, it is imperative that the design sector secures continued support and investment in order to ensure a lasting legacy from the initiative. The intensive programme of events and activities during 2015 has clearly demonstrated that investing in Ireland’s design capability and performance yields new export sales, creates quality jobs and boosts Ireland’s creative brand.

Design has a strong regional footprint in Ireland and DCCoI firmly believes that Ireland’s dynamic craft and design sector has the ability to generate quality, sustainable employment throughout the country. With

appropriate investment, we are confident that Ireland can be positioned on the world design stage, alongside countries such as Finland and Denmark, leading to an increase in Ireland’s competitiveness and international reputation.

“Design has a strong regional footprint in Ireland.”

101

20 38

49 72

29 75

110 23

24

60

138 1329

219 126

44

161

50 59

88 139

122 92

408

85

102

125

Number of design businesses in Ireland per county

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

1 No Design EU 55% US 63% UK 45% IE 54% At Step 1 design has no impact.

2

Design as Styling EU 14% US 8% UK 13% IE 15%

At Step 2, its role is reactive rather than proactive and, as such, its influence and value contribution are ultimately limited.

3

Design as Process EU 18% US 15% UK 20% IE 17% At Step 3, organisations routinely use good design processes throughout their innovation projects including from the earliest stages. Good design process is influential and effective in derisking the innovation journey towards a successful outcome.

With effective management, the return on design (and overall) investment can be high.

4

Design as Strategy EU 13% US 14% UK 22% IE 14% At Step 4, design is strategically integrated into the culture of the organisation and informs all aspects of business development.

Design is represented at executive level within the organisation and investment in design is a core value generator for the business.

The Design Ladder The Design Ladder illustrates the different ways design is used within organisations. There is a correlation between the value that businesses are able to realise from design and the extent to which design is embedded within the organisation: the earlier design is used – and the more strategic its role – the greater its benefit. Research undertaken as part of ID2015 indicates that Ireland is beginning to adopt a more strategic design-led approach to business, with a number of innovative companies leading the way.

21

IRISH DESIGN 2015  REFLECTIONS

22

Mapping the State by Zero-G. Image: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

REDESIGNING IRELAND Professor Alex Milton ID2015 Programme Director

Given some of the momentous and unprecedented transformations currently convulsing the globe – from the challenges raised by globalisation and the renewed interest in provenance and heritage, to the spread of social media and the evangelising over 3D printing – what does the future of design look like?

The global design industry has undergone enormous change in the last decade, with roles being redefined, processes reinvented and hybrid forms enabling new design directions. The most creative contemporary designers are taking on multiple roles and transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries through the freedom provided by the digital age, while at the same time reconnecting to analogue craft skills with an altogether new mindset. Designers are increasingly questioning their purpose and re-defining their roles for the 21st century.

As a result, design has begun to focus on engaging stakeholders at all stages of the research process, from shaping initial questions, through developing methodologies, to sharing findings and recommendations. As a result, design has moved beyond the creation of artefacts and environments, and embraced the realm of services and experiences. This is a significant moment; design today is demonstrating how it can achieve substantial impacts on public and institutional policy. Designers are becoming engaged with social, environmental and political agendas, and are recognising that they can apply innovative creative processes and transferrable design skills and thinking across a spectrum of settings. This has resulted in a dramatic rise in collaborative activity as designers designing ‘with’ rather than merely ‘for’ users - prepare to meet the radical design challenges of the coming decades. It is within this context that Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) came into existence, as a pivotal moment for reflection on where Irish design had come from, where it is now and how it can engage with this dynamic global dialogue around the possibilities design affords, projecting a brighter future for the sector, and indeed the country.

Ireland is home to a vibrant community of design thinkers, doers, makers and educators. The island’s creative practitioners have consistently explored emergent fields, unbound by disciplinary convention or commercial silos. This has enabled Irish designers to continuously rebuild and remodel their practices through design thinking, helping respond to the challenges of past economic downturns while playing a key role in driving Ireland’s rapidly expanding creative economy and future prosperity.

This defiance of disciplinary boundaries makes trying to reduce Irish design to a single leitmotif a foolish undertaking, as the characteristic strength of the sector is due in no small part to its diverse range of influences. From the socially mediated popular culture of the street to Irish craft heritage, and from Scandinavian modernism to Georgian neo-classicism, Ireland has benefited from a fusion of indigenous creativity with the influx of wave after wave of international inspiration. As such there is no ‘Irish design’ style, but rather a vibrant community of ‘design in Ireland’. With a breadth of creative disciplines ranging from the tech start-ups of Dublin’s silicon docks, through to architectural innovation and medical device design, the Ireland of today tells a fascinating story of design on the edge and design between the boundaries. The Irish are innate storytellers, keen to address and resolve the big issues of today through passionate conversation and debate. As design continues to evolve and transform, it increasingly seeks to create holistic experiences and narratives; Ireland is well placed to play a significant role in twenty-first century design, helping to meet the design challenges of tomorrow and adding a new chapter to the story of global design.

2015 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW), the world’s first multi-disciplinary, state sponsored design consultancy, and the last truly significant Irish Government design initiative before Irish Design 2015.

23

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

24

Before it ceased operations in 1988, KDW’s aims were broadly to strengthen and develop the sector by both providing a context for innovation within the discipline, and encouraging links between design and the national and international business communities.

Looking back over half a century, ID2015 was an opportunity to critique and evaluate the development of the Irish design sector since KDW, learning from the past to develop a contemporary platform that addresses the infrastructural shortfalls within the sector, builds upon its often hidden strengths, and creates a sustainable Irish design ecosystem.

ID2015 was a collaborative effort undertaken by the Irish design sector and community, across different disciplines and backgrounds. The final programme and its activities and achievements were the result of a fantastic creative synthesis and highly significant collective design effort.

As Programme Director, it was an exciting and challenging remit to harness this creativity to meet the ambitious targets set for the year, working with Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive of ID2015, and a talented team to devise, develop and implement a programme that met the unfettered aspirations of the Irish design community and diaspora, establishing Ireland as ‘the design island’. As such, ID2015 should be understood more as an evolving platform than a singular proposition; or more precisely, a platform as proposition.

“The final programme and its activities and achievements were the result of a fantastic creative synthesis and highly significant collective design effort.”

Aiming for the establishment of a sustainable Irish ecosystem meant the development, implementation and evaluation of a number of fundamental programme elements. At the core of the programme, an exciting series of events explored a number of themes including a sense of place, sustainability, creativity and well-being, as they relate to design and wider society. Both national and international in its focus, the programme stimulated a national conversation whilst raising awareness of the benefits of design in everyday life and the growing importance of design-led innovation to Ireland’s culture, society and economy.

Through ID2015, we fostered innovation in business and public services, and encouraged debate into what design was, is and could be. We created educational

toolkits, authored case studies and piloted projects that aimed to provide people with the advice, practical tools and knowledge to achieve positive changes in business, government and local communities through design.

At home we focused on raising awareness of the importance of design in creating commercial success and economic growth, highlighting how it adds value to a product and drives innovation. Our aim was to inspire a paradigm shift in business culture nationwide that will see companies on the island of Ireland embracing design principles as a cornerstone of their organisations in the future. We helped reinforce the Irish design sector by building the critical networks, infrastructure, and research evidence and findings required to support its development and culture.

ID2015 helped provide the context critical to decisionmaking in the development and promotion of design, and a key outcome of the year was the creation of the new Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise in Ireland.

Design can help established businesses to diversify, enter new markets and grow their share of existing markets. Through a series of training programmes, workshops and events that promoted the use of design in non-design intensive sectors we helped businesses to exploit ideas, accelerate routes to market and develop design thinking skills proven to lead to success.

The programme aimed to encourage both investment in design and the use of design as a methodology to enhance other disciplines or domains. Design is a powerful tool for research commercialisation, particularly during the critical early stages of research and development. It provides structure and focus to the innovation journey by generating new insights for market applications, communicating these clearly to investors and helping teams plan routes to market. Throughout the year, a series of events and projects explored, debated and supported the role of the Irish design research community, and helped build interdisciplinary networks that can create new intellectual property through design.

In addition to activities that promoted the ‘business of design’, we also sought to highlight the importance of design in enhancing our lives, the environment and society. ID2015 supported a range of design activities and initiatives across the island of Ireland through funding calls. The small, highly committed ID2015 team coordinated this ambitious year of design, targeting the business community, the design community and the general public, and ultimately delivering over 650 events.

In parallel with this national agenda, we built on the international reputation of Irish designers through an extensive suite of international exhibitions and trade missions helping to grow sales and export opportunities abroad. In particular, the business model of showcasing Irish design through targeted exhibitions and events

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Policy

Support

Development

Education

Research

Promotion

25

ID2015 Strategy A Catalyst for Design

ID2015 Programme Components Design Support providing design thinking and training for industry and the public sector Design Development raising the capabilities of Irish designers and establishing the critical network, infrastructure, information and research required to support the development and culture of the Irish design sector Design Promotion creating a greater appreciation and demand for design Design Research commercialising research through design-led innovation and new intellectual property creation Design Education providing design thinking and training for pupils, students and lifelong learners Design Policy providing the contextual framework, critical to decisionmaking in the development and promotion of design through policies and strategies

IRISH DESIGN 2015  REFLECTIONS

Business Sector

Business Sector

Citizens 26

Education Sector

Design Sector

Education Sector

Design Sector

Government

Historic Irish Design Landscape Static and disconnected silos

Post ID2015 Design Landscape Dynamic integrated ecosystem

ID2015's legacy represents an evolution of the Triple Helix socio-economic model, firmly placing the citizen at the centre of the ecosystem

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

proved highly successful in developing international trade and establishing strategic partnerships. Tasked with exhibiting new products, experiences or processes, the programme sought to showcase work that resonated with a diverse range of audiences across the world, but was indicative of the modern Irish design community. Commissioned projects moved between global market and local space, public use and private value, work and home, commerce and culture, to foster creative collaborations across design disciplines, addressing the internal tensions within Ireland’s historically disconnected design disciplines.

In addition to the hundreds of events, a further integral component of the ID2015 project was establishing a series of collaborative relationships from which emerged a number of new projects, products and partnerships. Collaboration demands a level of trust and openness; there can be unknowns, surprises and unintended outcomes. It is a collective process made and remade, revised and reiterated, reinterpreted and reimagined. Design - whether in the studio, factory or on the street - is likewise an evolutionary process, researching, presenting, archiving and transforming new processes, methods and concepts. ID2015 explored and revealed the process, and indeed the poetry of design, in Ireland, in all its many fields. It built a platform to better understand and improve the products, services and systems being collaboratively designed.

Collaboration with over 80 public and private partners, both in Ireland and abroad, was central to the planning and delivery of the programme, and without the unwavering support of our stakeholders and partner organisations the year would have been a more modest story. The programme and its major, international flagship exhibitions also acknowledged the curatorial challenge of appealing to a wide, nonspecialist domestic audience whilst simultaneously conversing with a specialist international design audience, challenging stereotypes, avoiding well-worn narratives and giving a voice to the entire Irish design sector.

Design is a global culture and discourse, and helping position Ireland within this community was a key objective of the year. The establishment of a number of cultural partnerships with leading international design agencies and institutions including the Design Museum London, Chicago Design Museum, Vitra Design Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has helped connect Ireland to this global design debate. It also helped lay the foundation for high profile ID2015 cultural projects such as The Ogham Wall landmark installation by Grafton Architects and Graphic Relief at the V&A as part of the London Design Festival.

Irish Design 2015 was about harnessing the power of design and working to support the island of Ireland

in making design matter. During the year, ID2015 worked with businesses, schools and universities to bring design thinking into the office, factory, classroom and lecture hall with a series of initiatives that will create a significant and lasting legacy. Most importantly, we got tangible results. We exceeded all the economic and audience targets set, generated a tenfold return on investment and clearly demonstrated that design can make a real difference; with Irish designers successfully developing products, spaces and services as useful, impactful and meaningful as they are beautiful.

“Design is a global culture and discourse, and helping position Ireland within this community was a key objective of the year.”

The most important legacy of the year is the development of a new National Design Strategy through consultation with key stakeholders. The strategy seeks to encourage inclusive policy making through design, and build on the awareness-raising achievements of ID2015. It aims to promote interaction and engagement across key sectoral domains that embed design as a strategic enabler for the future development of Ireland's competitiveness, as well as its economic and societal well-being. The strategy advocates the integration of design thinking and skills into and across all levels of education, in order to develop and design new programmes of study in line with current and emergent industry and societal needs. It aims to facilitate and support creative communities and drive innovation through the user-centred design of products, services and the environment that focus on people’s real needs and address ecological issues.

Ireland has the potential to be an emerging powerhouse of design. With appropriate funding and resourcing, the delivery of this National Design Strategy through the collaborative efforts of education, enterprise and industry can harness this power for innovation and competitiveness and build upon the success of ID2015.

27

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

28

Liminal – Irish design at the threshold at WantedDesign NYC. Image: Rich Gilligan

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

BRINGING IRISH DESIGN TO THE WORLD Louise Allen Head of International Programme, ID2015

29

The international design arena is a vast, complex, multi-layered economic environment where reputation is built on design excellence and innovation. Visibility and sustained brand awareness are paramount. For decades, Ireland’s international design credentials have been hidden; it wasn’t that these credentials didn’t exist, or that designers were not operating internationally - they were and are - but rather, that without a focused lens to highlight their collective achievements, the concept of Ireland excelling in design barely registered with the international design community. The international programme for ID2015 set out to bring that focus to bear across multiple design sectors and disciplines through a broad range of channels. Underlying all activities were two core objectives: to develop the global market and to position Irish design on the international stage.

Participation in strategically selected international events (design weeks and festivals in Milan, New York, London and Eindhoven, fashion weeks in London, trade fairs in Paris, London and New York, and architecture biennales in London, Chicago and Hong Kong/Shenzhen) formed the core of the international programme. These activities were supported through, and reinforced by, initiatives such as the International Trade Fund, which supported companies to attend trade events internationally, and the Connections

capsule and Design Island exhibitions, which toured to 24 Embassies internationally.

The scope, volume and scale of programmes delivered were significant and many of them were realised through strategic international partnerships.

These partnerships with institutions such as the Design Museum in London and Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The British Council and with organisations such as the Design Council and London Design Festival are critical to the ongoing legacy and development of Irish design in the international arena.

ID2015’s engagement with Enterprise Ireland (EI) offices internationally has resulted in increased levels of trade across a range of design disciplines, including joint ventures between EI and ID2015 for the trade shows Maison et Objet in Paris, NY NOW in New York and Tent London during London Design Festival. In addition, EI supported the International Trade Fund, which enabled over fifty Irish companies to participate in design-focused trade events internationally. EI also hosted a range of conferences, networking events, and inward buyer trips to maximise the commercial potential of activities throughout the year.

The flagship exhibition for the year, Liminal – Irish design at the threshold, offered the opportunity to present the best of Irish design internationally. It attracted audiences in excess of 300,000 across

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

“The scope, volume and scale of programmes delivered was significant and many of them were realised through strategic international partnerships.”

30

material culture, skill and tradition through what we wear is rooted in our DNA. The Irish textile industry, in particular its tweed and knitwear, is renowned for its quality worldwide, and Ireland has successfully cultivated and exported internationally renowned fashion and accessory designers. ID2015 provided a unique opportunity to showcase emerging Irish fashion designers to an international audience. This was realised through In the Fold and Unfold, which featured the best of Irish fashion and accessory design at London Fashion Weeks in February and September and at the Irish Consulate in New York during New York Fashion week.

The London Design Festival (LDF) was a key focus of

international locations and received extensive media attention, featuring in numerous prominent design publications such as Dezeen, Design Milk, Wallpaper and Elle Décor. The challenge posed in curating Liminal was to deconstruct preconceived notions of Ireland.

The intention was to initiate design-led collaborative relationships that draw on our rich cultural heritage, that fuse material knowledge with skill, innovation and, where appropriate, technology. The resulting exhibits, which evolved over the course of 2015, addressed current trends and themes of well-being, sustainability, identity, governance, geography and interaction from a design perspective. The commissioning of collaborative work bought together a community of Irish designers and makers engaged in a transformative process of exchange and learning to develop new products and processes that were presented at a series of design exhibitions in Milan, New York, Eindhoven and Dublin.

Liminal – Irish design at the threshold provided a space to concisely and clearly narrate the story of Ireland’s design evolution at a pivotal moment in time.

Collaborative work was also a central element of the flagship architecture exhibition for the year, New Horizon_architecture from Ireland, which fused narrative and community, inviting ten emerging architectural practices to create environments that acted as a platform for social engagement and dialogue. New Horizon’s landmark installations at the London Festival of Architecture, the Chicago Architecture Biennial and the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen) examined how the designed and built environment is inhabited and reappropriated to reflect and connect local communities to a wider urban and globalised existence. The common thread that connects the installations across three cities by four architectural collaborative teams is an homage to Irish material, heritage and culture. This thread is woven into form through the We Built This City talks programme which illustrated the impact that Irish immigrants had in building the very fabric of key international cities Chicago, London and New York.

The desire to outwardly reflect the essence of Irish ID2015's presence around the world

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

the ID2015 international programme with multiple events taking place. ID2015 partnered with LDF to bring landmark project The Ogham Wall to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The project brought together Stirling Prize-nominee Grafton Architects and concrete experts Graphic Relief to create 23 freestanding rectangular columns that spanned the length of the Tapestries Gallery in the Museum. The significance of The Ogham Wall at the V&A is multilayered. On one level it could be considered the anchor that underpins and reflects the weight and depth of ancient Irish heritage interpreted with confidence in contemporary form, a theme that runs through all of the strands of

the ID2015 international programme. On another level it represents Ireland’s evolution in design and architecture. The installation of the wall at the Victoria and Albert Museum marked the first occasion that Irish design was represented as a landmark project for LDF, in an institution of such historic significance.

As an island positioned between the UK, Europe and the USA, providing access to international export markets is critical. Following trade events at Maison et Objet in Paris and NY NOW in New York, the Design & Crafts Council supported by ID2015 and Enterprise Ireland (EI) presented Ó at the renowned Tent trade show at London Design Festival. Ó — a Gaelic word

31

i c c t A r e a n c O

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

32

that denotes provenance — exhibited the work of over 30 craftspeople and designers to buyers from across the globe. In tandem, The Souvenir Project presented a range of uniquely and authentically Irish objects that reimagined the idea of a souvenir.

The ambition to extend the reach of Irish Design to every corner of the globe was realised through the extensive Embassy programme. Undertaken in partnership with The Department of Foreign Affairs, the Connections capsule exhibition and website proved to be instrumental with regard to raising awareness of Irish design and the ongoing development of diplomatic and trade relationships throughout the Embassy network abroad. The initiative, which has led to considerable exposure for the Irish design community in locations as distant as Japan and Vietnam, New York and Chicago, and across continental Europe, is set to continue into 2016.

The Global Irish Design Challenge is another key part of ID2015’s legacy. Conscious of the extensive Irish diaspora, the challenge was conceived of as a way to provide a platform for game-changing Irish design and innovation, while activating and connecting a broad global network of design talent. Building Ireland’s international design reputation is a key consideration and with this in mind an international panel of design experts, including Jay Osgerby of renowned British design studio Barber & Osgerby, veteran Japanese designer Hideichi Misono, former chief designer for Toyota, and Ailbhe McNabola, Design Council UK’s Director of Policy & Research, was convened to assess the 142 entries from 14 countries across the globe.

Selected entries formed part of an exhibition that ran from June to August 2016 at the Coach House, Dublin Castle.

The international programme for Irish Design 2015 set out to firmly place Ireland on the international stage. It did this in over 60 cities internationally across multiple design disciplines. The level of media exposure throughout the year proves that the quality, diversity and breadth of work exhibited internationally during 2015 is equal in stature to, and does compete with, the best of international design. The volume and quality of projects and activities could not have been achieved without the willing engagement and exceptional talent of the Irish design community. Many strategic relationships were forged both by ID2015 and by Irish designers who participated. The legacy for Irish Design lies in the continuation of these relationships and in the embedding of design consciousness across all sectors and at all levels in Ireland and internationally.

“The ambition to extend the reach of Irish design to every corner of the globe was realised through the extensive Embassy programme.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

33

Yellow Pavilion at London Architecture Festival by Hall McKnight. Image: Jon Bosworth

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

34

Distiller’s Press Image: Alex Calder

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

PROMOTING IRISH DESIGN

Susan Brindley Head of Public Affairs and Communications 35

Devising the communications strategy and plans for ID2015 was an exciting and daunting project. The modest budget for communications meant that we had to be creative in planning and implementing promotion of ID2015 in a cost effective way, maintaining and building momentum over the course of the initiative.

From the outset, it was clear that our target audience would be very broad. Our goals included raising the profile of Irish designers at home and abroad, creating greater public awareness and appreciation of design, emphasising the importance of good design to everyday living, promoting Ireland’s creative economy and the cultural value of design, and encouraging dialogue between the design community and others.

Given the relatively short lead-in time from the formal announcement of ID2015, the breadth of the programme of activities and the volume of projects around Ireland and across the globe meant that our events and activities often competed with each other for visibility and media coverage. Of course the greatest challenge internationally was addressing preconceived ideas of design from Ireland and establishing awareness of the quality of contemporary work across a diverse range of design disciplines emerging from a small island on the western edge of Europe.

International awareness of contemporary Irish craft and design had been slowly growing in the years leading up to 2015 following DCCoI exhibitions at

events such as London Design Festival, Collect and SOFA. Building on this and on Ireland’s recognised strengths and international reputation for design and creativity in fields such as architecture, animation and medical devices, the ambition of the ID2015 initiative was to showcase Irish design across all its forms and highlight the role and impact that design has in every facet of life. We needed to engage not only those working in the design sector, but also the wider business community in order to promote investment in design, with the ultimate goal of sustaining and growing employment opportunities.

We saw ID2015 as a springboard for the development of the sector into the future - the wideranging programme provided a critical mass of activities for raising awareness of Irish design over the course of the year, creating opportunities to build on in the years to come. Collaboration was key to the success of our communications campaign. We worked closely with our colleagues in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation (DJEI) and Enterprise Ireland (EI) throughout the planning and execution of the ID2015 programme of events and activities. The support of the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and the network of Irish Embassies was central to the success of efforts internationally in raising awareness of both ID2015 and the design sector in Ireland. We also worked closely with the communications teams of partner organisations

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

36

for key events and activities. This was particularly important for the international programme for events such as London Festival of Architecture, London Design Festival and NYCxDesign. Introducing ID2015 as an initiative backed by the Irish Government with the President of Ireland as Patron certainly helped in opening doors for dialogue as we set about building our network of contacts around the world.

A PR Steering Group was convened to gather input into the communications programme as well as provide regular updates on events and activities to be supported through partner communications channels. The inclusion of a number of features in the Government’s ‘All About Jobs’ bulletin was key to raising awareness of the initiative with influential audiences and our relationship with Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland was particularly important and instrumental in engaging with international media.

The inclusion of design-related experiences on the itineraries of incoming press groups as well as specific visits for design-focused media led to significant international coverage and paved the way for feature opportunities in the future.

Here at home, Design Matters, a weekly column in The Irish Times magazine which was launched in association with ID2015, proved extremely popular and impactful. Featuring interviews with key members of the design community, the column showcased the breadth of design and craft disciplines practiced in Ireland in an engaging way while also supporting the promotion of key exhibitions, events and activities in the ID2015 programme.

Given the limited budget for advertising and promotion, harnessing the organic power of digital communication was central to the ID2015 communications strategy. Using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as the three primary social networks, the objectives of ID2015’s online presence were: to raise awareness of ID2015 events, activities and achievements nationally and internationally; to support and amplify communications from the Irish design community; and to engage the design community and the general public in Ireland as well as internationally.

The possibilities afforded by digital communications allowed for the creation of multiple and diverse content strands that complemented and showcased the year’s activities. These included behind-the-scenes photo essays from exhibitions on Facebook; Instagram takeovers that allowed the ID2015 message to access other significant social networks; short films that were inspirational or charted the design process; and longform articles and interviews on the ID2015 blog.

The visual nature of much of our subject matter allowed us to pursue an image-led strategy on social media. On Facebook, photo albums showing

“Given the limited budget for advertising and promotion, harnessing the organic power of digital communication was central to the ID2015 communications strategy.” behind-the-scenes build shots, as well as finished work for each of the exhibitions, worked particularly well. The direct nature of Twitter allowed us to really engage with the design community in Ireland and around the world, and ID2015 trended on Twitter several times, including on the night of our official programme launch on December 18th 2014 and again at the launch of the Liminal exhibition in Dublin on November 19th 2015.

Instagram saw particularly strong growth in the second half of the year as awareness of ID2015 grew and more people engaged with our ongoing campaign to champion everyday design found around Ireland. Instagram takeovers formed an important part of our activity, allowing us to showcase the work of Irish designers on accounts such as Image.ie during London Fashion Week and Image Interiors during Milan Design Week. We partnered with Tourism Ireland for a St. Patrick’s Day campaign, based around our blog post ‘9 Secrets of Irish Design’, which saw Irish design shared to their large worldwide network. We also invited designers involved in ID2015 exhibitions to do a takeover of our account, giving our audience an insight into their creative process, and expanding their reach through our Instagram community.

In addition to these three core networks, YouTube acted as the online home for ID2015-produced film content, MailChimp was used to create and send regular newsletters to our subscribers, and the ID2015 website housed the extensive programme of events and the blog, which allowed a longer form approach to online communication, including interviews with curators and guest posts by designers. This offered an opportunity to create original, in-depth content on design in Ireland. As well as publishing a monthly update of upcoming events on the ID2015 blog, we interviewed high profile individuals such as V&A Curator Catherine Flood, well-known Spanish designer Martí Guixé, and Edward Barber of renowned British design consultancy Barber & Osgerby, along with Irish designers involved in ID2015 exhibitions.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

37

6-page feature on design in Ireland in Marie Claire Italia

9-page feature on Irish Craft and Design in Monocle magazine

6-page feature on ID2015 in ICON magazine

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold featured in Corriere Della Sera

IRISH DESIGN 2015 REFLECTIONS

38

Several short films were produced throughout the year by ID2015 and hosted on our YouTube channel, Facebook page and blog – most notably our launch film Our Future is in Our Hands, which had over 6,500 views on YouTube, and The Vitrine Project, a promotional film for Liminal – Irish design at the threshold’s Dublin run, which gathered over 43,000 views on Facebook and YouTube in just two days.

Starting fresh with new accounts in October 2014, over the course of 2015 the total social media following grew to more than 33,0001, with over 28,000 page views on the blog and an additional 100,000 unique users on the website. Total social audience reach2 exceeded 3.6 million, attracting influential followers and interactions with design publications Dezeen, Domus, The Inspiration and We Heart; international design events including London Design Festival, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Tent London and Dutch Design Week; institutions such as London’s Design Museum, Tourism Ireland, the Design Council and The Victoria and Albert Museum; and Irish media including RTÉ, IMAGE, Lovin’ Dublin and The Irish Times.

The power of social media to connect and to inspire interest in design, as well as to publically support the Irish design community, has been undeniably successful in increasing the impact, reach and understanding of the ID2015 message in Ireland and around the world.

The communications programme for ID2015 was supported by our appointed PR service providers – Elevate PR for the Irish programme and Sandford PR for the international programme, supplemented by the fashion specific expertise of PUSH PR for LFW February 2015 and Wolves PR for LFW September 2015. Alex Calder, ID2015 Communications Officer, spearheaded the digital communications activities in particular and the promotional programme was supported by the DCCoI communications team on DCCoI projects presented as part of the overall ID2015 programme.

The significant Irish presence at high profile events around the world during 2015, as well as the level of activity at home, placed Irish design and designers in the spotlight, creating a greater awareness and appreciation of the wealth of talent and innovation in Ireland. We need to maintain momentum and build on the impact of the year-long programme through continued engagement with partners, the design community and the general public in order to create a lasting legacy from this landmark Irish initiative. We look forward to the next chapter in the development of Ireland’s vibrant design sector.

1 As at December 2nd 2015.

“The power of social media to connect and to inspire interest in design, as well as to publically support the Irish design community, has been undeniably successful.”

2 Reach figures only available for Facebook and Twitter.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

The Nature of Design film by Christopher Heaney and Suzanne Martin for Tourism Ireland. Image: Christopher Heaney and Suzanne Martin

39

Designing Ireland by Newgrange Pictures for RTÉ.

Image: Newgrange Pictures

40

THE YEAR IN NUMBERS The scale and impact of the year's activities visualised in a series of infographics

41

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Reaching goals

42

Support 50 SMEs to undertake design training | 50 companies supported to undertake design training through Design4Growth initiative and other ID2015 projects

Generate 200 new design-led business start-ups | 370 newly registered companies (DCCoI, IDI, RIAI), 21 start-ups supported

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

43

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Return on investment

44

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Sponsorship and match funding11

Direct sales2

PR value3

Incoming tourist expenditure4

1 Match funding: €2,514,000; Sponsorship: €2,750,000 2 International Trade Fund: €13,612,326 to date and €5,000,000 estimated for Round 2; Design Innovation Fund: €497,065; Liminal: €1,560,000; Maison et Objet: €420,000; Showcase uplift: €3,140,000 3 Kantar media to date 4 100k incoming visitors at national ID2015 events averaging 0.5 day events based on surveys undertaken. Tourism Ireland data indicated an average €78 spend per day

45

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Community

46

Make Design Matter

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

G

47

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Innovation designers showcased on the island of Ireland

48

designers showcased internationally

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

High Potential Start-Ups supported

49

Government departments and agencies partnered with

start-ups supported through Ignite programme

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Awareness

50

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

51

Note: Figures do not include events held in 2016

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Education

52

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

53

IRISH DESIGN 2015  THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Media

54

5,700 Instagram followers

8,189 Facebook followers

6,013 Twitter followers

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

55

*as at end of 2015

56

HIGHLIGHTS A series of case studies examining just some of the diverse ID2015 initiatives and projects that took place throughout the year across the island of Ireland and around the globe

57

“For young designers starting out in their career, a platform such as ID2015 is not only a source of inspiration it’s also a fantastic way to learn, collaborate, and engage with the wider design community in so many unexpected ways. For me, it’s been an exciting year for all of these reasons and more – cheers for that!”

Lara Hanlon IBM

58

“ID2015 was a beacon for the Irish design community, providing a unique platform for sharing design experience and helping to communicate the transformative potential of design to a national and international audience. Through demonstrating what can be achieved by working together, it has strengthened the fabric of the design community in Ireland, creating a new optimism for what lies ahead.”

Frank Long Frontend

“The support from ID2015 allowed us to develop the 100Archive.com platform and to work with authors and archivists to extend the range and variety of published content. It has been a really important support in taking our organisation to the next stage of its evolution.�

Brian Nolan Detail.

59

Design creates infrastructure

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

1

1 Printmaking Working with Elena Santos of Galway Print Studio.

Image: Design Network West 2 Create Your Own Headpiece workshop with Caithriona King.

60

Image: Design Network West 3 Traditional Signwriting Talk with Mike Kenny at Coffeeworks + Press as part of Galway Design Week. Image: Design Network West

DESIGN NETWORKS

Regional design networks are an important foundation for developing a robust design sector. At the outset of 2015, conversations between Alex Milton (ID2015 Programme Director), Marc Ó’Riain and Colin McKeown (ID2015 Regional Coordinators) identified the importance of design networks across the island of Ireland as a means to create and sustain the legacy that the work of ID2015 would begin.

Research identified the existence of a number of design networks around the country, some formal and others only connected in an online context. Discussions with the networks uncovered similar issues across the board: lack of structure and funding, resulting in difficulties in providing events and activities that could help local designers connect with a broader audience.

In some locations, no network was in existence and ID2015 provided the direction and platform to make things happen at a local level, as for example with the Midlands Design Network. Funding calls also enabled the networks to finance website creation and stage

events in their areas, as well as plan and structure their existence for the future.

In Donegal and Derry, the North West Design Network was created with ID2015 input, facilitated by the Inner City Trust in Derry. As a result, partners from business, education and local Government have come together to promote a creative and design-driven economy in the area. One of the themes of ID2015 has been the importance of reaching out to business in general and demonstrating the impact that design inputs can have towards improving products and services. The North West Design Network, based at the Fashion and Design Hub in Derry, has also extended the cross-border aspect of ID2015, with discussions involving the Northern Ireland Design Alliance and the network from Harnessing Creativity in Leitrim. All have recognised the importance of building relationships where experience, knowledge and events can be shared, in order to accelerate the effectiveness of their individual networks at a local level.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

61

3

ID2015 has made this happen through offering funding, sharing knowledge, integrating agendas and providing exhibitions, in order to invite collaboration and build relationships for the future.

The Northern Ireland Design Alliance, the most significant voice for design in Northern Ireland, also used some network funding to reach out and stage design events in Derry, building a relationship with the North West Design Network. This relationship building extended up into Donegal and down into Leitrim, linking the Harnessing Creativity Network. Indeed, these cross border networks were joint funded by ID2015 and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland.

Throughout the rest of the country, efforts were made to activate and encourage networks in the Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick and Kilkenny regions. Marc Ó’Riain and Colin McKeown invited designers to attend meetings and set up Facebook pages as a first stage in getting people to sign up to the network in their areas.

This work towards establishing design networks around the island has been a crucial first step in giving design in Ireland a voice across all regions and disciplines. The design networks legacy will be the continuation of this work. Using the networks provides local designers and creatives with a point of contact, a meeting place and, importantly, a means to influence the economic revival and connect with business and society locally and throughout Ireland.

Thanks go to the design community for mobilising, setting up and actively participating in the networks, and to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure for their support.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

1

1 In the Fold at Dutch Design Week Image: Rich Gilligan 2 In the Fold at London Fashion Week 62

Image: Rich Gilligan 3 Recycled Necklace by Joe Blog Image: Rich Gilligan

ID2015 WEBSITE

The ID2015 website and accompanying digital design work developed from parallel submissions for the ID2015 project, made by WorkGroup and Atelier David Smith. We would execute the digital side of the work, with Atelier undertaking the brand identity project. Our proposal centred on a user-focused solution that would be a useful tool for all parties throughout the year.

We worked closely with the ID2015 team to develop our initial proposal into a strategy for a website and online presence that could perform even as its role evolved over the course of the year. The website communicates the diverse nature of ID2015 activity in a way that reflects the organisation’s purpose and direction. This proved to be a prudent approach; the rate of change and the requirement for the site’s focus to shift made for an exciting series of iterations.

Ahead of launch (in December 2014) our focus was the programme, with a need to show the ambitious plans that were already in place over the 12 months to come. On launch, we needed to extend that to a series of Open Calls (in January and March). The

huge response to these calls meant that the focus would move to the large number of funded projects and initiatives that would fuel the programme’s rapid expansion. For the remainder of the year ID2015 projects happened all around the world, with a growing social media audience. So we adapted the news blog’s format, optimising the reading experience and showing generously sized images.

Lastly, we were able to define the legacy site as a starting point for anyone who wanted to explore what had happened, and to link to smaller offshoot websites.

During the process – with an eye to extensibility – we developed a custom API that runs from the site backend. The API structure means that the ID2015 team could centrally manage content for syndication to a number of destinations. For example a design tourism app was made (in partnership with IBM and Atelier David Smith), as well as other partner apps and websites. The project team consisted of David Wall, Conor Nolan and Damien Gahan, as well as the other designers in our studio, who all had a part to play

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

3

1-3 ID2015 Website. Images: ID2015 63

during the course of the project, while Eoghan Nolan formulated copy for the first iteration of the site.

David Wall WorkGroup

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

1

1-3 Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise

in Ireland by DJEI. Images: Christopher Heaney 64

RESEARCHING THE VALUE OF DESIGN IN IRELAND

In 2015, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI) undertook a number of research studies in support of one of the central objectives of ID2015 - demonstrating the value of design to business and to the economy. The focus of the research was on the economic value of design to the Irish economy and on understanding the role and importance of design activity in enterprises outside of the design sector. The research was guided by a Steering Group, which was chaired by DJEI and made up of representatives from Enterprise Ireland (EI), IDA, Science Foundation Ireland and ID2015/Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI). Further parallel research was also commissioned specifically under the ID2015 initiative and was focused on setting out the landscape of businesses in the traditional design sectors.

Key conclusions from the research studies were as follows: •

•

•

•

design has a very significant impact on the Irish economy: 2.5 % of employment in Ireland is in design occupations and 21% of Irish exports are from the design sector the employment impact of design is comparable to that in the UK and exports from the design sector are higher for Ireland than for the UK there is a cohort of businesses in Ireland that operate outside of the design sector but that highly value design as a contributor to their efforts in developing new/improved goods and services; however, there is opportunity to further enhance the innovation efforts of the firm base in Ireland by increasing the levels of design-led firms businesses in traditional design sectors are regionally spread and tend to be small and young, with a prolific number of start-ups

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

3

65

As well as contributing to the objectives of ID2015, the research findings have been used to inform the development of the Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise in Ireland. This framework sets out a series of opportunities - centred around six key elements - for enhancing the role of design in support of business and economic sustainability and growth in Ireland.

This Policy Framework was launched by the Minister for Business and Employment in January 2016 at an event hosted by DCCoI during Showcase - Ireland's International Creative Expo as a closing event for ID2015. The framework forms a pivotal component of the legacy of ID2015 as it provides an evidence-based platform for positioning design policy in enterprise in Ireland into the future. Declan Hughes Assistant Secretary Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

1

1 Design is… by John Walsh and the Institute of Designers in Ireland.

Image: IDI 2 Resonate, an exhibition showcasing Irish fashion photography 66

co-curated by Aisling Farinella and Darragh Shanahan at Ballyroan Library, Rathfarnham. Image: Aisling Farinella

DESIGN INNOVATION FUND

The purpose of the Design Innovation Fund was threefold: to support and promote Irish designers and the design sector; to broaden and diversify Irish and international audiences; and to invest in design as a key component of competitiveness and innovation with the overall objective of sustaining and growing employment opportunities in Ireland. To achieve these objectives, the fund facilitated activities and initiatives that showcased, promoted and explored Irish design and designers throughout the island of Ireland. The programme was selected through an open call for project outline submissions, with criteria based on ID2015’s key strategic objectives. The applications were then scored and assessed by the ID2015 team.

The Design Innovation Fund was central to ID2015 and played a key part in engaging with designers on a social and financial level, as well as developing the design ecosystem in Ireland, with a particular focus on the regions outside Dublin. The fund awarded grants totalling €624,000 to 187 projects across two open calls. This funding generated an audience in excess of

497,000 for the various exhibitions and installations that were supported, showcasing over 6,000 designers.

The fund also generated a significant level of public and private match funding investment and benefit in kind support that had a combined value of more than €2 million.

The initiative adopted an inclusive model of design, embracing not just traditional design products and services, but also new and emerging interdisciplinary practices and methods that emphasise the importance of design thinking in new domains, taking in a range of disciplines from built environment, furniture and interiors to service, games, medical devices and even food design, in the activities it supported.

Many thanks to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure for their support for projects that took place in Northern Ireland.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

67

The following projects highlight the diversity, nature and impact of the fund: Conferences DICE 2015 Hosted by The Department of Design & Creative Media at Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Co. Donegal in conjunction with Honeycomb Creative Works. This conference sought to discuss and elevate the role of design in adding value to business and society.

Speakers included The Stone Twins, Post, Toby Scott, Chris Murphy and Annie Atkins.

Nimble Spaces Held at VISUAL Carlow, this was an international conference exploring participative design, spatial justice, social housing, co-housing and new ways to imagine housing in the 21st century.

Exhibitions Expanded Territories An experimental combination of exhibitions, demonstrations, masterclasses, talks and screenings – a true celebration of all things creative. The exhibition travelled to Catalyst Arts Centre in Belfast, with a creative conference held at the Dock in Carrick on Shannon.

Resonate An exhibition showcasing the work of contemporary Irish fashion photographers that was initially displayed at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin before undertaking a tour of libraries around the country.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

3

68

Lifelogging Lab From critical to creative, Lifelogging Lab at the Science Gallery Dublin, asked artists, designers and philosophers "Where do we go from here?" and questioned whether we can record and analyse happiness, beauty and aesthetics in the same way as we record footsteps and heartbeats.

Workshops Industry Research and Development Group's Design Thinking Masterclass Participants learnt how to apply the tools and techniques of design thinking to develop radically innovative concepts matched to their firm’s strategy and capabilities.

Grow Your Design Business Hosted by the Institute of Designers in Ireland to give young design companies practical help in growing design businesses, building client relationships and increasing client loyalty.

Talks Designing Dublin Held at the RDS, this talk featured Michael Phillips, Dublin City Engineer and Director of Traffic, discussing how a sustainable transport system plays an important role in how a city functions and how, through careful planning and design, it can influence how we experience and enjoy the city.

The Potting Shed Brainstorming sessions with leading design businesses Leckey and Firefly, world leaders in special needs postural design. The talks focused on their new cocreation, idea sharing platform.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

4

5

3 The Potting Shed ‘Hatch the Idea’ brainstorming workshop.

Image: The Potting Shed 4 Campaign Number 11 by ICAD. Image: ICAD 69

5 Campaign Number 12 by Atelier David Smith for ICAD. Image: ICAD

Publications ‘Campaign’ by The Institute of Creative Advertising and Design Campaign is the reintroduction of an Irish graphic design industry publication that was last issued in 1963. The publication is the Journal of the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design (ICAD) and its purpose is to contextualise the economic and cultural significance of design and highlight the important contribution of early graphic designers in Ireland, nationally and internationally. Through the publication, a platform is founded for contemporary public discourse around design, giving industry context and thus promoting high standards of creative excellence in visual communication. This has the added benefit of increasing the confidence of the indigenous design industry and encouraging clients to commission in Ireland. ID2015 funding and promotion was key in achieving the twelfth issue of Campaign, the first issue since 1963. Plans are in place to continue the publication beyond 2015.

DRAFF A print magazine distributed free in Dublin city offering insight into the design of shows for the stage, including set, costume and lighting design. DRAFF is the first publication of its kind in Ireland and is helping to increase awareness of Irish theatre and dance internationally, as well as encourage critical reflection on the form within the Irish performance community.

With contributions from high profile international artists, DRAFF places Irish artists on a par with their international contemporaries and encourages artist to artist dialogue.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

6

70

Online platforms stageandscreendesignireland.ie This online platform has been developed by Irish Theatre Institute in collaboration with ID2015, the Irish Film Board and Culture Ireland. The site is a showcase of designers originally from and/or working in Ireland, and features productions highlighted by the designers themselves and the companies they worked with between 2007 and 2014.

Short Films Design is… by John Walsh and the Institute of Designers in Ireland Design is… is a short informative film about the role of the designer across multiple disciplines, aimed at schools, teachers and third level students, as a way of showcasing career potential and the value that design adds to society and to business. By interviewing a variety of designers across a range of different sectors, the film demystifies design processes and creates greater awareness and understanding of the industry.

The film is available to all online and will be shown at schools and institutions around Ireland over the coming years, engaging with and developing design audiences and future designers.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

7 6 Stage and Screen Design Ireland by Irish Theatre Institute. Image: ID2015 7 Galway Design Box by GMIT. Image: GMIT 71

Installations Galway Design Box, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology Letterfrack Led by GMIT, Galway Design Box is a project that created mini permanent exhibition spaces around Galway city, promoting the city as a design hub. The seven large display cases in strategic locations are used to promote different products and processes by Connaught-based designers.

Event Sligo Design Week The first ever Sligo Design Week originated as an MA thesis project which was run with ID2015 support in conjunction with Design Week, and was also supported by Sligo County Council, Sligo IT and the Local Enterprise Office. The initiative was a resounding success and has laid the groundwork to establish a network of support for design in the region.

Regional Infrastructure Waterford the Glass City A selection of exhibitions, a symposium, a series of workshops, a network and a publication, all on the theme of glass production past, present and future in Waterford. This wide-ranging initiative aimed to highlight the significance of glass to the city of Waterford in economic, social and cultural terms.

New avenues in glass technology for architectural and interior use were illustrated, while new possibilities for upskilling and sharing knowledge were created, recognising the importance of this craft as a potential catalyst for development in Waterford.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - INFRASTRUCTURE

1

72

DESIGN DIRECTORY IRELAND

Produced in collaboration with IBM Studios Dublin, Design Directory Ireland is the first centralised database of designers in Ireland, across multiple disciplines.

The aim of the Directory is to: open up channels of engagement between designers and design specifiers, commissioners, and buyers; to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between designers; and, to encourage job creation in the design sector.

ID2015 aspired to increase competitiveness within Ireland’s design sector throughout 2015 and Design Directory Ireland provides a permanent network for this competitiveness to continue. The directory currently embraces and supports traditional design practices, such as furniture and textile design, alongside emerging disciplines such as UX design. By hosting all of these disciplines within the same directory, their commonalities – innovation, functionality and aesthetic awareness – are emphasised This broadens the design awareness of members, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and development.

The directory hosts members and clients of accredited design institutions such as the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI), The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), and the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI). From its inauguration, there were over 1,000 designers active on the site. There are eleven main design categories, including disciplines such as architecture, product and industrial design, and service design, representing the diversity of design practice in Ireland. Designers have the option of further refining their practice by tagging their profile with subdisciplines, allowing them to express the unique identity of their work.

The functionality of the site allows members to edit their profile and update it regularly with relevant information and images. A major asset of the directory will be the provision of a clear portal through which businesses and members of the public can contact designers. The website also features a dedicated resources page which informs users – both designers

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1-2 Design Directory Ireland by IBM Studios Dublin for ID2015.

Images: ID2015 73

and buyers/commissioners – about upcoming opportunities in the design community, as well as hosting industry information and ‘how to’ guides on topics such as ‘commissioning a designer’.

It is intended that the Directory will become an instrumental resource for the Irish design community and will continue to grow its number of members in the future. The Directory was designed by the team at IBM Studios Dublin.

For further information visit: designdirectoryireland.ie

74

“ID2015 highlighted the importance and the value of research into design enterprises in Ireland. I am honoured to have worked with ID2015, the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in developing a research report which informed the first Government Policy on Design since the Scandinavian Report in 1962. This new policy will continue to have influence for design enterprises for many years to come.”

Con Kennedy Designer

“Receiving support and funding from ID2015 was the catalyst for the Irish Invent Showcase, celebrating a new wave of contemporary Irish inventors and, perhaps more importantly, was a launchpad for new global conference enterprise InventFest.org.”

Michael Cusack Clyne Irish Invent Showcase

“The economic impact achieved by ID2015 has proved powerful evidence for Ireland’s Design Policy and Action Plan for Jobs. It is crucial that champions within industry, the design sector and government sustain the momentum generated by ID2015 for future impact and growth.”

Dr Anna Whicher Head of Policy, PDR, Cardiff Metropolitan University 75

Design creates enterprise

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

1

2

76

INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIRS

The ID2015 programme featured an ambitious series of presentations at leading international trade fairs that sought to promote Irish design and creativity around the world. The programme of trade events was the result of a collaboration between Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI).

Presenting Irish work at international trade events is instrumental in growing Ireland’s reputation abroad as a home for innovative design across a broad range of disciplines. The curated presentations at these fairs (designed by Steven McNamara in the case of Paris, New York and London) helped introduce key international contacts to the participating designers, generating new market penetration and export opportunities.

Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, Patron of ID2015. To celebrate ID2015, the fair was given a complete visual makeover, built around the theme of nature and creativity, and implemented across all aspects of the show from visual displays to the daily fashion shows.

DCCoI worked with curators Clare Grennan and Laura Caffrey of Irish Design Shop to create SHOP Showcase, a retail pop-up presenting a selection of beautiful products, all designed and made in Ireland. Overall, 464 exhibitors unveiled their latest collections and opened their order books. The new look and activities helped draw over 5,000 attendees to the event, attracting buyers from all over Ireland and 26 countries around the world and resulting in sales orders in excess of €20 million.

Showcase Showcase - Ireland’s Creative Expo®, one of the country's largest international trade fairs, held annually at the RDS in Dublin, was launched by President of

Maison et Objet 2015 saw the first time ever that the work of contemporary Irish designers and makers was presented in an Irish Design pavilion in the prestigious

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

4

1 SHOP Showcase at Showcase 2015. Image: DCCoI 2 Superfolk demonstration at Ó, Tent London, London Design Festival.

Image: Michael Paul 3 Irish Design Pavilion at Maison et Objet. Image: Steven McNamara 4 Ireland – Design Island at NY NOW. Image: DCCoI

77

Hall 8, ‘Design á Vivre’ at Maison et Objet in Paris.

Presented by DCCoI, the pavilion was wrapped in Irish linen and featured new work from 21 Irish designers and makers in furniture, wood, glass, ceramics, textiles, lighting, stone and basketry. The collection showcased objects that exemplified simplicity of form, respect for materials and awareness of the end user, in celebration of Ireland’s rich design and craft heritage.

NY NOW 23 of Ireland’s leading designers and craftspeople were exhibited at NY NOW 2015, in DCCoI's first group presence at this annual fair. The event, held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, attracted over 25,000 retail buyers from all over the US and was a valuable opportunity for Irish designers to develop relationships with leading US stores.

London Design Festival Ó, an exhibition presenting new work from Ireland’s

designers and makers, was exhibited at Tent London as part of London Design Festival 2015. Ó, meaning ‘from’ in the Irish language, conveyed the story of Ireland as a source of creative ideas and making, and explained how its craft heritage inspires contemporary design. The exhibition featured products in stone, glass, ceramics, wood and textiles from 30 designers who are passionate about materials and production and who possess a strong sense of place. The 2015 exhibition marked DCCoI's fourth year presenting the work of Irish designers and makers at London Design Festival.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

1

78

DESIGN START-UP PROGRAMMES

ID2015 was set the ambitious target of helping generate 200 new design-led business start-ups.

Following an analysis of the existing design and startup ecosystem, consultation with key stakeholders and an examination of best international practice, a suite of complementary programmes and activities were devised by the ID2015 team including:

Competitive Start Fund – Design This new €250,000 fund to support the creation of design-based start-up companies was delivered by Enterprise Ireland (EI) as part of ID2015. The fund provided up to €50,000 in equity support to start-ups in manufacturing or internationally traded services that are design-led or utilise design as a strategic competitive advantage. The Competitive Start Fund for Design provided new companies with early stage funding to ensure delivery of their design-based product or service.

The aim of the Fund was to enable companies to achieve key commercial and technical milestones, such as:

evaluating overseas market opportunities and • reaching firm conclusions regarding the viability of the proposed business • building a prototype • securing a reference site • developing a market entry plan for exploiting international opportunities • securing a partnership deal or strategic alliance • identifying suitable channels to access international markets • securing third party investment e.g. business angel, venture capital

The Competitive Start Fund is a core component of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for increasing the number and quality of ‘high potential start-up companies’ that

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

79 1

Stylus by Scriba. Image: Scriba

2 Stylus by Scriba. Image: Mark Kelly

have the potential to employ more than ten persons and achieve €1 million in export sales within three years.

Design and Innovation New Business Development Programme This pilot programme was developed as a collaboration between ID2015 and The Ignite Academy to grow and support expert business skills within the creative sector. The programme offers training, mentoring and networking support to 20 high potential design graduates who display highly developed design skills and are interested in significantly building their capacity to start or grow a creative enterprise. Through the programme, participants develop a product or service offering that can be brought to market within six months. The aim is to create immediate and sustainable self-employment for the participating designers with potential additional future employment in the businesses as they scale. The programme provides 16

days of expert training in key business start-up areas with a complete focus on the specific needs of Irish creative businesses.

The training programme is supported by three oneon-one mentoring meetings for each participant, with support drawn from a panel of design mentors and Ignite Academy business mentors. Participants have access to a Micro Finance Ireland/Ignite Academy small loan product of €5K based on submission of a viable plan. Applications were invited from across all design disciplines helping establish a diverse range of creative entrepreneurs.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

1 1 Joanna Doyle Ceramics, a Design and Innovation New Business Development Programme participant. Image: Joanna Doyle Ceramics 2 Aisling Duffy Collection 2016, a Design and Innovation New Business 80

Development Programme participant. Image: Aisling Duffy

Conclusion The ID2015 design start-up projects have already begun to bear fruit, with over 3701 new designers and design companies registering in 2015. The creation of start-up programmes dedicated to design-led companies has helped promote innovative design within Irish industry and encouraged more design-led start-ups, leading to jobs in the wider economy. These pilot projects provide a robust platform for future training and investment, and demonstrate the value of design as a tool for accelerating start-up activity in targeted sectors.

1 New DCCoI, IDI and RIAI members.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

81

2

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

1

1-3 Design4Growth Workshops at Dublin City Council.

Images: Toby Scott

82

DESIGN4GROWTH

International evidence shows that for every €1 invested in design, a company can expect to increase turnover by €202. Design4Growth is an ID2015/ Dublin City Council/LEO initiative that helps small and micro enterprises in Dublin to seize this opportunity and apply design strategically to grow their business.

The programme uses experienced design strategists to apply design as a process within a group of participating companies. They first consider where design might best be applied within the company to create maximum value and then commission specialists to deliver a specific design intervention.

Each company comes with a completely different challenge, and so design interventions vary according to need. Examples of potential spaces for interventions would be: identifying and profiling customers or clients; uncovering new or unmet user needs; prototyping new products or services; creating or refreshing identity and brand; developing delightful experiences for clients and customers; reducing cost during manufacture. The 2 Design Delivers for Business, Design Council UK, 2013.

programme, which was launched by Minister Nash in November 2015, commenced with over 35 companies participating in a half day workshop on January 26th 2016 to explore how they might use design strategically within their business and learn some practical tools that they could apply immediately. From that initial workshop, a group of fifteen companies were selected to go through to the next round where they worked directly with a team of seven design strategists to diagnose exactly where design might best be applied within their business in order to create growth.

As part of that process, they learned how to apply design strategically and how to commission design services themselves.

Of these fifteen companies, five will be selected to go on to the final stage of the programme where they will commission specific design support to address the challenges identified by the design strategists.

These longer-term projects took place in Spring and early Summer 2016. At the same time, the design

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

3

83

strategists will be going through continuous further training, the aim being to build a cohort of experienced practitioners in Ireland who are able to supply strategic design services in the future.

Toby Scott Director of Pentacle, The Virtual Business School

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

1

2

1 Better Business by Design, Ibec CEO conference at Dublin Castle.

Image: Ibec 2 Conference moderator Kevin McCloud speaking at Better Business by Design. Image: Ibec 3 Jason Mayden, VP of Design at Mark One, speaking at Better Business

by Design. Image: Ibec

84

IBEC CEO CONFERENCE: 'BETTER BUSINESS BY DESIGN'

On March 4th 2015, Ibec, the group that represents Irish business big and small, partnered with ID2015 to host a conference in Dublin Castle to promote design and creativity as key elements of competitiveness and innovation. The flagship Ibec CEO conference was entitled ‘Better Business by Design’ and brought together over 400 CEOs, policy makers and business leaders to hear from world experts about design thinking and its potential to deliver efficiencies, drive innovation and ensure public investment achieves better returns.

The host for the day was writer, designer and presenter of Channel 4’s Grand Designs Kevin McCloud, who, along with an expert panel of speakers, provided practical examples of how design and creativity can transform a company’s bottom line and provide public policy solutions. Tom Kelley, co-founder of IDEO and the d.school in Stanford University, was the keynote speaker and highlighted the benefit of recognising and unleashing the creative potential in every employee.

He told delegates that competitiveness is defined by innovation and noted that the more creativity you unlock across the board, the more likely you are to succeed. Phil Gilbert, Head of IBM Design in Austin Texas, outlined his firm’s major drive to place design at the forefront of competitiveness and innovation with the announcement of a new design centre in Dublin, one of over 20 globally, and the creation of 20 new jobs, with fellow guest speaker An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD. Ibec’s mission for the conference was to create a meeting point for CEOs, a place to understand and share knowledge and provoke new thinking about different ways in which they can enhance business performance. The conference succeeded in challenging the widely held belief that creativity is the preserve of artists, writers and designers, encouraging business leaders and policy makers to use fresh thinking to come up with new solutions to old problems.

Siobhan Masterson Ibec

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

85

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

1

86

DOLMEN AND THE IRISH DESIGN + MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

Commissioned by ID2015, the Irish Design + Medical Technology showcase was conceived by Dolmen to highlight the impact that design has throughout the medical device sector in Ireland. Ireland has a globally successful cluster of activity in the area of medical device development that many people don’t realise exists.

In 2010, the withdrawal of 80% of products by the FDA from the US market was due to poor ‘human factors’ and the direct effect of this on the usability of the withdrawn devices. It is clear from all stakeholders in the medical device sector that human factors plays an essential role in the development of successful and impactful new medical devices and is now further defined in industry specific standards for best practice in design for usability.

As a design consultancy, Dolmen works nationally and internationally with a number of indigenous SMEs and multinationals to develop medical devices. However, we also wanted to highlight where design impacts on other points of the development chain. Through the

showcase, we showed the strength of internal company teams (in companies such as Cook Medical and Stryker) to both innovate in new areas and redesign to enhance the usability and usefulness of current market leading products. We showed how user experience design (something which companies like Frontend and institutions like NCAD are focusing on) can lead to revolutionising medical procedures to the betterment of all stakeholders. We showed that a strong design approach leads to a lean and efficient manufacturing process (as with medical device company Creganna).

We also showed how exciting new Irish companies such as Vasorum, Motech and Novaerus are using design to differentiate themselves on the market and build commercially successful new businesses.

The showcase and accompanying booklet were used

by Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Medical Devices Association at a range of important industry events during the autumn of 2015 in an effort to get industry leaders talking about the importance of design in the industry. At all events, the organisers gave a special

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1 Irish Design + Medical Technology Showcase pamphlet by Dolmen.

Image: Christopher Heaney 2 Irish Design + Medical Technology Showcase opened by Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Image: Dolmen

focus to the value design delivers in order to promote this dialogue. A total of 800+ specialist attendees at the events received the accompanying booklet, while attendance overall exceeded 1,000. All of the companies involved in this exhibition brought their design teams to these key events to reward and acknowledge the positive impact their design work has had on their business, showcasing the work of 52 designers in total.

Dolmen were then able to offer medical businesses with no internal design team advice on how this process works and demonstrate to them how a customercentric design approach links with innovation to enable a business to successfully leapfrog its competitors.

We also clearly showcased that Ireland is a centre of excellence in the medical device design sector, with a strong ecosystem of education, research, training and development.

Sean McNulty Dolmen Design

87

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - ENTERPRISE

“ID2015 enabled us to showcase, interact and collaborate with Irish film and television sound designers whose world-class work is rarely highlighted but is heard around the globe.”

Diarmuid McIntyre Creative Director, Grey Heron Media

1 Aran Chair by Aodh displayed at Design Junction, London Design Festival. Image: courtesy of Peter Maybury, Aodh 88

INTERNATIONAL TRADE FUND

In order to grow Ireland’s design sector, it is essential that designers receive the support needed to develop their export potential and routes to market. To this end, the International Trade Fund (delivered by ID2015 in association with Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI)) was established as an integral component of the ID2015 international programme.

The objective of the fund was to provide financial support on a match-funding basis to export-ready, design-led businesses headquartered in the Republic of Ireland to participate in trade events abroad. These events are key to generating new market penetration and export opportunities for Irish companies, as well as to growing Ireland’s reputation abroad as a home for innovative design across all disciplines.

Events attended by supported businesses have included: Ambiente, the leading international trade fair for consumer goods; Medtec UK, the UK’s largest and longest established event for medical device technology professionals; and, the Kidscreen Summit,

one of the most important annual events for animators and other content-creators working in children’s entertainment. By promoting Irish design on the international stage and achieving additional exports of design-based products and services, the International Trade Fund further aimed to drive the creation of design-based jobs in the Irish economy.

There were two rounds of funding: the first round provided support for attending trade events during 2015, with the second round funded events taking place between August 2015 and March 2016.

The current market offers real commercial opportunities to develop international markets for Irish design businesses. However, starting on the exporting journey can be both costly and demanding. The International Trade Fund has enabled many ambitious companies at the early stage of the exporting journey to participate in trade events internationally where it would have been difficult for them to do so independently.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

89 1

It has been fantastic to see that so many Irish design companies have the ambition and capability to expand into international markets and, when supported to do so, can really deliver in terms of results for their business.

The outcomes of the Fund to date are extremely positive, with awardees reporting that their participation in trade events around the world has been an excellent introduction to key international contacts, generating interest in their products and services and creating new export opportunities. Several companies have indicated that their attendance at trade events with the support of ID2015’s International Trade Fund has already impacted on the growth of their business and enabled them to plan for the creation of new jobs. In the future, it is hoped that participating companies will continue to build upon and profit from the increased export potential, new professional relationships, international experience and industry knowledge gained as a result of being supported by the fund.

90

“ID2015 was a concept conceived and implemented with intelligence, confidence and flair, delivering Irish design to a discerning and informed audience on a national and international level. Through its good work, our rugs have achieved a degree of exposure that could otherwise only have been aspired to.�

Denis Kenny CeadogĂĄn Rugs

“ID2015 provided us with a platform to show new Irish architecture internationally, enabling the work of six upcoming offices to be seen in design capitals across Northern Europe.”

Laurence Lord AP+E (Architecture Practice + Experimentation)

“I am thrilled that Arckit was chosen by Irish Design 2015 as part of their flagship Liminal exhibition in both Eindhoven and Dublin. I am sincerely grateful to the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland to have been invited to showcase my work on such an important international platform.

I’m also incredibly proud to be able to say that Arckit is made in Ireland!”

Damien Murtagh Arckit

Design creates awareness

91

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

2

92

1

3

LIMINAL–IRISH DESIGN AT THE THRESHOLD

Liminal – Irish design at the threshold was the flagship exhibition for ID2015, representing over 100 designers, studios and companies at high profile design weeks in Milan, New York and Eindhoven, before returning to Dublin to close out 2015. Liminal aimed to present the best of Irish design to an international audience and to provide the impetus and space for design-led collaborative relationships to emerge and evolve during 2015.

The first iteration of the exhibition was opened on April 16th 2015 at Milan Design Week by Ambassador of Ireland to Italy Bobby McDonagh. Liminal - Irish design at the threshold represented the first collective exhibition to showcase Irish design on an international stage in decades. It attracted an audience in excess of 40,000 and significant media attention.

Dezeen, one of the world’s most influential and popular online magazines, published a number of articles on the show, and created a film of the exhibition, reaching over 2 million readers. It was listed

by Design Milk as one of their two highlights from Zona

Tortona and featured in Italian daily newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

Following Milan, Liminal was launched at WantedDesign at NYCxDESIGN by Consul General in New York Barbara Jones, on May 15th. The exhibition was included by international design publications Curbed, Dwell and Azure in their highlights of New York City’s official citywide celebration of design and attracted an audience of 16,000. The New York exhibition created significant commercial leads that have translated into orders for a number of the designers featured.

The evolution of the exhibition content for Liminal at Dutch Design Week (DDW), was significant. The experimental and tech-focused nature of DDW demanded work that reflected Ireland’s strength in innovative and interactive technology alongside, and embedded in, other design disciplines. Over 70,000 visitors engaged with the exhibition, which was officially launched by Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

4

6 1 Plumage by Love & Robots and Niamh Lunny. Image: Love & Robots 2 Dyflin Chair by Designgoat and Indigo & Cloth. Image: Peter Rowen 3 Liminal Milan Gifts by Think & Son and Seymours Biscuits. Image: Fabio Diena 4 Kelp Milan starter course by Katie Sanderson. Image: Peter Rowen 5 Float by Perch and Thomas Montgomery.

Image: Perch 6 Double Dutch – Irish Blarney by The Stone Twins. Image: The Stone Twins

5

The culmination of collaborative design practice and commissioned work that spanned 2015 was presented in the Dublin iteration of Liminal – Irish design at the threshold. The exhibition, which was opened by President Micheal D. Higgins, Patron of ID2015, at the Coach House, Dublin Castle on November 19th, was a celebration of the diversity and quality of Irish designers across the spectrum of design disciplines.

Liminal, co-curated by Alex Milton (Programme Director for ID2015), Louise Allen (Head of International Programmes, ID2015) and designer Angela O’Kelly, intentionally set out to credibly represent Irish design on an international stage. It aimed to generate international media interest and commercial opportunity for designers who have the ambition to develop their products and services for international markets. Much was achieved during 2015; significantly, Irish design crossed the threshold onto the international foundation for the future growth of the design sector in Ireland.

For futher information visit: irishdesign2015.ie/liminal

93

IRISH DESIGN 2015  PROJECTS - AWARENESS

7

94

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

9

10

95

7 Liminal at WantedDesign NYC. Image: Rich Gilligan 8 Liminal at Milan Design Week. Image: Fabio Diena 9 Liminal at Design Hub, Dublin Castle. Image: Ste Murray 10 Liminal at Dutch Design Week. Image: Nick Bokkelaar

8

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

1

96

NEW HORIZON_ARCHITECTURE FROM IRELAND

Architecture was a central component of ID2015’s international programme, with a focus on its role in shaping environments and lives. Key to this focus was raising the profile of Irish architects abroad and providing contexts for experimentation within the form.

Conceived of and curated by Raymund Ryan, Curator at the Heinz Architectural Center, Pittsburgh and Nathalie Weadick, Director of the Irish Architecture Foundation and ID2015 Built Environment Advisor, New Horizon_ architecture from Ireland was a major initiative that exhibited the work of ten emerging Irish architecture practices on three continents during 2015, in London, Chicago and Shenzhen.

In June, as part of the London Festival of Architecture, five of these practices designed two pavilions for King’s Cross. The pavilions were complemented by an exhibition at the London Design Museum, entitled Nine Lives. The central location of the pavilions ensured a high level of exposure to the public, with an estimated footfall of 150,000. In October, three of the ten practices installed a mirrored pavilion inside

the Chicago Design Museum for the first Chicago Architecture Biennial, which is expected to have been seen by an audience of 12,000 by the conclusion of its run.

And in December, two of the practices created a sensory environment at the Dacheng Flour Factory as part of the sixth Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\ Architecture (Shenzhen).

The various installations were launched by Minister for Diaspora Affairs, Jimmy Deenihan TD in London, Minister for Business & Employment, Ged Nash TD in Chicago, and Ambassador of Ireland to the People’s Republic of China, Paul Kavanagh in Shenzhen. As part of the legacy of New Horizon, the yellow pavilion has been donated to GMIT Letterfrack, The National Centre of Excellence for Furniture Design and Wood Technology, where it will remain permanently installed.

The exposure for Irish architecture extended beyond footfall at exhibitions and events, with New Horizon being featured more than thirty times in design magazines, including Domus and Dezeen, and in

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

1 Design workshop at New Horizon Red Pavilion at London Festival of Architecture. Image: Jon Bosworth 2 New Horizon at Chicago Design Museum. Image: Geoff Adler

97 2

mainstream print media such as the Chicago Tribune and the Irish Times, as well as on radio, television and the web. The exhibitors developed new relationships with suppliers, designers and clients, with forty-six companies providing materials, services and support in kind to the project. Four practices have recorded commissions as a direct result of their involvement.

Importantly, New Horizon encouraged the designers to collaborate with their peers in Ireland, testing new architectural ideas and styles. To animate the structures, the curators programmed thirteen events across the three cities with approximately 1,800 attendees. Three catalogues in the style of zines were designed by Peter Maybury to accompany the exhibitions, including questionnaires with the architects, while IBM designed a New Horizon website, which now acts as an online archive for the shows.

Finally, a Design Feasibility Study took place, conducting market research in association with the Consulate General of Ireland in Chicago, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and

Enterprise Ireland. Minister Gerald Nash, TD, launched New Horizon in Chicago as part of this study.

New Horizon’s legacy is in promoting and supporting a new era of Irish architecture, giving six of the ten practices their first opportunity to design and build a piece of architecture outside of Ireland.

With temporary works of architecture, documentation (high quality photography and video) is crucial to preserve the impact made. New Horizon taught that rigorous promotion of the associated events programme to activate discussion, and a short film showing the construction and lifetime of each project, would help to continue public and professional awareness of such initiatives in their aftermath, a focus that is crucial to keep in mind for similar projects in the future. New Horizon has proven that government grants for architects to attend international biennials are necessary for those architects to be part of the global discussion.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  PROJECTS - AWARENESS

98

New Horizon_architecture from Ireland would not have been possible without the invaluable partnership and support of: [in London] Argent (Property Services) LLP, Design Museum London, Coillte Panel Products, IBM, John Sisk and Sons, London Festival of Architecture, and The Doyle Collection; [in Chicago] Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago Design Museum, Suzie Brown, Clune Construction Company, Culture Ireland, Gurtz Electrics, McHugh Construction Company; [in Shenzhen] Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, Culture Ireland, Shannon Group PLC, as well as all the other valued partners who contributed time and resources to the initiative.

For more information visit: newhorizon.irishdesign2015.ie

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

4

99

5

1 Red Pavilion by Clancy Moore, Steve Larkin and TAKA Architects at London Festival of Architecture. Image: Jon Bosworth 2 New Horizon at Chicago Architecture Biennial by A2, GKMP and Ryan W. Kennihan Architects. Image: Geoff Adler 3 Yellow Pavilion by Hall McKnight at London Festival of Architecture.

Image: Jon Bosworth 6

4 New Horizon by AP+E and Urban Agency at Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen). Image: Matthew Thompson

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

100 1

THE OGHAM WALL

The Ogham Wall was a collaborative project between our agency, Grafton Architects, and Graphic Relief, who we worked with to make an exhibition for the Tapestry Room of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

This exhibition formed part of the London Design Festival 2015 programme and fulfilled one of the core ambitions of ID2015: to encourage collaboration between practitioners of different disciplines. Graphic Relief have the skill and technique to cast metal and concrete in an imaginative, creative and meaningful way, a way which we as architects had not previously encountered or explored.

The idea was to make an exhibition piece which would translate the abstract 'musical' rhythm and pattern of the ancient Irish Ogham script into a threedimensional, architectural element. Our interest in Ogham springs from its historic, symbolic significance.

Simple but impressive Ogham stones are scattered thoughout Ireland and Britain. Their basic form, an upright stone carved with lines, is placed at locations

of long-lost significance, claiming their surrounding landscapes. We refer to architecture as the silent language that speaks; with The Ogham Wall, we thought about the possibility of grouping Ogham stones to find new relationships and to explore their architectural properties. A series of concrete fins were designed to have a monumental and ancient presence in the Tapestry Room of the V&A. We translated the ancient Irish Ogham script into a three dimensional spatial and architectural element, a kind of colonnade, where the visitor could walk in between the ‘scores’ of this script.

The rhythm and spaces between the concrete fins framed and complemented the beautifully rich colours and qualities of the 16th century tapestries hanging in the space.

The base material of these tapestries is rough and the weaving of the image is exquisite. Similarly, the concrete of the The Ogham Wall is rough and the integration of the metal within the concrete is, by contrast, delicate. The visitor was invited to touch the

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2 1-2 The Ogham Wall by Grafton Architects and Graphic Relief at V&A. Image: Michael Paul 3

The Ogham Wall under construction. Image: Graphic Relief

101

3

rich texture of the cast concrete and metal surfaces, the textures emanating from the surface texture of a ‘sacred’ tree which each letter of the Ogham script represents.

Working with Graphic Relief, we explored the integration of new materials and new technologies with concrete. This heightened the potential of the expression of concrete as a type of man-made geology, with strata and seams similar to those found in stone.

In designing the Bocconi University Building in Milan, we used a sedimentary stone called Ceppo, which had the characteristic of a kind of ‘geological concrete’. In this V&A exhibition, this analogy was reversed, giving concrete a 'geological' presence.

The process of making these concrete 'fins' combined current digital technology with the traditional process of casting concrete in moulds, while the collaboration involved the bringing together of architecture and language in a three dimensional, spatial way. It extended the exploration of the ‘plastic’

quality of concrete and the enrichment of the surface treatment of concrete by the integration of clay and metal into the casting process.

The Ogham Wall was launched by Minister Ged Nash on September 19th 2015. The Ogham Wall subsequently traveled to Washington DC and was presented as one of the key installations at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of ‘Ireland 100 – Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts & Culture’ from May 17th to June 5th 2016.

Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara Grafton Architects

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

102 1

UNFOLD AND IN THE FOLD AT LONDON FASHION WEEK 2015

ID2015 created a strategic programme of events to support and showcase both emerging and established Irish fashion designers on the international platform offered by London Fashion Week (LFW). London is a key component of the global fashion industry, renowned as a hub for the discovery of new talent.

In February 2015, ID2015 presented In the Fold, Ireland’s important inaugural entry into the International Fashion Showcase. The event is hosted by the British Council and the British Fashion Council to an audience of over 5,000 visitors, including the world’s most influential fashion press and industry influencers. With over 30 countries involved in the showcase, hosted by embassies and cultural organisations, Ireland created a standout installation to launch the careers of eight graduate designers.

September 2015 saw the launch of the SS16 collections of designers from all over the world at LFW and again ID2015 positioned themselves with a showcase of 11 established Irish designers. In the first official ’on schedule’ event by Irish designers for London

Fashion Week, Unfold saw the creation of a unique fashion presentation in the prestigious location of the Institute of Contemporary Art. The event was attended by over 300 guests including key buyers, media and industry professionals. The designers were supported in the selling of their collections in a collaborative showroom managed by an experienced fashion industry commercial advisor.

For both Unfold and In the Fold, the designers selected to participate were involved in a call out process and reviewed by a selection panel of industry professionals. All designers received mentoring to support them in the areas of business growth, branding, production, sales and PR. Following these events, the designers involved have gone on to achieve success in a variety of forms, including confirming international stockists, creating employment within their businesses, winning placements on prestigious MA courses at the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins, securing promotion to head designer on one of the biggest TV

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1 Unfold at ICA, London Fashion Week, September 2015.

Image: Morgan O’Donovan 2 In the Fold at London Fashion Week, February 2015.

Image: Anthony Woods 3 Millinery by Laura Kinsella, at Unfold. Image: Morgan O’Donovan

103

3

costume series produced in Ireland, gaining further representation at LFW platforms and being awarded support from the influential NewGen initiative created by the British Fashion Council. Most importantly, the designers have learned from shared experience and there is a new value placed on the internationalisation of Irish fashion for business growth and development.

The ID2015 fashion programme was supported by partners Kildare Village and The Doyle Collection, along with a number of hospitality and media partners, an indication of the confidence of Irish business in the undertaking.

Alongside these achievements, an important network of relationships for ID2015 was established with the British Council, British Fashion Council and many key industry professionals who have all shown generous support for the development of Irish fashion talent. While there are fewer immediate commercial results visible from this type of activity in terms of sales, we have learned that supporting Irish fashion on an international platform is key to the growth

of the indigenous industry and crucial in retaining the business of our designers as they embark on international careers.

Unfold was curated by Gemma Williams, while In the Fold was curated by ID2015 Fashion Advisor Aisling Farinella.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

1

2

104

THE EMBASSY NETWORK PROGRAMME

The Embassy Network Programme was instrumental in contributing to raising the profile of Irish design internationally during 2015, granting the international programme extensive geographical reach. Delivered in association with the Trade Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Irish Embassy network, and Enterprise Ireland, 24 Embassies and Consulates have participated in the network programme to date. The events delivered have ranged from hosting a Connections exhibition with a linked networking event, to launching ID2015 initiatives such as the Global Irish Design Challenge. The Embassy Network programme is continuing into 2016 as a key legacy of ID2015.

As part of the programme, participating Embassies and Consulates host one or more of the Connections touring exhibitions. These exhibitions are then linked to local events promoting the quality of Irish design to international audiences and facilitating the development of new relationships with local industry

representatives, key buyers and influencers, and international media. Additionally, Enterprise Ireland collaborated to facilitate linkages to their international programme, including Ministerial Trade Missions, and to support the development of design-focused Feasibility Studies and Market Study Visits throughout 2015.

The Connections exhibitions themselves consist of a capsule exhibition and a photographic exhibition that collectively feature the work of over 50 designers and design companies. This innovative and transportable capsule exhibition was developed in close collaboration with the DFAT Trade Division and comprises a set of sturdy flight cases that open to reveal a range of exhibits showcasing the wealth of Irish design talent across all disciplines. There are two versions of the capsule, ‘Life and Culture’ and ‘Society and Progress’, and four exhibition sets tour different parts of the world simultaneously. The capsule is supplemented by a photographic exhibition that features selected images from Design Island, an exhibition that was presented

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

1-2 Connections Capsule by Studio Aad. Image: ID2015 3 Design Island photographic exhibition. Image: ID2015 105

by DCCoI in partnership with daa at Dublin Airport throughout 2015. The Connections project was curated

by Studio Aad. The capsules have proven an effective method of generating high-level interest in Irish design around the world. As one example of their impact, the Consulate General of Ireland in Scotland hosted the capsule exhibition during the Edinburgh Festivals and organised a networking event that was attended by many high profile representatives from the creative, business and public sectors. Among the outcomes from this collaboration was ID2015’s participation in The Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Architecture and the Built Environment. Furthermore, networking events facilitated by the programme have given numerous Irish designers the opportunity to present on their work and the wider Irish design sector, such as when fashion designer Helen Cody presented her work to an audience of 800 key delegates at the Design Success Summit in Shanghai.

Taken as a whole, the Embassy Network Programme has directly engaged the unique strengths of Embassies and Consulates to access international networks and highlight the quality of Irish design abroad. This has served both to enhance Ireland’s global reputation as a source of innovative design and to forge links with the international design community. It is hoped that the continuation of the programme into 2016 will encourage the further growth of Irish jobs and exports.

For further information visit: connections.irishdesign2015.ie

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

1 1 In the Making at Design Hub, Dublin Castle. Image: Ste Murray 2 Hidden Heroes at Design Hub, Dublin Castle. Image: Ste Murray 3 Platinum - A’ Design Award Exhibition at Design Hub, Dublin Castle.

Image: Ste Murray

2

106

DUBLIN CASTLE DESIGN HUB

The Design Hub at the Coach House in Dublin Castle was the ID2015 flagship national venue for 2015, thanks to a partnership with the Office of Public Works (OPW), who kindly donated the space for the year.

Situated in a prominent location next to Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library, it quickly began to attract a large audience of design-curious visitors.

The red brick, dark and atmospheric interior of the historic building really lent itself to displays of contemporary design, offering the curatorial team the opportunity to work with a talented pool of exhibition and graphic designers to present ideas in an engaging manner.

One of the major benefits of ID2015 was the opportunity to develop connections with some of the world’s leading design museums and cultural institutions. The programme at the Design Hub opened with In the Making, curated for the Design Museum London by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. The show captures objects mid-manufacture, putting the aesthetic

of the unfinished centre stage. A surprising range of objects, from a hand-crafted currach to the 2012 London Olympic torch, were exhibited in an unfinished state, celebrating the beauty of the making process and revealing the unexpected quality that everyday objects have before assuming their final, recognisable form.

This was followed by Hidden Heroes, an exhibition from the Vitra Design Museum, which presented over thirty everyday items, telling their history and demonstrating the enormous significance they have today, both conceptually and economically. ID2015 also brought one of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s exhibitions A World to Win. Posters of Protest and Revolution to the National Print Museum in Dublin, a timely show given the impending 1916 centenary commemorations.

A series of ID2015 commissioned exhibitions complemented the international shows and Fresh Talent, curated by Angela O’Kelly, shone a light on the creative new wave of designers emerging since 2011

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

107 3

who work within and across disciplines. The exhibition subsequently toured to Derry and Sligo, reaching new audiences during regional design weeks and festivals.

In recognition of ID2015 achievements, and for outstanding contributions and support to the development of design worldwide, the International Association of Designers presented Dublin with World Design Hub status. This honour was celebrated with an exhibition of some of the best global design today, entitled Platinum – A’ Design Award Exhibition, which was curated by ID2015 Programme Director Alex Milton and ID2015 Exhibition Coordinator Dobrawa Brach-Kaluzna.

The year of exhibitions concluded with the return of the ID2015 international flagship show Liminal – Irish design at the threshold. Each of the exhibitions were complemented by a comprehensive educational outreach programme of workshops, talks and events, helping to interpret the shows for a wide audience.

During the year, the Design Hub attracted over 78,000 visitors, helping put design on the map in

Ireland and clearly demonstrating an appetite for a permanent Irish design museum, gallery and education hub.

The programme of exhibitions at the Design Hub was made possible with support from many invaluable volunteers who generously gave of their time. The core Design Hub programme was supported and supplemented by an extensive Education and Engagement programme (see ‘Design creates education’ section for further details).

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

108

1

NATIONAL CRAFT GALLERY EXHIBITION PROGRAMME

Established by the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland in 2000, the National Craft Gallery (NCG) in Kilkenny is Ireland’s leading centre for contemporary craft and design. The NCG is housed in the former studios of Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW). Opened in 1965, KDW is widely credited with helping spark Ireland’s design economy and with awakening contemporary Irish design through engaging with the power of making and craft.

To mark ID2015, a series of commissioned exhibitions was hosted in the gallery, exhibitions that aimed to inspire appreciation, creativity and innovation amongst visitors, and play a critical role in building public understanding and awareness of the expanding and increasingly interdisciplinary design culture within Ireland.

In devising the programme, the ID2015 team sought to conceive a challenging set of exhibitions that collectively captured and critiqued contemporary Irish craft, design and architecture fifty years on from the opening of KDW, through an exploration of the power of ‘making’. Through making we solve problems, express

ideas and shape our world. What and how we make defines who we are, and communicates who we want to be. The NCG programme of exhibitions throughout 2015 demonstrated the craft of making across a diverse range of disciplines, and attracted over 30,000 visitors.

The programme launched with fashion exhibition Second Skin (which subsequently toured to London, Paris and Clonmel). Curated by Louise Allen, the show posed a challenge to four Irish fashion labels - Jennifer Rothwell, Joanne Hynes, NATALIEBCOLEMAN and Lennon Courtney - to design, source and produce a garment or range of clothing on the island of Ireland and to document the opportunities and challenges encountered in doing so.

Shifting the focus from fashion to food, Appetite for Design, created by Designgoat, featured the work of leading Irish and international designers, cooks and restaurateurs, and documented, discussed and speculated about the design of food and our experience of it, building on the increasing global recognition of outstanding Irish produce from coast to coast, and

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1 Fresh Talent at National Craft Gallery. Image: Ste Murray 2 Second Skin at National Craft Gallery. Image: Rich Gilligan 109

seabed to soil. The show subsequently toured to Derry as part of CultureTech.

Work by the 2015 graduates of DCCoI’s two-year Jewellery and Goldsmithing Skills & Design Course was exhibited in July. Emerge & Make featured exquisite pieces of jewellery in gold, palladium, silver and precious gemstones.

Nine Lives, curated by Emmett Scanlon, presented the work of nine emerging Irish architectural practices who are gaining a national and international reputation in the craft of architecture. The exhibition formed part of Kilkenny Arts Festival 2015 and presented a rich variety of drawings, sketches, photos, models and texts from both architects and occupants.

Multidisciplinary in focus, Side by Side was a curated exhibition of contemporary work from the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland’s publication, PORTFOLIO: Critical Selection 2015-2016. Curated by Christina Jansen, Director of The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, Side by Side featured 22 Irish makers, including Cork-based furniture designer Joseph Walsh, whose

international reputation has been growing in the world of design and Sara Flynn’s ceramic vessels, which were top sellers at the 2015 London Art Fair. The gallery also hosted Fresh Talent, curated by Angela O’Kelly, which showcased emerging designers and makers, and Ó, an exhibition of new work from Ireland’s leading designers and makers, curated by Steven McNamara, which enjoyed a hugely successful inaugural run at Tent London as part of the London Design Festival 2015.

The concept of craftsmanship and the importance of making things has never been as relevant and timely as it is today, and the diverse range of exhibitions programmed throughout 2015 at NCG sought to inspire a discussion about what making is now and how the craft of making permeates our everyday lives, from the houses we inhabit and remake through to the food we put on our plate.

The NCG programme was supported and supplemented by an extensive Education and Engagement programme (see ‘Design creates education’ section for further details).

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - AWARENESS

3

110

3 Emerge & Make opening at the National Craft Gallery. Image: Ian Vaughan 4 Ó at the National Craft Gallery. Image: Dylan Vaughan

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

111

4

112

“ID2015 offered a great platform to showcase the excellence of Italian design in Ireland, creating a context to bring important institutions such as ADI (Association of Industrial Design) and expert speakers such as Gisella Bianco to an Irish audience, and establishing a sound basis for future initiatives and projects.”

Renata Sperandio Director, Istituto Italiano di Cultura

“With the help of ID2015 funding, we were able to hold a day-long conference with over 65 attendees, both design professionals and students. The support of ID2015 enabled us to invite prominent speakers and to ensure the event was free to all.”

Catherine McGinnis Belfast Design Week

“Irish Design 2015 was the perfect setting to present innovative design from Germany in Ireland. Goethe-Institut Irland was delighted to cooperate with ID2015 on several projects throughout the year.”

Thomas Lier Director, Goethe-Institut Irland

Design creates education

113

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

1

114

EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT

An extensive education and engagement programme was curated to explore and contextualise the ID2015 core exhibitions at the Design Hub in Dublin Castle and the National Craft Gallery (NCG) in Kilkenny. These exhibitions celebrated the social and cultural value of design and making; the related education programmes were targeted to engage designers, makers, students and members of the public to actively think and talk about the importance of good design and its value to everyday lives.

Design Bites was a series of 22 informal lunchtime talks at the Design Hub, devised to spark interest, build public awareness and increase appreciation of design across disciplines. Innovative, established and award winning designers were invited to talk about their practice, philosophy and projects (with many of these talks now available as podcasts at www.mixcloud.com/ irishdesign2015). Six designer panels and seminars raised weighty questions to initiate dialogue between designers and across communities, focusing on what

design excellence, innovation and collaboration can achieve. At NCG, four Curator Talks discussed exhibition concepts and intent, while ten Late Dates invited designers and makers to share their practices and processes. Sixteen Design Session workshops at the Design Hub created a space for designers and makers to explore and share skills across disciplines, while at NCG fifteen workshops and masterclasses were led by designers to share design and making skills.

School and family programmes at the Design Hub and NCG were devised to nurture curiosity, creativity, understanding, making and design related skills in young people, the designers of the future. Throughout the year, 40 Family Day design workshops at the Design Hub and 17 at NCG were facilitated by experienced designers, makers and educators, playfully exploring ideas, processes and skills related to their design practices. Primary, secondary and third level groups availed of tailored gallery visits and design workshops, facilitated by dynamic educators who animated the

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1 Screenprinting workshop with Caroline Ryan of Print Block.

Image: ID2015 2 Design Bites talk at Design Hub, Dublin Castle. Image: ID2015 3 Design Sessions workshop with Noelle Cooper of Unthink at Design Hub, Dublin Castle to coincide with Hidden Heroes. Image: ID2015 3

115

exhibitions, contextualising design within the students’ lives and introducing them to design thinking and processes. As a legacy piece, a Young Designer Toolkit was developed to introduce children to design, and was sent, along with detailed teacher’s notes, to every primary school in the country.

Gallery Exploration resources were developed to engage young people and adults in each of the exhibitions; highlights included Architecture Explorer during Nine Lives at NCG and the Design Competition run during Platinum at the Design Hub. The NCG and Design Hub education teams also programmed an extensive series of workshops and engagements as part of 11 national festivals including Kilkenny Arts Festival, National Drawing Day, Culture Night, Design Week, Bealtaine Festival, St Patrick’s Fest, BLOOM and Baboró Festival, exciting new visitors about the possibilities of design and making.

Education programmes at the Design Hub and NCG throughout 2016 sought to foster dialogue, inspire and

excite audiences, celebrate the wealth and excellence of Irish design, and create greater public awareness and appreciation of design in Ireland.

The Education and Outreach programmes at the Design Hub and NCG were made possible with support from many invaluable volunteers who generously gave of their time.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

1

116

EDUCATION TO ENTERPRISE TOOLKITS

Getting a design job, launching your own design company or bringing a design product or service to market are professional milestones that can often seem daunting to students. In order to help young designers on this journey, ID2015 commissioned a number of toolkits containing information and advice, together with a series of exercises and activities to help students and graduates explore and develop their design portfolios and business ideas, and describe the ‘story’ of their creative business and/or skillsets.

The aim of the toolkits is to help young designers spot opportunities, create new ideas and have the confidence and capabilities to turn these ideas into working realities.

As a working designer, the ability to present work to clients clearly and confidently is fundamental to success.

The toolkits endeavour to equip novice designers for a professional context, helping them to become familiar with design and business language and processes, and enabling them to confidently articulate and discuss their

ideas with partners, suppliers and customers as well as business support agencies. The toolkits will also provide support for anyone from a creative background who is interested in starting or developing their own design business and to business advisors who are supporting creative start-ups.

The toolkits are being developed under the supervision of ID2015 and the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) Education Team, and draw upon best international practice and precedents in creating a bespoke range of supports and scaffolding that bridge the gap between education and enterprise.

The intention is that these toolkits will be the first of a suite of resources that will address design and creative entrepreneurial skills needs from secondary school all the way through to helping encourage lifelong learning and continuous professional development within the design sector.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

117

3

1-3 Selection of content from Enterprise to Education Toolkits

by Alex Milton. Images: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

1

1 ITERATIONS journal. Image: Christopher Heaney 2 ITERATIONS launch at VISUAL Carlow. Image: Iterations 3 Issue 1, ITERATIONS journal. Image: Christopher Heaney

118

2

ITERATIONS: DESIGN RESEARCH AND PRACTICE REVIEW

ITERATIONS: design research and practice review is a journal that provides a platform for practicing designers and design researchers in Ireland and internationally to document, reflect and present their practices, theories, processes and artefacts. 2015 saw the publication of the first two issues, with an encouraging reception from the design community. The review is presented as an open access publication with a rigorous ethos and a robust blind peer review process. There is now clear evidence that the emergent Irish design research community has come of age and that deep discussion and critique of original research and novel practice work is of value in a societal and institutional context.

The review has strong support from experienced practitioners, researchers and educators in the leading higher education and research institutions across the island through the editorial board and peer reviewing panel. The review also enjoys continued support from professional bodies and design practices who clearly value design research as a necessary addition to their representative and commercial work.

ID2015 provided the opportunity and seed funding to develop ITERATIONS, but more importantly it provided the unique context, encouragement and environment for designers and researchers to present their work in a formal, peer-reviewed manner which was previously only available on the international stage. Further acknowledgement of the efforts of the editorial team came from the judges of the Institute of Designers Ireland (IDI) awards, who selected ITERATIONS for the ‘Special ID2015 award for collaboration’. This, combined with positive responses from peers, ongoing financial support from the institutions, and continuing submissions for issue three, ensures that ITERATIONS will sustain itself into the future as a review of record for Irish design.

The review is available through the National Library of Ireland, institutional libraries and through the IDI. After a six month embargo, all back issues of ITERATIONS are available as an open access download on www.iterations.ie Adam de Eyto Lead editor, ITERATIONS: design research and practice review

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

119

3

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

1

120

designED: SHAPING EXPERIENCES

designED was an educational initiative that took place from the start of 2015. The project had been under discussion for a number of years, as a way of building on DCCoI's renowned CRAFTed programme for primary level, but it was thanks to direct funding through ID2015 that it was possible to officially implement it.

A significant, design-led project which took place in twelve of Ireland’s secondary schools in regions across the country, designED matched up secondary school staff and pupils with professional craft-designers to work together on in-school design projects.

Echoing the structure of CRAFTed, designED was jointly managed by the DCCoI Education Team and advisory professional staff from the government’s Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST).

The overall aim of the initiative was to raise awareness amongst students and teachers of how design can influence and shape experiences.

All twelve schools were extremely proactive in reporting back on the progress of the initiative,

information which is being utilised to inform the Department of Education and Skills with regard to potential future roll out of designED. As a follow-on activity, DCCoI plans to develop a new online, interactive designED learning resource as a dynamic e-learning platform. The platform aims to enable students to develop design process thinking and techniques in a virtual learning environment. The target audience is students at second level, their teachers, and designers and makers engaged in collaborative creative projects in the school setting.

A significant outcome of designED was the creation of a notebook entitled An Object of Astonishing Potential and Endless Possibilities, a tool for exploring design process and inspiring innovation. The notebook will be used as a formative learning tool on DCCoI higher education programmes currently in existence, and will be distributed to the next cohort of postprimary teachers and designers involved in the second phase of designED.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

121

1-2 An Object of Astonishing Potential and Endless Possibilities

by Studio AAD. Image: Hannah Fleetwood

As a result of the success of the designED initiative, discussions are taking place with the Creative Industries Ambassador for Armagh and the Education Team in DCCoI to explore joint initiatives which might see similar designED-type activities taking place in Northern Ireland, through the ‘Create: Innovate Armagh’ initiative.

There are initial suggestions to mount a ‘Design Thinking Challenge’ for students in NI, in collaboration with the Local Education Authority. This will involve investigation, brainstorming, ideas development, prototyping and pitching, with design professionals getting hands-on with the groups and showing them how these skills can be relevant in the real world.

Lessons learnt from designED will be considered in the development of these plans.

The designED programme is still in early development in terms of being rolled out nationwide, with discussions already underway with relevant partners.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

1

122

LIBRARY PROGRAMME

It was important to the overall aims of ID2015 that communities throughout the island of Ireland felt included in, and empowered by, the year. In the early months of planning the ID2015 programme, the team identified an opportunity to engage with the Irish public library service. We were aware that the public library network is Ireland’s largest and most established cultural resource, one which is deeply democratic, egalitarian and freely available to everyone.

It is the policy of local authorities to endeavour to make the local library the cultural hub of each town or village. It was against this background that ID2015 encouraged libraries across the country to become involved in bringing the ideas and concepts of the year to the widest possible audience. Using the existing public library infrastructure, ID2015 invited libraries to identify and celebrate a local design hero launching an initiative titled ‘Celebrate Your Local Design Hero’.

Libraries worked with their communities in researching and discovering significant Irish designers, both living

and deceased. A project was then put in place to celebrate the chosen local design hero. This work certainly helped raise the profile of Irish design in areas outside the larger urban centres, and through the process many fascinating stories of heroes of Irish design were discovered (or rediscovered) and celebrated across the country.

29 local libraries throughout the island of Ireland ran different workshops, lectures, and exhibitions, with designers, librarians and local creative people working together to produce an exciting programme of events throughout 2015. Some of the highlights of the initiative included: workshops run by the Clare libraries celebrating John Holland, the engineer who designed and developed the first submarine commissioned by the US Navy; origami workshops organised by the Donegal libraries, which celebrated local design hero Naomi Fleury and repurposed paper from disused library books; and, Sligo libraries’

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1 ‘Crafty Kids’ demonstration at Wainfest Arts and Book Festival.

Image: Donegal Gathering 2 Dress designed by Rebecca Marsden, Local Design Hero at Sligo Library. Image: ID2015

celebration of Rebecca Marsden, a local fashion designer who gave a talk entitled ‘Your Future in Fabric’ to local young adults interested in a career in the fashion industry. In addition to the individual achievements of each of the more than 35 local library projects, what really impressed was the responsibility these libraries took in running their events and how they understood the message of ID2015 and helped to communicate it, increasing awareness of the value of design among local communities.

As part of this legacy, the collaboration with local libraries, run by local authorities, helped to further links between ID2015, senior executives and elected members of county and city councils. The initiative would not have been possible without libraries operating at the heart of their local communities. The central objective was to engage these communities with their own design history, and to encourage recognition of their design leaders, all of which contributes to an understanding of the value of

design to society. Significantly, the project has initiated connections between designers, local libraries and communities, which will likely to lead to further local collaborations.

123

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

1

124

FAULTLINES – IRISH DESIGN RESEARCH CONFERENCE

Since the publication of Design in Ireland: Report of the Scandinavian Design Group in Ireland in 1962, the Irish design sector has undergone transformational change.

Growth of a trading sector based on indigenous skills in craft and design has evolved to also include a new knowledge-based research sector. This new area of design research addresses the tangible artefact but also intangible services, interactions, design thinking and theory to drive changes in social, business and economic activity in the 21st century.

The FAULTLINES - Irish Design Research Conference was conceived to engage these emerging territories and explore the interstices in research and innovation across disciplines. By its nature, any area of advanced research requires disciplinary and topical focus. In framing this conference, the common thematic language of policy, society and industry was used to support discourse across and between disciplinary research areas. Key objectives in scheduling also sought to bridge commercial engagement with emergent academic knowledge, theory and practice.

Launched at VISUAL Arts Centre on the evening of June 4th, the conference theme was underpinned by EXCHANGE, a designCORE community based, designled research action, exhibited in conjunction with Éigse Arts Week. This sought to ‘bridge faultlines between institution and the community’ as an art installation piece.

At the conference, the 150 strong group of academic and industry delegates were addressed by three keynote speakers, after which six chaired, themed panel sessions took place, followed by a business breakfast. Raymond Turner of Turner & Associates opened with an address on policy and the need for Design Leadership. Giles Ellis of Schofield Watches invoked the societal and cultural practitioner/maker, and academy award nominated Tomm Moore of Cartoon Saloon explored the importance of observational research and detail in narration and storytelling. Initiated, co-ordinated and hosted by designCORE, Institute of Technology Carlow, the project was co-chaired by Colin Deevy and Dr. PJ White.

At national level, ID2015 and the editorial board of ITERATIONS: design research and practice review

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1-3 FAULTLINES conference proceedings. Images: Christopher Heaney

125 3

supported the project, while VISUAL Arts Centre, Éigse Arts Festival, Carlow Enterprise Board, the Regional LEO Network, 40 Years of Irish Design at ITC, Carlow Tourism and commercial sponsors were among the regional partners who helped provide a rich and engaging three day event.

Through the FAULTLINES - Irish Design Research Conference, a national forum for dissemination of emergent research in the area of design theory and practice has been established. The engagement and remit of design is set to grow and evolve in the coming years. To support this, a vibrant community of design researchers and a forum for dissemination of their research is essential in underpinning the value of design, to grow design research and to transfer new knowledge to society, to business and to the economy.

Colin Deevy designCORE

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - EDUCATION

126 1

EUNIC MASTERCLASS SERIES

As part of the ID2015 national programme of events, a Masterclass programme was devised in partnership with EUNIC: European Union National Institutes for Culture to showcase examples of the latest design innovation from Europe. Over the course of the year, leading designers from Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and France gave public lectures and held masterclasses for students around Ireland. The idea was to present a wide range of design projects and practices from Europe, including product design, furniture design, fashion, jewellery, food and design of public spaces.

We hosted internationally acclaimed designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, who presented at the OFFSET conference; Turner Prize winners Assemble architectural collective; renowned Spanish food designer Martí Guixé; award winning German furniture and interior designer Philipp Mainzer; German chief curator of the Vitra Design Museum Jochen Eisenbrand; Italian product designers Francesco Zurlo from Politecnico di Milano and Alex Terzariol from

Associazione per il Disegno Industriale; emerging German sustainable fashion label Luxaa: Anne Trautwein and Anja Schneemann; young Italian jewellery designer Gisella Bianco; and, French conceptual designer Isabelle Daeron.

We partnered with national educational institutions Cork Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Carlow and National College of Art and Design to host lectures and masterclasses. Students and lecturers had an opportunity to exchange ideas with guest speakers and present their own projects and programmes. This exchange was an inspiring and invaluable experience for all involved.

Joining forces with the British Council, GoetheInstitut, Instituto Cervantes, Istituto Italiano di Cultura and Alliance Française meant that we were able to share our expertise, networks and resources in order to realise events on a larger scale and with greater impact.

We worked closely together to devise interesting

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

1 EUNIC Martí Guixé workshop.

Image: ID2015 2-3 Design Now Symposium pamphlet.

Images: Christopher Heaney 3

127

educational programmes that would afford valuable opportunities for Irish students and designers to widen their knowledge and understanding of excellence in design practice, innovative approaches and learn about exciting project case studies.

“The Irish have left an incredible impression on Chicago, historically and contemporarily.

The ID2015 partnership came at a critical moment in the trajectory of the Chicago Design Museum, pushing us toward a new audience, and providing a foundation to explore a new horizon.”

Tanner Woodford Chicago Design Museum

128

“ID2015 fostered new ideas and supported expositions on an international scale. While doing so, the programme allowed us to reflect on Ireland's design legacy, and look towards where we have yet to go.”

George Beattie profiles.ie

“It’s not about marketing, it’s about something more vital: realising how important design is to the economy. It’s about jobs... providing employment in both rural and urban areas.”

Tom Morris Monocle Magazine 129

Design creates narrative

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1

1 Design Island at Dublin Airport. Image: Conor McCabe 2 Design Island launched by Paschal Donohue TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport at Dublin Airport. Image: Conor McCabe 3 Fashion Designer Helen Steele featured in Design Island at Dublin

2

Airport. Image: Conor McCabe

130

DESIGN ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTALLATION AT DUBLIN AIRPORT

In October 2014, the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) in collaboration with daa unveiled the first phase of Design Island, a major new photographic installation at Dublin Airport celebrating the breadth of Irish creativity to mark ID2015. Images were installed throughout Terminals 1 and 2 at the airport and the exhibition was officially launched by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, TD in March 2015.

Leading designers and makers from 24 diverse disciplines were selected for inclusion in Design Island to represent the full range of design activity on the island of Ireland. Curated by Brian McGee and David Smith, the exhibition depicted many internationally renowned and award winning Irish designers across a broad range of disciplines, such as furniture designer Joseph Walsh, architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, animators Brown Bag Films, engineering group Arup, and fashion designer Helen Steele.

Comprised of a series of 300 photographs by award winning Irish photographer Peter Rowen, the exhibition captured the featured designers and makers at work in their studios all over Ireland, presenting evocative images of their location, the raw materials and tools of their trade, the design process and completed product, along with a portrait of each designer. This helped create a coherent curatorial approach and system of display, while emphasising the importance of making and the sense of place that are inherent in Irish design.

The opportunity to partner with daa in the presentation of Design Island at Terminals 1 and 2 of Dublin Airport has been a huge privilege for Ireland’s design and craft sector. It is estimated that over 23 million people had seen Design Island by the end of 2015, with the installation remaining in situ into 2016. This collaborative project has offered a unique opportunity to celebrate and promote Irish talent and creativity and enforce a first and lasting impression of design and craft in Ireland.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

131

3

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1

1 Design Island App. Image: IBM Studios Dublin

132

2 Design Island App launched by Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Image: Maxwells

DESIGN ISLAND APP

The Design Island app was a collaborative project between ID2015 and our technology partners IBM Studios. IBM worked in conjunction with Dublin design studios WorkGroup (formerly Conor & David) and Atelier David Smith to create a design-focused mobile app aimed at both tourists and locals. The purpose of the app is to create awareness of Ireland’s design heritage and quality contemporary Irish design by highlighting the many design destinations throughout the country.

All locations on the app were nominated by a pool of creatives, including designers, architects, journalists and craft makers, who were invited by ID2015 to contribute to the project. The personal nature of the recommendations, and the expert insights offered, contribute to a unique and intimate experience when exploring Ireland and raise the profile of businesses that have integrated design as part of the visitor experience. In total, more than 50 individuals with established reputations in the creative sector contributed to nominate more than 550 locations on the app.

Central to the development of Design Island was the wish to showcase Irish design through an intuitive, user friendly and engaging interface. Leading skill sets at IBM Studios in the areas of visual design, design research, user experience design and design development, along with expertise from both mobile and industrial designers, contributed to the development of the app.Recommended on Tourism Ireland’s website, Design Island has also been a valuable resource to travel media, resulting in several features being published on design in Ireland in leading international travel publications. Contributing to the key objectives of ID2015, this media coverage resulting from the app contributes to raising the profile of Irish design internationally.

Design Island was officially launched by Minister Richard Bruton. It was highly commended at the IDI Awards 2015, a testament to its usability and design credentials. As a legacy of ID2015, it is hoped that the app will continue to raise awareness of Irish design amongst visitors and Irish residents alike, with further

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

“Tourism Ireland were delighted to celebrate and highlight the ID2015 programme in our promotions around the world during 2015 – whetting people’s appetites everywhere to come and discover our superb Irish creativity and design, local craft and style in context, and perhaps even take home a bit of Irish creativity.”

Niall Gibbons CEO of Tourism Ireland

133

nominations of design destinations expected from members of the design community in the future to expand its scope. The app was dveloped by a team at IBM Studios Dublin, including Lara Hanlon, Simon Finney and Fred Raguillat, with design direction by Atelier David Smith and API implementation by WorkGroup.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1

2

1 Bus Éireann Expressway bus wrap by Maser.

Image: Anthony Woods 2 Bus Éireann Expressway bus wrap by Orla Kiely.

Image: Anthony Woods 3 Bus Éireann Expressway bus wrap by Kevin Thornton.

Image: Anthony Woods

134

BUS ÉIREANN EXPRESSWAY ID2015 COACHES

During 2015, Bus Éireann Expressway and ID2015 collaborated with five celebrated Irish designers to create five unique bus wraps on coaches servicing Expressway inter-city routes.

The project, curated by Laura Magahy, involved the designers creating a bespoke and personal design utilising the huge canvas of a new 2015 Expressway coach. Bus Éireann, an iconic Irish brand with a strong design heritage, was the perfect partner for the project.

The project aimed to demonstrate the strength of internationally acclaimed Irish designers across multiple disciplines such as food design, animation, graphic design, engineering, fashion and textiles. There was a guerilla aspect to the campaign, with the bus wraps surprising passengers, pedestrians and motorists by presenting design outside of its normal context and application. The wrap by renowned chef and food designer, Kevin Thornton, was the first to roll into service, while the coach showcasing celebrated fashion, homewares and accessories designer Orla Kiely

transported the crowds during a busy Race Week in Galway. Graphic artist Maser’s striking geometric design was seen on the Cork to Dublin route, and proved a fine addition to the iconic modernist Busáras building.

The remaining two bus wraps were designed by Samuel Beckett Bridge structural engineers Roughan & O’Donovan and Oscar-nominated animation studio Brown Bag Films.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

135

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1 1 Global Irish Design Challenge Exhibition in Dublin Castle. Image: Anthony Woods 2 Vibe, a project exploring the intersection between physical computing and kinetic sculpture by Cian McLysaght. Image: Anthony Woods 136

3 THX.OBJ by Nora O’Murchú and Hua Shu. Image: Anthony Woods 4 Micklem Bridle by William Micklem for Horseware. Image: Anthony Woods

GLOBAL IRISH DESIGN CHALLENGE

The aims of the Global Irish Design Challenge (GIDC), an ID2015 legacy project, were twofold: to celebrate and provide a platform for game-changing Irish design innovation, and to activate and connect a broad global network of design talent, offering a unique opportunity to bring visibility to the exceptional levels of design and innovation taking place across the globe. Launched

by Minister Nash on September 9th 2015, GIDC invited designers of Irish lineage, or those with a strong affiliation to Ireland, to present products, projects and concepts that have the potential to revolutionise the way we live. Designers were invited to submit existing or speculative projects that responded to core ID2015 themes: sustainability, well-being, sense of place and innovation.

Seen as a significant opportunity to raise the profile of Irish design, the initiative was heavily promoted through well-known design magazine Dezeen and featured in architecture blog Archdaily, as well as on numerous other design blogs. By the closing date on December 18th, GIDC had received over 140

applications from 14 countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Finland, France, Brazil, South Korea, the UK and Ireland.

Entries reflected a wide breadth of design disciplines, ranging from interaction, motion, communication and service design to product, interior, craft, food and fashion design, and the built environment.

An international panel of design experts including Jay Osgerby of renowned British design studio Barber & Osgerby, veteran Japanese designer Hideichi Misono, former chief designer for Toyota, and Ailbhe McNabola, Design Council UK’s Director of Policy & Research, reviewed the submissions and made a final selection.

These selected submissions were displayed as part of the Global Irish Design Challenge Exhibition, curated by Louise Allen, at the Coach House, Dublin Castle, from June to August 2016.

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

137

2

4

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1

1-2 We Built This City, London. Images: Rachel Gallagher

138

WE BUILT THIS CITY

We Built This City (WBTC) is an initiative chronicling the development of three global cities: London, Chicago and New York. Comprised of a trilogy of panel discussions, the initiative focuses particularly on the contribution Irish people have made to the built and cultural fabric of these cities. Each discussion is introduced by a short, commissioned film, directed and produced by Dyehouse Films.

WBTC brings together a wide range of disciplines to discuss how cities are designed and created, both physically and culturally. Designers, architects, historians, geographers, politicians and social commentators have contributed to the WBTC story in each city, kickstarting a conversation about the impact the Irish have made, and continue to make, globally. By creating communities that have benefitted each city both economically and socially, Irish people have changed these cityscapes and WBTC, having reflected on what came before, looks to the future impacts of Irish migration. The project raises awareness of Irish design today internationally,

and develops links between Irish designers abroad and the global design community, by reflecting on what was designed and built by the Irish in the past.

The project has achieved two sold out talks to date (London and Chicago) and two films which have together been viewed 20,000 times online, while a third instalment took place in New York in Spring 2016.

The potential for WBTC to continue to other cities and create more focused talks is considerable. The films are an important legacy piece and were displayed as part of the Irish Times Generation Emigration webpage.

By engaging a wide audience, including and beyond the Irish community, the Q&A at the end of each talk stimulates vital discussion and debate, particularly as migration becomes a more pressing problem around the world. In learning from the Irish story, we can advocate for diversity and integration to make our cities more equal and fairer places to live.

We Built This City was presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation in collaboration with Irish

Irish Design 2015  Making Design Matter

139 2

Design 2015 and the Office of the Minister for Diaspora Affairs of Ireland. We Built This City would not have been possible with the support of numerous partners, to whom we are extremely grateful.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1

140

THE SOUVENIR PROJECT

Ireland is home to a vibrant design and craft sector, which has its roots in heritage and tradition but is continually innovating, exploring new ideas, approaches and techniques. Inspired by the country’s stunning landscapes and an abundance of local materials, designers and craftspeople throughout the island of Ireland create contemporary objects with a strong sense of place.

The ambition of The Souvenir Project, curated

by Jonathan Legge of Makers & Brothers and commissioned by ID2015 and DCCoI, was to showcase the extraordinary creative talent and quality of materials and making within Ireland, while also revitalising the notion of what a souvenir can be. Nine new objects aim to reinvent, reclaim and redeem the humble and often stereotypical souvenir, making it beautiful, meaningful and eminently collectible, while encouraging collaboration between designers from different disciplines.

Among the collection is a plate created by Nicholas Mosse Pottery and animator Johnny Kelly,

commemorating the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Ireland on May 22nd 2015. This sits alongside a honey pot by Stephen Pearce Pottery, containing honey produced by Coolmore Bees, which addresses issues of identity and place. One field in east Cork provided the source of both the clay for the pot and the raw honey that it holds, sealed with the wax created in the production of that same honey.

A range of cut crystal vases designed by Scott Burnett and made by J. HILL’s Standard, plays on the many names for rain in Ireland with a variety of simple etched motifs. ‘Stone Wall Patterns’, the obligatory tea towel set, designed by Superfolk and made by Print Block, was inspired by the dry stone walls of Ireland and used loose ink brush drawing and relief block print methods, screen-printed on natural Irish linen.

The Sally is a fashion accessory by The Tweed Project that recycles offcuts from their usual products.

Measc Muddle, designed by WorkGroup and made by Shane Holland, is an Irish whiskey cocktail-making tool with markings on the shaft that can be used to make an

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

1 The Souvenir Project at Rochelle School, London Design Festival.

Image: Michael Paul 2 Products for sale during London Design Festival. Image: Michael Paul 3 Lumper designed by Makers & Brothers, made by Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry. Image: Michael Paul 4 Rainbow Plate designed by Johnny Kelly, made by Nicholas Mosse Pottery. Image: Michael Paul

2

141 3

Irish red clover, a bog myrtle or the Irish whiskey cocktail the Móin Bhuí, specially created by America Village Apothecary. A bronze paperweight in the form of the Lumper potato was designed by Makers & Brothers and aims to tap into a deep and emotive narrative, while An Brandub is a 6th century Irish board game, reinterpreted in compressed peat by dePaor and Lucy Downes. ibi is a precious and personal object designed and produced by Cathal Loughnane and Peter Sheehan that allows an individual, through a simple gesture, to be immediately transported back to a time, a place and a feeling through sound.

The collection was launched at Rochelle School during the London Design Festival 2015, before being displayed within the flagship ID2015 exhibition Liminal – Irish design at the threshold at Dutch Design Week and in the Dublin Design Hub. An accompanying catalogue, website (thesouvenirproject.irishdesign2015.ie) and film were produced to promote the collection.

4

IRISH DESIGN 2015 PROJECTS - NARRATIVE

1

142

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON FINE ART

PORTFOLIO @ Solomon was a twelve month schedule of exhibitions at Solomon Fine Art, made possible through the generous support of The Doyle Collection, who kindly provided a high profile venue within the Westbury Mall, just off Grafton Street, Dublin’s premier shopping destination.

The series of exhibitions showcased work from the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland’s PORTFOLIO programme, which actively works to grow the reputations and potential of designer-makers across all major disciplines of contemporary craft. The featured makers produce innovative objects, either one-off pieces or limited editions, and work to the highest standards of design quality and technical skill. Selected by an international panel of experts, the exhibitions featured Ireland's most renowned makers in disciplines including ceramics, glass, metals, paper, textiles, fashion, calligraphy, furniture, woodturning, stone and basketry.

The inaugural PORTFOLIO @ Solomon exhibition was officially opened by An Tánaiste Joan Burton TD in

January 2015, and the series of exhibitions (Metals & Stone; Jewellery; Basketry & Woodturning; Textiles, Paper & Calligraphy; Furniture; Glass; Ceramics) showcased over 100 designers to over 8,000 visitors.

Taking inspiration from the diverse range of work on display, Dublin’s Westbury Hotel created an Irish Design Afternoon Tea to celebrate the exhibitions and year of Irish design as a whole. The tea included a handcrafted selection of bespoke pastries that demonstrated Ireland’s expertise in food design. PORTFOLIO @ Solomon was a collaboration between The Doyle Collection, DCCoI, ID2015 and Solomon Fine Art.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

1 Recollections series by Stuart Cairns. Image: Rory Moore 2 From Earth and Sky by Joe Hogan. Image: Rory Moore 3 Hall Table by Simon Doyle. Image: Rory Moore

2

143

3

144

DISCUSSIONS 145

Professor Alex Milton, ID2015 Programme Director, and Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive of DCCoI and of ID2015, explore the heritage, current state, and future of Irish design through a series of conversations with leading Irish and international figures from across the sector

“ID2015 has helped to create a foothold for design within the Midlands community. It has allowed us to gather the resources needed to create thought-provoking discussion and debate within our community, as well as acting as a source of education and inspiration. Without Irish Design 2015's contribution, achieving this could not have been possible.”

Modus Design Journal

146

“Congratulations on an amazing programme this year, which threw a spotlight on the wealth of design talent we have in Ireland, including many outstanding designer-makers of contemporary craft. We were delighted that we were able to bring the Connections: Life & Culture exhibition to the Lyric Theatre in Belfast as part of our celebrations for August Craft Month, and to also be involved in the ID2015-supported Belfast Design Week in November.”

Alan Kane CEO, Craft NI

“Waterford the Glass City, a brand created for ID2015, began a new future for glass in the City of Waterford. Through collaboration with local craftspeople, international designers, and city partners, this project has inspired new ideas, healed old wounds, and ignited a fresh spark that has travelled far across the world to create a positive future for the Irish glass story. I am proud and honoured to have been instrumental in making this happen as part of year of Irish Design 2015.”

Róisín de Buitléar Director, Waterford the Glass City

147

Design creates community

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - COMMUNITY

DEVELOPING DESIGN IN IRELAND Ireland has a dynamic design sector that employs over 48,000 people, 2.5% of the total workforce in the country. It is vital that we continue to nurture this design ecosystem and bring the various strands of the Irish design community together to create synergy and critical momentum at a regional and national level. ID2015 sought to develop Ireland’s capabilities in design across all sectors of the economy and to improve capacity for quality design across the sector through a series of developmental networks, platforms and projects.

148

Professor Alex Milton, Programme Director for ID2015, speaks with Eddie Shanahan (Chairperson, Council of Irish Fashion Designers), Kathryn Meghen (CEO, Royal Institute of Architects Ireland (RIAI)), Kathryn Wilson (President of the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design (ICAD) and Creative Director at Slater Design), and Marc Ó’Riain (2015 President of the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) and Lecturer at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT)) about the Irish design community during 2015 and its future development.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Alex Milton (AM): Marc, the IDI represents a broad range of Irish designers. Which design disciplines are thriving in Ireland and what areas do you think you need to support or encourage more to develop?

Marc Ó'Riain (MÓ): The IDI represents the broad spectrum of professional designers in Ireland, from user experience (UX) designers, to architects, animators, exhibition and set designers, branding designers, and more.

Design Consultancy remains the largest employer in the sector and is growing fast as the recovery strengthens. UX/UI is the one area where we have seen a massive resource migration, specifically from the areas of product design, graphic design, architecture and web design. There appears to be a constant shortage of UX talent to meet the demand for jobs. The colleges have been slow in responding to this demand and that may be because of the lack of experience in this relatively new field along with public sector hiring embargos. Beyond that, I definitely foresee a skills deficit in all consultancy disciplines next year and especially at midlevel. The recession caused the emigration of a large swathe of mid-level designers. No one was hiring 3-5 years ago, so there is a massive gap in mid to senior designers for industry.

Animation is also growing, but again the skills level at a senior position in practice can be lacking, pointing to a continuous professional development issue across the sector. Overall, we are seeing a massive sea change in the sector with the growth of in-house design teams in the non-specialised design industry. A lot of companies are hiring designers to work in-house rather than depending on consultancy in design services to add value or develop new products. Perhaps the growth in the app market and time to market is making companies realise the importance of deep knowledge sets in-house, as is the case with IBM and Logitech. Other examples are less obvious - companies like Paddy Power, Salesforce Ireland and PWC are not typical employers of designers but when you look closer at what they do, you start to understand why they have increasingly large design teams.

AM: What about design for the public sector?

MÓ: Research indicates that design practices lack scale and do not in general respond to public tenders due to the demands of public procurement. State work is suffering from a lack of design input and the lack of public purse income may be retarding growth and the scale of design practices. Fear of practice size is another factor as a large wage bill becomes a very large beast to feed with new work. Design practices may need to be augmented with business and sales skills to grow at a sustainable rate. Indicatively, a lot of state design work may be going overseas unnecessarily. Where there are specific skill bases, a medium sized Irish practice can thrive internationally. As a country we need to make public procurement accessible to Irish design practices prior to promoting their activities abroad. Historically, the design sector in Ireland has been focused on artefact-based manufacturing. This model is largely, though not exclusively, defunct. We would be better off producing very high quality pieces rather than trying to compete on price. Ireland has a great heritage of making and skills but perhaps we need to revisit how we promote design quality in that industry. In the design services sector we need to find ways of growing the size of the market and the size of practices.

149

“No one was hiring 3-5 years ago, so there is a massive gap in mid to senior designers for industry.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - COMMUNITY

AM: Eddie, you have worked in the fashion industry for many years, helping to stimulate and support it, acting as the ‘man behind the sector’, if you will. Having held the first Irish Fashion Summit as part of ID2015, where do you think Irish fashion stands today? And, what direction is it heading – perhaps there are a few key words that capture its current position and where it is looking?

150

Eddie Shanahan (ES): As we emerge from recession, the Irish fashion industry faces both opportunities and challenges. The opportunities arise through a need for retailers to distinguish their offer and through consumers emerging from austerity, wishing to treat themselves again, yet jaded by the ubiquitous labels of the high street. Ireland has consistently proven its ability, over decades, to produce outstanding designers and creative directors for the fashion industry. James Waldron at Armani, Ciara Walsh and Eileen Shiels at Donna Karan, and Sharon Wauchob at Louis Vuitton, who then went on to launch her successful eponymous label, are just some examples. As this talent blazed a trail in the international marketplace, here at home we lost dozens of Irish fashion companies - most with in-house production - due to a lack of design, innovation and lifestyle focus. Today we have graduates with real design capability, wishing to establish businesses in Ireland. Unfortunately, we have lost our production capacity and with it a host of essential skills. This is holding us back significantly.

The ‘Create ‘ project at Brown Thomas has consistently shown the ability of new Irish labels to sell side by side with some of the world’s leading brands.

The need to source quality production abroad however impacts on the cost base, flexibility and development potential of fledgling Irish fashion labels. Many of the best Irish graduates therefore set up outside Ireland to the benefit of other economies. In recent years, Úna Burke, Simone Rocha, Danielle Romeril and Richard Malone are just some examples.

OFFSET branding. Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

The supports offered in other countries are more tailored to the specific needs of the fashion industry – notably in the UK. This impacts significantly on job creation, especially as fashion production is a people intensive industry.

AM: Kathryn (Wilson), as President of ICAD, you’ve seen the sector grow and develop over recent years, especially with events like OFFSET which have really helped put the creative scene in Dublin on the map, or things like the 100 Archive that are acting as a searchable directory of the best-of-the-best of Irish graphic design. Could you identify key strengths, and weaknesses, of Irish communication design and advertising? To me, it feels like there is the beginnings of a ‘community of practice’ here. I’m interested in whether you feel it has the capacity to move beyond Ireland, and play a role in the bigger global design ‘community’.

Kathryn Wilson (KW): We have seen the Irish communication design and advertising sectors grow in recent years following the recession and I think in 2015 we have seen a confidence in growth emerge. In Ireland, we are seeing a big change in what it means to be a communication designer.

We’re increasingly being asked for more than the traditional outputs. This is due in part to changing technologies but also because of an increased understanding of what design can be used for. Therefore, we work on strategy more and more, we help organisations in their thinking, how they can work better and how they can communicate what they do. We're really just at the start of this increased understanding of the wider applications of design in Ireland but I hope that it will continue to grow because there are so many projects and areas of business that could benefit from having the problem solving mind of a designer on the team. While we are on that path in terms of our practice I think we need to do more to foster a common understanding of what design can do in the mind of government, the public and the business community. We have much to learn from our Scandinavian neighbours in this regard. I think ID2015 has been a great initiative to begin the development of this understanding but I feel we need to maintain the momentum so that positive developments are built on.

In terms of our growth as a design community known beyond our shores, OFFSET has been a huge contributing factor in that development and I think that David Smith and Johnny Kelly’s membership of AGI and their reputations abroad are hugely positive steps in raising the profile of Irish creativity. We also have a very talented design diaspora that includes The Stone Twins and many talented young Irish designers working for renowned design studios in the UK and US. Irish architecture’s profile internationally has largely grown through practices completing key projects abroad; while I think communication designers are less likely to have an impact through an individual project, I think the profiles of individual graphic designers and companies will be important in developing our profile as a design island in the future.

“The need to source quality production abroad however impacts on the cost base, flexibility and development potential of fledgling Irish fashion labels.”

151

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - COMMUNITY

AM: Kathryn (Meghen), Irish architecture is riding a wave of success with the work of leading practices such as O’Donnell + Tuomey and Grafton Architects being globally recognised. Now this is a big question, but I wondered if you could outline what you see as the key strengths of Irish architecture – are there commonalities of practice, or approach, or material consideration that particularly mark out Irish architectural practice in recent years? As with any of these things, the critical aspect is to build on what we have, to continue to grow (or surf the wave); do you have any thoughts on what the sector – or the relevant organisations and partners – can do to strengthen architecture and support its growing reputation and output?

152

Kathryn Meghen (KM): The work of Irish architects has long been recognised abroad – even going back to the early 20th century with architect and designer Eileen Gray. What is particularly positive about the current wave of success is the resilience that Irish practices have shown during an unprecedented downturn. In internationalising their work when the recession was hitting globally, Irish architects were competing and winning projects, competitions and accolades. The education Irish architects receive is acknowledged as being of a very high standard. Irish architects also provide a comprehensive service – from feasibility through to design, regulatory compliance and delivery – whereas in many other countries architectural practices are focusing on particular aspects and a client may need to employ a number of practices to bring a project to fruition.

The RIAI has been working to promote Irish architecture internationally and one theme that keeps coming back to us about Irish architects is their ‘sense of place’ – that their buildings respect the landscape or urban

University Campus UTEC Lima University development model by Grafton Architects.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

context and don’t look to dominate it. To help the professions grow, we need to work with Government and clients so that Ireland becomes its own advertisement. It would be a fantastic achievement for Ireland to become a design destination for the tourist market. This would help with internationalisation, tourism and also provide a built environment of the highest quality for ourselves.

AM: Potential is what design is all about: recognising it, supporting it and promoting it. Looking at what’s been happening during the last year within Irish Design 2015, but also across the sector as a whole over recent years, where is there the most potential for growth, economically, within the design sector?

ES: Design is part of the holistic nature of marketing - research and development, pricing, route to market and promotion. Design should be disciplined and consumer-focused. I would prefer if more designers (especially in fashion) regarded themselves as industrial designers rather than artists – more Dieter Rams than Michelangelo - and if the colleges better prepared them for the business of fashion.

KW: We traditionally look to products for export for growth and there could be a tendency to do this in the design sector with our strong craft background. I feel a key focus should be in design services, which I think has huge potential for growth. In our capital we have a large number of multinational technology companies and a newly confident business sector and government - these areas provide strong opportunities for design services growth within the capital.

MÓ: We seem very focused on design as a vehicle for growth. I believe in that, but remember design has a role in social sustainability and delivering the targets of COP21. There isn’t a designer listed on the Public Appointments Service. There is a massive opportunity to learn from what our near neighbours have done and place design labs at the centre of government policy, to develop new systems that could be more engaging, effective and economical. Gov.uk illustrates how design can streamline public services. Additionally, Irish companies should be engaging design services to improve their offerings. Companies view the cost of consultancy as a barrier without seeing the potential impact or improvement in product or services. Design Vouchers were trialled in Dublin this year by ID2015 and widening this out across the country should help SMEs to engage designers to improve their offerings.

KM: We need to develop and support our export culture. It would be a shame if internationalisation stops as soon as the Irish economy is growing again and there are opportunities at home. We need to build a resilient design sector with internationalisation and an export culture as key components.

AM: As we wrap up this year of Irish Design we are seeing some incredible results; we are beginning to really appreciate the impact of the initiative, in both small interventions and ‘big picture’ statistics, in both the quantitative and qualitative data we’re gathering. What do you think the benefits are of actively developing the design sector in Ireland?

“We seem very focused on design as a vehicle for growth. I believe in that, but remember design has a role in social sustainability and delivering the targets of COP21.”

153

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - COMMUNITY

KM: There are so many benefits – growth in jobs, tourism and improving the quality of life of all our citizens. The one thing that is a definite – there is no downside!

ES: Actively developing and promoting our design sector will enhance our international reputation and contribute to the preservation and development of our heritage and skills. It will result in improvements to our economy and society – most notably through job creation, but also in our environment. It will enhance our appeal as a cultural tourism destination.

The exposure and cross fertilisation between various design disciplines in 2015 was inspirational and built confidence in the sector. The active development of this aspect will improve learning and collaboration.

KW: I think the year has been a great success in raising awareness of Irish design at home and its profile abroad. But I would hate to see the hard work of so many dwindle without continued momentum. I would like to see the initiative continue and develop, not within a limited time period but indefinitely. The Design Council in the UK is for me a good reference for how this could develop in the future and the Gov.uk website, winner of a Design Museum ‘Design of the Year’ award in 2013, is a good example of the type of end user-focused design that developing the design sector in Ireland should be based on.

154

MÓ: It would help foster innovation, improve product offerings, improve public services, create more sustainable models for society, offer more empathetic responses to user issues, and address problem sets from first principles rather than patching existing solutions. I believe that Ireland can be a world leader in design; we are an empathetic nation of great story tellers well used to responding to problems in a positive and creative way. If we can design a functioning and scaled design sector with an international outlook we can leverage the existing relationships with the multinationals on our doorstep to further grow and underpin the market, growing jobs significantly and becoming a significant contributor to GNP through indigenous company growth. The growth of in-house design teams illustrates the potential to attract multinational design teams to Ireland.

AM: ID2015 has supported the development of Irish Design through a series of developmental projects, leading to the new Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise in Ireland, a vital developmental platform that builds upon the impact of ID2015. This will help strengthen Ireland’s position as a design island, one that can continue to develop its indigenous design product and services sectors while attracting foreign investment. To you, what are the standout aspects of ID2015, in terms of its development of the design sector in Ireland?

KM: For me, it’s been the interaction between all of the stakeholders and the huge achievements that have been made in creating an international awareness of the quality of Irish Design.

ES: ID2015 has created an unparalleled awareness of Irish design on an international level, as Kathryn says, giving a much magnified ‘voice’ to Irish design and creating a sense of national pride in our creativity. It built confidence in, and awareness of, Irish design at home, taking design from a previously elite position to one that applied to everybody. For many, ID2015 ‘explained’ design. It also raised the importance of design in building enterprise – in terms of systems, as well as products and environment.

It made the different design disciplines more aware of each other and stimulated nationwide discussion, even excitement, about design and its significance.

MÓ: I think ID2015 has raised confidence amongst designers and promoted collaboration between disciplines. It has been successful in hitting specific targets for the exposure of design and building confidence with government departments, but legacy is critical. In this regard, I think the ITERATIONS design journal and the FAULTLINES conference are good examples of projects that have legacy. I also see design policy, regional design development, design hubs, chartered designer status and a dedicated design council as critical legacy targets coming out of ID2015.

KW: I really appreciated those initiatives that actively sought to engage the public, business sectors and government. We as a sector have traditionally not done this enough; we need to do more of it and we need to continue to do so in the future.

Brace Chair by Tierney Haines Architects with Alan Meredith Studio. Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

“The growth of inhouse design teams illustrates the potential to attract multinational design teams to Ireland.”

155

“Business to Arts were delighted to support the work of ID2015; the year developed a compelling case for engagement with design, ensuring corporate Ireland got behind the initiative, helping to increase the profile and importance of design for everyone. We salute the ID2015 team and the ID2015 partners for putting design firmly on the agenda.”

Andrew Hetherington Chief Executive, Business to Arts

156

“In September 2015, with the support of the International Trade Fund, we attended Cartoon Forum in Toulouse; these industry events are central to our business model and have played a vital role in achieving international investment and distribution, allowing us to grow our business and create jobs. At Toulouse, we succeeded in securing a worldwide distribution partner for our latest series Dougie Noir. Like any studio of our size, it’s not always easy to find the capital to fund what can be a very expensive presentation so the financial support and encouragement from ID2015 played a massive part in our success.”

Kavaleer Productions

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“ID2015 was very successful in highlighting the importance of design in business and wider society. Enterprise Ireland “Applying design AB: As customer experience design rises rapidly to the level of C-suite conversations in every industry, we’re leading the way in showing how an thinking recognises thesuccess importance of to how we innovative design approach can engender business in everything work puts a structure from superior customer experiences to far-reaching organizational change. design and through initiatives and discipline on Our operating model of bringing design, engineering and deep subject itof and ensures that such asgivesID2015, matter industry expertise together a better chance ofthe solving value the policies and positions right problems in the right way, and we are delighted that we are getting design society, industry and the opportunity to do this in Dublin –to through our growing Accenture in different areas Interactive team, in the Centre for Innovation and in working every day with are coherent and our clients in Ireland.Government is increasingly being complementary.”

DM: Applying design thinking to how we work”puts a structure and recognised. discipline on it and ensures that policies and positions in different areas The strong design focus in IBM was reintroduced in response to people’s expectations of enterprise tech, which has changed because of great design they see in devices and applications they use at work and at play.

Increasingly, software for the cloud and mobile applications relies on a personal experience, an emotional connection being established between users and the product.

are coherent and complementary. Four years ago, Ibec set out an ambitious vision for a country Julie emerging from crisis, which we still use as a reference Sinnamon point. In many respects we’re still in the planning stages, but very significant CEO, Enterprise Ireland progress has been made.

KH: Is design represented at board level within your business or organisation?

AB: At a local leadership level for the Irish business we too are infusing a design led culture across the organisation. From our client work we have people in lead roles helping our clients to rethink and reshape through a design led lens. At a global and within the most senior levels of the business we have both built and acquired world class design experience that is helping us for our clients’ needs.

BK: The IBM CEO Ginni Rometty is a major supporter of design thinking and the company has a dedicated General Manager of Design in Phil Gilbert. The company has made significant investment in studios, personnel and design related acquisitions. In the 2015 annual report, there is a video on inclusive Design. IBM continues its transformation through the integration of design and design thinking, allowing the organisation to prepare better for future opportunities. Recognising that changing the environment is a key lever to change thinking, IBM invested in a network of design studios, which are the cultural centres of IBM Design. These studios are dedicated spaces that can be constructed and deconstructed using white boards, post-its and sharpies and are used throughout the design process to allow true collaboration.

Design creates business

DM: The Ibec board is very diverse and its members come from a wide range of sectors including agri-food, finance, pharma-chem, technology and education. They bring an incredible wealth and range of experience, much of it around the design and development of new products and services.

157

IRISH IRISH DESIGN DESIGN 2015 2015 DISCUSSIONS DISCUSSIONS -- BUSINESS BUSINESS IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

KH: What impact has ID2015 had on your business or organisation or on the wider design sector in Ireland?

AB: ID2015 elevated the role of design in business. The extensive programme had global reach and provoked new conversations, engaging new audiences. In particular, I noticed how the platform was used to highlight young Irish designers including Irish Fashion Designer Niamh O’Neil, who was included in Accenture Ireland’s of International Design is good for celebration business.

It adds value to Women’s Day 2015. That event gave Niamh the opportunity to present to products and services and drives innovation 1,200 delegates and to showcase her work around the globe on our live in organisations. International reports show webcast.

THE BUSINESS OF DESIGN

that integrating design into your company at foundation level generates tangible, financial DM: As a business lobby we come at the of design in from a differentby a business gains. Every €1issue invested design perspective. A key objective is to instill more rigorous planning and strategic generates over €20 in increased revenues and a thinking in national policy making. First, we need to get very different increase in the netcountry. operating parties to agree on €4 a shared ambition for Of courseprofit. you can KH: And finally, where do you see Irish design going from here?

design and build the best country in the world, but the creativity and talent of our people will actually make it happen.

Irish Design 2015 sought to promote design and

158

AB: As our world continues to be as disrupted the rapid adoption digital creativity key by components ofofcompetitiveness technologies, building skills and capability in design will be key to enabling and innovation. Projects and events across the Ireland to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by this island of both Ireland explored how design and design digital revolution. It is critical that industry and the design community continue to engagethinking and collaborate closely so that together we develop can successfully lead to innovation and our home grown talent pool and that we create an environment where we unlock better business performance. can attract the best international creatives and designers to live and work in Ireland. In a country known for its innovation and the beauty of its designs over many centuries, we are in the middle of one the most interesting Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive of DCCoI periods where that ‘design DNA’ will be vital to our success in reshaping so of ID2015, speaks with Kearney (Vice many industries andand their customers’ experiences.

Ireland has Bill a unique set of skills coupled with a natural ability to collaborate.

President IBM Ireland Lab), Danny McCoy (Chief

Executive Officer at Ibec), Blair BK: ID2015 was a great initiative, part of the Action Plan forand Jobs Alastair to encourage more investment in design and to sustain and growAccenture employment Ireland) (Country Managing Director, “I think ID2015 has opportunities, sales and exports in the design sector. Ireland needs about the importance of design to business. raised confidence to continue to focus on transforming how the new generation of Irish products are designed, developed and used by businesses around the amongst designers globe. We have a great opportunity to be a leader in the area of design promoted and technology. With and more and more global companies investing in design, opportunities collaboration outside of the traditional areas of ‘craft’ will continue between to emerge. We fully support continued investment in ‘craft’ but we must disciplines.” expand our scope to the broader field. Designers are not only sought out for their practical skills but they are continually being recognised for their skills in strategic thinking and problem solving. In Ireland, designers with this set of competencies will have the opportunity not only to continue working at local design studios and agencies but will be fundamental in bringing design into organisations that are primarily driven by technology or business.

IRISH IRISHDESIGN DESIGN2015 2015 MAKING MAKINGDESIGN DESIGNMATTER MATTER

As Ireland’s start-up and technology continues toingrow, thefocused demand Karen Hennessy (KH): Danny, Ibec’ssector CEO conference 2015 fordesign. designers and thinkers willhelp also change increase.attitudes This is anamongst exciting on How diddesign the conference prospect as it expands Irish business leaders?both the definition and perception of design as a profession and an industry. We can conceive a blending of Design and Business Schools asRunning we continue to evolve from design asincraft to design Danny McCoy (DM): our annual CEO Conference conjunction thinking andunder systemthe design. is growing that design-led with ID2015 themeThere ‘Better businessevidence by design’ in 2015 really start-ups have greater chance of mainstream success as aofkey in the helped bring thea approach into the Irishdifferentiator business thinking future will beauser experience.

In Ireland experts the opportunity is there and we and provided platform for international in the field. need to consider a strategy similar to Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) in 2000.

As aAccenture nation we recently have a rich heritage of art itand literature and KH: Alastair, announced that is investing €25are the onlyincountry in the world to produced a dual Oscar and Nobel million the establishment of have a Centre for Innovation on Hanover Laureate. an initiative fifteen years ago to design break new boundaries Quay.

ThisSFI is awas design rich neighbourhood.

Was a factor when on the STEMonagenda and following ID2015, we have the opportunity to break deciding location? new boundaries on the STEAM agenda.

Alastair Blair (AB): Working in a global organisation located in vibrant Grand Canal Square in Dublin now guarantees frequent conversations about design. Our global colleagues continue to be blown away by the campus look and feel of the square and surrounding docklands. We have been residents on the square for nearly nine years and have seen it flourish. For me, the square reflects the Ireland of today, home to so many of the world’s ‘born on the internet’ giants located side by side with Ireland’s disruptive start-ups and co-working spaces. And that is before we mention the work to refurbish the historically significant Boland’s Mill, and of course the artistic hubs that are The Lir and the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

159

KH: Bill, IBM has a strong design tradition dating back to Eliot Noyes and Charles and Ray Eames. As such, we were delighted that IBM provided invaluable support as ID2015’s technology partner through initiatives such as the Design Island app and Design Directory Ireland.

Can you tell us how IBM is using design today?

Bill Kearney [BK]: Design at IBM has two roles. On a practical level, design is used to conceive, develop and distribute user-centric products and services to the marketplace. A set of processes and practices helps IBM achieve this: the IBM Design Thinking framework helps team members align around the user ‘pain points’ and goals of each project, whilst the IBM Design Language is a set of tools that enables designers to produce and implement a consistent, beautiful experience through the use of visual components, animation, typography, colour, and language. But design at IBM also plays a strategic role whereby it is used to drive change and advance innovation across the company itself. ‘Design thinking’ can be used as a way to drive innovation and transformation while ensuring all stakeholders are engaged.

Lorem ipsum dolor, John Doe

The user experience has replaced the idea of functions and features and designers play a crucial role in enabling communication and collaboration between all relevant departments around product development and project delivery. Product or project managers, just as engineers, are expected to work with designers in an iterative way to address all user pain points through the delivery of a better user experience. Key to this way of working in a global business is to have a scalable approach to delivering user experiences through the IBM Design Thinking framework.

“On a practical level, “Proin ut mauris design is used to efficitur nulla convallis conceive, develop tempus. Etiam a and distribute user-centric bibendum eros.” products and services to the marketplace.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - BUSINESS

KH: Danny, what role does design have within Ibec?

DM: A core part of our work is trying to shape public policy and promote the long-term development of a country that’s a great place to both live and work. Political pressures, however, often mean immediate problems get the attention. Design-led thinking is about setting out the goal and then working out the best way of getting there. It’s an approach we’ve been promoting when it comes to policy and long-term economic and social planning.

KH: Alastair, how does Accenture use design?

AB: As businesses everywhere embrace digital, the role of design is becoming more and more central to how organisations reach their customers across multiple platforms including phones, tablets and PCs, not to mention physical locations. For this reason, Accenture has invested more than $200 million in building and strengthening Accenture Interactive’s design capabilities, including the 2013 acquisition of Fjord and, more recently, Chaotic Moon, a digital design and creative technology studio based in Austin. These are at the heart of what we see as the ‘pivot to the new’.

160

And, as I already mentioned, we’re establishing our new Centre for Innovation on Hanover Quay. From day one this has been a design-led endeavour where designers will work alongside domain experts and developers to solve some of society’s most complex challenges. Grand Canal Square and the docklands are powerful examples of the return on investment of good design – the design of the square has revolutionised the area, attracting world class companies to become the Silicon Valley of Europe. In this case, design set the stage for a flourishing business ecosystem.

KH: As part of ID2015, we have published a series of case studies demonstrating the impact of design within non-design intensive sectors. A question for all of you: how does design enhance your business or organisation?

BK: In a company of almost 400,000 employees, coordination, communication, and planning are incredibly important to the success of each division and their offerings. In this regard, design and its associated methodologies enhance communication and collaboration across each team, allowing team members from a broad range of disciplines to identify the key problems that our clients and customers experience. It is at this point that design enables us to create and implement thoughtful, novel solutions that focus on the users of our products and services.

The addition of designers to the product development cycle does, of course, incur a cost, but in the long run it is saving on costs while improving user experience. Applying design thinking reduces the risk of poor products being released on the market and thereby avoids additional cost for support and software updates to improve the initial user experience.

Ensuring an optimum user experience right from the start also helps gain market share as the product gets recognition for the great experience it delivers to all users.

3FE Coffee branding by Conor and David.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

The strong design focus in IBM was reintroduced in response to people’s expectations of enterprise tech, which has changed because of great design they see in devices and applications they use at work and at play.

Increasingly, software for the cloud and mobile applications relies on a personal experience, an emotional connection being established between users and the product.

AB: As customer experience design rises rapidly to the level of C-suite conversations in every industry, we’re leading the way in showing how an innovative design approach can engender business success in everything from superior customer experiences to far-reaching organisational change.

Our operating model of bringing design, engineering and deep subject matter industry expertise together gives a better chance of solving the right problems in the right way, and we are delighted that we are getting the opportunity to do this in Dublin – through our growing Accenture Interactive team, in the Centre for Innovation and in working every day with our clients in Ireland.

DM: Applying design thinking to how we work puts a structure and discipline on it and ensures that policies and positions in different areas are coherent and complementary. Four years ago, Ibec set out an ambitious vision for a country emerging from crisis, which we still use as a reference point. In many respects we’re still in the planning stages, but very significant progress has been made.

KH: Is design represented at board level within your business or organisation?

AB: At a local leadership level for Irish business we too are infusing a design-led culture across the organisation. We have people in lead roles helping our clients to rethink and reshape through a design-led lens. At a global and within the most senior levels of the business we have both built and acquired world class design experience that is helping us for our clients’ needs.

BK: The IBM CEO Ginni Rometty is a major supporter of design thinking and the company has a dedicated General Manager of Design in Phil Gilbert. The company has made significant investment in studios, personnel and design related acquisitions. In the 2015 annual report, there is a video on inclusive design. IBM continues its transformation through the integration of design and design thinking, allowing the organisation to prepare better for future opportunities. Recognising that changing the environment is a key lever to change thinking, IBM invested in a network of design studios, which are the cultural centres of IBM Design. These studios are dedicated spaces that can be constructed and deconstructed using white boards, post-its and sharpies and are used throughout the design process to allow true collaboration.

DM: The Ibec board is very diverse and its members come from a wide range of sectors including agri-food, finance, pharma-chem, technology and education. They bring an incredible wealth and range of experience, much of it around the design and development of new products and services.

“Applying design thinking to how we work puts a structure and discipline on it and ensures that policies and positions in different areas are coherent and complementary.”

161

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - BUSINESS

KH: What impact has ID2015 had on your business or organisation or on the wider design sector in Ireland?

AB: ID2015 elevated the role of design in business. The extensive programme had global reach and provoked new conversations, engaging new audiences. In particular, I noticed how the platform was used to highlight young Irish designers including Irish Fashion Designer Niamh O’Neill, who was included in Accenture Ireland’s celebration of International Women’s Day 2015. That event gave Niamh the opportunity to present to 1,200 delegates and to showcase her work around the globe on our live webcast.

KH: And finally, where do you see Irish design going from here?

DM: As a business lobby we come at the issue of design from a different perspective. A key objective is to instil more rigorous planning and strategic thinking in national policy making. First, we need to get very different parties to agree on a shared ambition for the country. Of course you can design and build the best country in the world, but the creativity and talent of our people will actually make it happen.

162

AB: As our world continues to be disrupted by the rapid adoption of digital technologies, building skills and capability in design will be key to enabling Ireland to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by this digital revolution. It is critical that both industry and the design community continue to engage and collaborate closely so that together we develop our home grown talent pool and that we create an environment where we can attract the best international creatives and designers to live and work in Ireland. In a country known for its innovation and the beauty of its designs over many centuries, we are in the middle of one of the most interesting periods where that ‘design DNA’ will be vital to our success in reshaping so many industries and their customers’ experiences. Ireland has a unique set of skills coupled with a natural ability to collaborate.

Rug by Ceadogán Rugs with Katie Hession.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

BK: ID2015 was a great initiative, part of the Action Plan for Jobs to encourage more investment in design and to sustain and grow employment opportunities, sales and exports in the design sector. Ireland needs to continue to focus on transforming how the new generation of Irish products are designed, developed and used by businesses around the globe. We have a great opportunity to be a leader in the area of design and technology. With more and more global companies investing in design, opportunities outside of the traditional areas of ‘craft’ will continue to emerge. We fully support continued investment in ‘craft’ but we must expand our scope to the broader field. Designers are not only sought out for their practical skills but they are continually being recognised for their skills in strategic thinking and problem solving. In Ireland, designers with this set of competencies will have the opportunity not only to continue working at local design studios and agencies but will be fundamental in bringing design into organisations that are primarily driven by technology or business.

As Ireland’s start-up and technology sector continues to grow, the demand for designers and design thinkers will also increase. This is an exciting prospect as it expands both the definition and perception of design as a profession and an industry. We can conceive a blending of Design and Business Schools as we continue to evolve from design as craft to design thinking and system design. There is growing evidence that design-led start-ups have a greater chance of success as a key differentiator in the future will be user experience. In Ireland the opportunity is there and we need to consider a strategy similar to Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) in 2000.

As a nation we have a rich heritage of art and literature and are the only country in the world to have produced a dual Oscar and Nobel Laureate.

SFI was an initiative fifteen years ago to break new boundaries on the STEM agenda and following ID2015, we have the opportunity to break new boundaries on the STEAM agenda.

“We fully support continued investment in craft but we must expand our scope to the broader field.”

163

“Our experience in hosting the symposium for Universal Design homes clearly underlined the true value of good quality design in our daily lives and in shaping our future communities. Design is not some frivolous aspiration - good quality design solutions are inherent in how we define our society and support those who are vulnerable.”

Anne Marie Cusack Galway City Architects

164

“Irish Design funding support allowed us to commission a challenging and exotic range of speakers, such as the esteemed academic Yosi Anaya of Mexico, for the MAKE 2015 Symposium, while keeping ticket prices low enough for students and makers.”

Pamela Hardesty CIT Crawford College of Art and Design

“At Windmill Lane Pictures we work with film makers who come to us to help them 'problem solve' bringing difficult and ambitious visual sequences to the big screen.

Without exception, the design skills of our artists, whether CGI, matte painters or compositors, is the foundation of their work and the quality that brings film makers in the door.�

James Morris Windmill Lane Pictures

Design creates learning

165

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - LEARNING

EDUCATING DESIGNERS, DESIGNING EDUCATORS Creative graduates are highly sought after by major global companies because of their ability to think critically and independently. Investment in design education will be a key factor in driving Ireland’s future economic growth, strengthening our graduate offering and seeding an innovative mind-set in the next generation. During this year, ID2015 has worked with schools and universities to bring design thinking into the classroom and the lecture hall with a series of initiatives, from running masterclasses through to commissioning toolkits for students and graduates.

166

Professor Alex Milton, Programme Director of ID2015, speaks with Dr. Muireann McMahon (lecturer and Course Director on the BSc. Product Design + Technology at the University of Limerick), Barry Sheehan (Head of Design at the Dublin School of Creative Arts, Dublin Institute of Technology) and Professor Hugh Campbell (Dean of Architecture, UCD) about the changing nature of design education and how Ireland can meet the challenge of educating designers and designing educators in the 21st century.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Alex Milton (AM): Thanks for joining me to discuss Design Education in Ireland. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching design and managing design departments and faculties for over 20 years, in an art school context as well as within universities. Muireann, you teach design within a university context. How does this impact on your curriculum and your approach to delivery at University of Limerick (UL)?

Muireann McMahon (MM): The biggest benefit to working in the University is access to world class experts across a multitude of disciplines from engineering, computer science, medicine, humanities and physiotherapy, to sports science, marketing and more. We draw on these disciplines to set project briefs and to offer expert help to the undergrads in their specific projects, particularly in final year. Staff and faculty on campus are very open and generous with their time and expertise.

On a more day to day level the structures and systems within the University are very restrictive to be honest. The system is set up to work for traditional academic subjects that are taught in lectures and tutorials and assessed through end of semester exams. This isn’t how we work in design, so we often find ourselves explaining why we need more space, lower staff to student ratios, more materials and longer class durations. There are only a few courses on the UL campus that teach in Design Studios (Product Design, Architecture, Digital Media Design, Civil Engineering) so we are a bit of a curiosity at times. Fortunately things are changing and alternative ways of teaching are being recognised and facilitated in UL (FabLab for example) so we are forging a path.

AM: It’s great to see the integration of design within other disciplines within academia, and examples such as the renowned d.school at Stanford University clearly demonstrate that design can move beyond a traditional art school context, and play a key role in driving enterprise and innovation, and putting institutions on the global stage. Barry, DIT has just moved to the Grangegorman campus, and is in the process of becoming a Technical University. What role can and does design play in this transition and the future of the institution?

Barry Sheehan (BS): DIT has been dispersed throughout Dublin and the various different locations felt very separate. This has posed major challenges for transdisciplinary projects and education in a wide sense, with staff and students working in unknown silos on unknown projects.

Moving to a central campus means it is much easier for students to see the wide range of courses on offer and take modules in very different subjects, tailoring the education to suit their needs. Designing the new Technological University is not just about the physical infrastructure, which is important, but also the design of the systems that underpin it, as well as the organisation that is the Technological University.

AM: The new Policy Framework for Design recognises the key role education plays in developing, attracting and nurturing design talent in Ireland. From your perspective, why do you think students should study design in this country?

167

“Staff and faculty on campus are very open and generous with their time and expertise.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - LEARNING

MM: Because it is fun! Seriously though, it forces people to think about and look at the world from a completely different perspective. Students are given the space, the support and the encouragement to explore, test, make, create, build and experiment through their project work. Your work has the potential to positively change people’s lives, which is such an interesting space to work in. For a Product Designer the career opportunities are very diverse - we have graduates working in areas such as toy design, medical devices, user experience, set design and sustainable design as well as research and consultancy. It is an exciting time to be a designer or studying design as it is very much in the consciousness of business both in Ireland and internationally. Multinationals are hiring designers at the highest levels and designer-founded companies are growing quickly. I don’t think there has been a better time to be a designer!

AM: Hugh, what about studying architecture in Ireland?

168

Hugh Campbell (HC): I think it is a good place to study architecture, and design more broadly. There are five schools of architecture in the country, three relatively recently established, and this underlines the fact that there is a large group of architects in practice who are interested in teaching and imparting their knowledge. So I think there is an ethos of educating inside the discipline. And the pool of teachers is concentrated, in a way that it might not be elsewhere, such as Britain, where I would struggle to think of many schools that would have the same pool of practitioners, working at a high level, available to them. I think that’s a characteristic. I think another characteristic is an interest in making and materials and certain ideas of craft, an interest in things at a certain scale, and quite an intimate link between maker/user/creator. I think that comes across in a lot of the education, so it’s quite socially oriented and it’s quite directly oriented towards making. However it’s a potential limitation too, because it means we’re not that open about thinking on a larger scale, thinking speculatively; we’re not driven by theory so much, and those might be seen as shortcomings. So we’re reluctant, perhaps, to expand the horizons of the discipline at times.

Moocall designed by Dolmen.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

AM: Design is currently not a formal part of the school curriculum, and ID2015 has developed pilot projects at second level to begin to address this deficit. What relevance do you feel design can have to education at primary and secondary levels, and how can design be integrated into Irish education from primary to third level?

MM: More than teaching children at primary and secondary how to be a designer, I think design tools and methods have real potential to help non-formal and non-traditional learners acquire key skills. The practical, learning by doing approach to discovering, understanding, testing and experimentation are transferrable and applicable across every subject. And these methods can really help visual and/or physical learners who might struggle with more traditional learning models.

BS: Yes, Muireann’s right – design is a language and should be taught at all levels as a formal part of the curriculum.

HC: I think the issue might be more to do with the educational approach, as Muireann and Barry have implied, rather than the content. I’m thinking back to my own education. I had some exposure to O levels, and the O-level curriculum was much more about problem-based learning – it felt like it was inviting you to make an independent response. And in a way, that’s the thing that you need to engender in students in order to equip them. When we get students in to the college, we find it’s not so much their skills or their knowledge that need to grow but their attitude to learning, from one of reproducing information they’ve been given as part of the curriculum to one of thinking about the issues and responding to them and then refining and developing that response.

AM: 2015 has seen the launch of ITERATIONS, a peer reviewed design and practice journal, and FAULTLINES, the first all-Ireland design research conference. What are you and your institution doing in design research? How is it integrated into the institution’s overall research and knowledge transfer strategy?

HC: There are a couple of points about this. First, there’s the idea that there’s something in design itself that constitutes a type of research.

That has gained a good deal of currency recently. More interesting for me is the thought that design as a method could lead research about other things. There are really obvious places where, at a certain point in a research question, design presents itself as the method which is best to address the question. There’s also the allied question of the extent to which research can inform practice and practice can inform research.

Interesting things are beginning to happen in this area; you’ve got the Irish Research Council supporting workplace-based PhDs, which has application in architecture, and there’s beginning to be interesting cross-over between public authorities, which encourages knowledge transfer, which in turn contributes to design intelligence. Largely speaking, you would still say that the design disciplines don’t advance through research in the way that we take it for granted that science or engineering do - they’re still seen to advance through practice, architecture in particular - but the balance might be starting to shift.

169

“...design is a language and should be taught at all levels as a formal part of the curriculum.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - LEARNING

MM: We have a research group here in UL called Design Factors that comprises academics, postgraduate researchers and professional designers. Design Factors focuses on four areas: Design for Health; Design Practice & Education; Design for Sustainability & Society; and Human Factors in Industry. All of the projects we do are collaborative endeavours with people both inside and outside the University (locally and internationally). These research collaborations not only uncover new ideas and knowledge, they also introduce our partners to the benefits of working with designers, whether that is through improving the user experience of an existing product, the reimagining of how a problem is addressed or identifying and developing solutions to previously unmet needs.

Design is now a core area in the University’s research direction and Design Factors is being given the support and help at an institutional level to lead funding applications from Irish and European sources. We are also being asked to partner in other bids, which is a testament to how design can add value at an applied research level.

170

BS: Design research takes place across DIT and is organised by The Dublin School of Creative Arts, the College of Arts and Tourism, and DIT. DIT are founders in GradCAM, the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media, which also includes NCAD, IADT and Ulster University. DIT is also a PhD awarding body and there are several candidates pursuing design and art related PhDs currently. DIT is actively engaged in research with external agencies. In late 2015 for example, the Dublin School of Creative Arts hosted the IBM Internet of Things Design Challenge, the Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability Workshop, and the Face Forward Typography Conference, which ID2015 supported.

AM: ID2015 has sought to break down barriers between disciplines and encourage collaboration. In the design industry, the new ideal hire is often a team. Should Irish design education recognise this and move to a more collaborative and interdisciplinary team teaching model?

Replacement knee joint lost wax mould by Stryker. Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

MM: This already happens for us. Every project we do has at least two people tutoring. Students need to hear a diversity of voices giving feedback on their work in order to develop their critical thinking and decision making skills. At times students find it confusing and overwhelming but these soft skills are as important, if not more important, than core design skills.

Employers expect core design skills as standard but what sets a graduate apart is the softer skills they have evidenced through their portfolios like collaboration, systems thinking, independent work and so on.

What should be facilitated more is teaching across disciplines but this can be very difficult to arrange as busy schedules and misaligned timetables don’t always allow for cross disciplinary teaching. To overcome this, third level institutions must allow for more flexible class timetables and semester structures so academics can move across disciplines for teaching and research. Time should be blocked every week or every few weeks to work in a different discipline so we can evolve beyond silo driven academic structures.

HC: Group work has been one of the real focuses of a lot of innovation and teaching in our school in the last 5 or 6 years. So students between 2nd and 3rd year will work together on projects – they take a project that’s been done by another student and they develop it into detail. We’ve encouraged students to do group theses, on the basis that this is how they’re going to be working in reality. It flexes other muscles for students and some students find avenues for different aspects of their ability.

AM: How about you Barry?

BS: I am a huge fan of transdisciplinary activities and our School organises a range of transdisciplinary projects. But transdisciplinary activities do not suit all students. Some students want to gain an in-depth knowledge of a particular subject area and this should be understood and students’ needs catered for.

AM: ID2015 has launched start-up programmes for designers and promoted recent design graduates to help position themselves within a commercial marketplace. How can we better prepare Irish design students for the world of work? Are live projects enough or do we need to look beyond the merely vocational?

MM: I don’t deny that live projects, in collaboration with industry and which reflect professional practice, are a key part of a student’s design education but also students need to enjoy the supportive and sheltered environment of college. Providing them with a space and the time to explore and experiment without the pressures of professional life shouldn’t be undervalued. Designers need to find their niche, to discover their talents and to figure out what they enjoy and what they don’t. College might be the only time in their careers that they can do this uninterrupted. Having said that, I think every design student should study business and project management and be exposed to entrepreneurship classes or workshops in some form over their degree. And this needs to be delivered by business experts, not designers who think they know business.

“Students need to hear a diversity of voices giving feedback on their work.”

171

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - LEARNING

BS: Students should be encouraged to take on internships, formally and informally. But we also need to encourage collaboration between companies and colleges. There is a line where this can be exploitative of students, but if done in a considered fashion it can have huge benefits for the education of students and ease the transition to employment after graduation.

AM: Ireland has a rich craft tradition. How can we build upon this heritage to create a grounded yet forward looking model for Irish architecture and design education?

172

MM: Ireland has to retain and reintroduce our fast disappearing craft skills as we rush towards a tech-led approach to education. Design education should allow students to explore the slower craft side of design. We have to run projects that remove the emphasis from technology for a while and allow students to experiment and create in an uncluttered space. It can be difficult to get students to switch off computers and devices as there is such a reliance on them but core and craft design skills are above any particular tool - whether using a mouse or a pen, it is only the vehicle to explain and develop ideas. Design students do inherently draw on their heritage, culture and worldviews in their project work - every designer does, even if this is subconscious. We spend a lot of time exploring the influence of other cultures on design history and I think ID2015 has encouraged us to look at how Irish design has contributed to this story in the past and how we can continue to do this into the future.

AM: Design schools used to teach people to design, now we are moving to a model where we teach people through design. What are the implications of this for design education? What is the future of design education, and what role can Ireland play?

Hypercube ring by Eoin M Lyons.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

BS: Design education is evolving, especially with much of the basic skills based training to be found on the internet. The role of the educator is now more curatorial, pointing out the value of the different pieces of information and their possible applications. Design remains about problem solving and some of the problems are getting more challenging - problems of equitable futures for all of the world’s population, for example. In Ireland, we are used to exporting our people to solve the world’s problems. Now is the time to be exporting our ideas.

MM: Design education in the future will be far more flexible and fluid and with fewer defined borders between the creative disciplines. If this is going to be the case then education needs to respond, not by focusing on hard skills - anyone can learn anything from Youtube these days, as Barry says - but instead by teaching ways of thinking, collaborating, co-designing and participating. We also need to strengthen the links between industry, society and education. We are a small, well-educated country and we have proven over the past few decades that we can ‘do’ very well - we can produce and build. Now we need to demonstrate that we can think, imagine and create in a way that adds value to our industries and to our society.

AM: And finally, I’m curious to know where you all see Irish design going from here?

HC: I see that we could be heading into an endless cycle of curations of contemporary craft, which might make for nicer Christmas presents. While this is completely valid and welcome it shouldn’t preclude design from also taking on the bigger, messier problems, which we don’t necessarily have a history of doing. Our successes come in small parcels usually and that becomes the narrative and we stick with it. I think that would be a disappointing path to follow.

MM: I would love to see designers being involved in more socially driven projects. And for this type of work to be a viable career choice for a designer instead of seeing commercial design or design education as the only paths post-graduation. I would also like to see women designers represented more equitably in every facet of professional life. The high rate of attrition of female designers and architects as they move through education and up the career ladder is very apparent and worrying. The industry needs to be more diverse in every sense of the word; a diverse industry is a resilient industry.

BS: Design is a creative activity and Ireland is known for its creativity. But it has not been known for its design. This is changing and ID2015 has played a big part in supporting designers to tell the world about their talents.

173

“We also need to strengthen the links between industry, society and education.”

“Being a part of Liminal Irish design at the threshold as a new graduate gave me exposure straight out of college.

I was given the opportunity to showcase my work at an international level along with established designers/makers and companies. It really opened up my eyes to the possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration.”

174

Genevieve Howard Jewellery Designer/Maker

“The invitation to produce work for the Liminal exhibition in New York allowed me to explore a direction in my practice which I had until then overlooked. The chance to work collaboratively alongside some leading lights in a completely different field was wonderfully rewarding.”

Jamie Murphy The Salvage Press

“During Dutch Design Week, the event that is nationally and internationally recognised as the leading design event in Europe, I was impressed by the Irish presentation.

Through this contribution, I saw that design creates culture, culture shapes values, and values determine the future.”

Katja Lucas Programme Manager, Dutch Design Week

175

Design creates connection

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CONNECTION

BRINGING IRISH DESIGN TO THE WORLD Ireland is a small island at the edge of Europe with a remarkable global reach. There are an estimated 70 million people worldwide that are of Irish origin, and this connected, collaborative network creates an influence beyond our size. Irish design has a history of harnessing creativity, and its practitioners have consistently explored emergent fields, unbound by disciplinary convention or commercial silos. This has enabled designers to draw upon their resilience to rebuild and remodel their practices through design thinking and help drive Ireland’s rapidly expanding creative economy.

176

Professor Alex Milton, Programme Director of ID2015, speaks with Raymund Ryan (Architectural Critic and Curator), Gemma Williams (Fashion Curator), John McLaughlin (John McLaughlin Architecture) and Ben Evans (Director, London Design Festival) about how Irish design sits within a global design discourse and international marketplace, and how Ireland can build upon the activities of ID2015 at leading design weeks, biennales and festivals.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Alex Milton (AM): From Michael Scott’s modernist Irish Pavilion at New York’s World’s Fair of 1939, through to commissioning the iconic American designer George Nelson to create the 1964 Irish pavilion in New York, Ireland has sought to position itself on the international stage through architecture and design. How do you feel Irish design has been perceived internationally up until now, and how do you think ID2015 might have impacted on this legacy?

John McLaughlin (JM): Early pioneers like Michael Scott and Andy Devane, who invited George Nelson to collaborate, sought to create a clear image of a modern Ireland emerging from colonialism in the middle of the twentieth century. Subsequently, designers sought to portray a more romantic image of Ireland, like the photos used in the John Hinde postcards which created a false, touristic image of the country. I think that ID2015 redresses the balance by emphasising a synthesis of craft and twenty first century technology. It celebrates our strengths in these areas.

Ben Evans (BE): For generations Irish creative talent has migrated overseas. While ties have often remained strong, the benefit has usually not been seen at home. ID2015 is a reminder that home continues to produce talent and, critically, is a place for that talent.

Gemma Williams (GW): One year of promoting Irish design was fantastic and groundbreaking, and I was proud to see fashion included on the innovative programme. But in the long-term, it will hopefully be possible to implement a supporting framework which allows young designers to experiment and find their creative vision, enables viable business models to develop, entices creatives back to the country, as Ben suggests is key, and encourages sustainability. Until a sound structure is implemented in a thoughtful, educated and meaningful manner, creatives will continue to migrate to avail of the infrastructure in other countries.

AM: Ray, as a curator who has worked in Ireland and the USA, you helped put Irish architecture on the map by commissioning the first Irish pavilion at Venice in 2000. What was the thinking behind the commission?

Raymund Ryan (RR): The 2000 Pavilion, Tom de Paor’s N³, proved to be a seminal project. A cubic pavilion made from peat briquettes, N³ played to certain strengths in Irish architecture: narrative, poetics of making, an interpretation of place. In 2002, I selected Bucholz McEvoy and their proposal for Limerick County Hall at Dooradoyle. This played to not exactly Critical Regionalism, to which many Irish architects may well owe allegiance, but what we might here call Critical Internationalism. If N³ appealed to visitors with an eye for nature, Irish wit and literary tradition, Dooradoyle spoke more about technical refinement as well as the intersection of civic and environmental concerns.

AM: John, like Ray you have commissioned in Venice and indeed designed the 2014 Irish Pavilion in Venice. I feel you have an innate understanding of the way Irish design portrays itself to an international audience. I’m really interested in how you see your role as a designer and commissioner of Irish international design and architecture events.

177

“ID2015 is a reminder that home continues to produce talent and, critically, is a place for that talent.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CONNECTION

JM: I was fascinated by the way that in architecture we resort to stereotypical images of Ireland as a windswept island populated by sheep and simple peasant folk - it always reminded me of T.S. Eliot’s icy description of the early poetry of W.B. Yeats as being like “the west of Ireland viewed through a Kensington drawing room window.” It was initially in response to this condition that I sought to represent the globalised Ireland that we inhabit today through architecture exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012 and 2014. The first of these in 2012 – ‘Shifting Ground’ - showcased the work of heneghan peng architects as exemplifying the way that Irish design is globalised and the digital tools that are used to work across continents.

In Infra-Éireann in 2014 we looked back at a hundred years of modernity and traced the evolution of this globalisation. We undertook extensive historical research and produced a book tracing the development of Irish modernity from the Shannon hydro-electrification scheme in the 1920s to the current emergence of Ireland as a centre for big data and software design. What emerged from all this was an understanding that Ireland uses its location both within the EU, and at the hinge point of transatlantic trade, to develop a hybrid position that attempts to bridge between cultures.

178

For the exhibition in Venice I chose a location in the Arsenale section of the Biennale to reinforce the fact that Ireland is at the centre of discourse and not at the periphery. I think that we have a naturally insular tendency, wanting to be read firstly as an island, but that we have reached a stage in terms of the quality of the design that we produce to be able to stand in the middle of things and be part of the main debate. This was borne out at the 2012 Biennale when Grafton Architects were awarded the Silver Lion for their exhibit in the curated section of the show – it put an Irish architecture practice centre stage in the biggest and most important forum for global architecture.

Giant’s Causeway Visitors Centre by heneghan peng. Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

AM: Ray, this need to work within a global context is increasingly vital.

Where do you feel Irish architects do their best work?

RR: Many Irish architects’ best work addresses the potential of civic and educational institutions today (O’Donnell + Tuomey in London and Budapest, for instance, and Grafton in Milan, Toulouse and Lima). This work isn’t only about context and narrative - the obvious crutches for the critic - but also, more fundamentally, about belief in community and the importance of institutions, however small. It is therefore vitally important that younger Irish architects have chances to develop their own practices through work on schools, libraries, clinics and other projects of the middle size – these can lead later to larger, meaningful projects abroad.

AM: John, what perspectives did working abroad and creating the Venice pavilions give you that you brought forward into your practice and approach to the Liminal – Irish design at the threshold exhibitions? Can you tell me a little about what you set out to achieve with these exhibition designs and how you balanced both the clients’ needs and your knowledge of the international context?

JM: We were really interested to see if we could translate our architectural experience into the wider field of design where again the romantic image of Ireland appeared to dominate. It was great to have a series of fascinating discussions with you and the rest of the curatorial team and find that there are similar debates across the other design disciplines.

AM: I remember when we commissioned you to undertake the design of Liminal we spoke extensively about the work of Patrick Scott, the Irish designer and artist, who had been a big inspiration for you on Infra-Éireann in 2014.

JM: Yes, we looked at a design that he had done in 1967 for the first Rosc exhibition where he transformed the Royal Dublin Society into a suitable space for exhibiting modern art. He had draped the whole space in white linen and hung the artworks so that they floated in soft white space.

The first Liminal exhibition was in Milan in April and it was Ireland’s first pavilion at the Salone where we wanted to make an impact. We obtained permission to cover the thoroughfare outside the exhibition space with fabric to form a covered patio that could be used as a social space and for the opening party. One of the participants was nervous about having their products outside but it worked really well for them and the audience interacted freely with the work.

As the year progressed, the feeling of the show did too. There were a number of collaborative exhibits that took time to develop and more interactive and digital content was added. We used the summer to redesign the show to reflect this and developed a topographic theme that suited exhibits of different sizes. We presented this in Eindhoven, where there is an appetite for experimental design. For the final edition in Dublin we fused the two versions of the show together, placing the topographical display inside a white fabric lining in the Coach House of Dublin Castle.

“Many Irish architects’ best work addresses the potential of civic and educational institutions today.”

179

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CONNECTION

AM: Gemma, fashion is a global industry but increasingly consumers are seeking out designers who have a story to tell, and garments with a clear provenance. What is Irish fashion today – can you capture the scene in words? In the Fold, which Aisling Farinella and I commissioned you to curate, really set the tone for how we presented fashion during this year; what story were you trying to tell with that exhibition, as the first Irish pavilion at a London Fashion Week?

GW: Contemporary Irish fashion has traditionally been associated with materials such as linen, tweed and wool, or the wave of Irish talent in the late 80s/early 90s. As outlined in the UKTI’s 2014 report, Ireland is the UK’s second largest market in fashion, so for me it’s impossible to think of Irish fashion without some kind of relationship to the UK, specifically London. Unlike in the 90s, we now lose our greatest talents to that city, understandably, as this is their main route to gaining international credibility and making market impact. The number of Irish designers showing at London Fashion Weeks continues to rise and there they are also best placed to engage with the established and supportive infrastructure and routes to market provided by bodies such as the British Fashion Council.

180

Over the years, graduates and industry professionals, like myself, supplement Irish degrees with Masters from UK Universities. It is a case in point that two world leaders in the fashion industry, Simone Rocha and JW Anderson, are Irish, yet operate and receive support from London. In the Fold was really about sourcing the new talent which might follow in their footsteps and explore what Irish fashion means within the current context.

The easiest way to frame my opinion of what Irish fashion means to me is within the contents, and context, of In the Fold. The exhibition was about slow production and what attracts me to the emerging wave of Irish fashion is the lack of speed; handcraft is imbued with an almost fetishised and uncompromising deceleration of production.

AM: You are now based in London - how has that affected your view of Irish fashion?

GW: Having left Ireland over 10 years ago, it is always interesting for me to return home and see how dramatically the island is changing, and this distance enables me to look at cultural outputs holistically, with a sense of detachment. I wanted In the Fold to express the almost hybrid sense of being a part of, yet also insular, that is characteristic of Ireland, and to also stand as an exemplar of how Ireland’s domestic industry relates to and holds its own against the established infrastructure of the UK industry.

In the Fold was about telling the story of the polarities and dichotomies of the industries as well as the micro relationships between the hand and the material, the designer and the concept, the curator and the narrative, the visitor and the exhibition. 2015 was notable because, within

Millinery by Martha Lynn.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

the wider industry, it saw professionals at the highest levels speaking out about the unsustainable speed of fashion and the accompanying human strain, mental and physical. Although this is nothing new, I take it as wider evidence of a micro revolt or call to arms. We all need to take responsibility for our own mass consumption, and this is equally relevant in fashion production. Basically, the premise of In the Fold was a meditative exploration of craft and identity, and in hindsight maybe there was an underlying message of being mindful about how we engage with fashion.

AM: Ben, as Head of the London Design Festival, one of the projects you supported was the creation of The Ogham Wall - a landmark installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) this year. With any of these kinds of commissioned projects, it’s always fascinating to find out a little about what motivates both the LDF and a cultural institution such as the V&A to take such an ambitious concept forward – can you give me an insight into the thinking behind giving this project the green light? For me, the collaborative work of Grafton Architects and Graphic Relief on The Ogham Wall has produced an exceptional example of what Irish design can be and do; it has challenged perceptions. Can you tell me what it says about Irish design, and perhaps global design, today, to you?

BE: We have run a commissioning programme at the V&A during the London Design Festival for seven years now. It is an opportunity to push the boundaries of design and we deliberately try to provoke and ask visitors to rethink their perceptions of design. Above all, we are trying to make an impact. Something to remember. I am very conscious of the fact that we all have hundreds if not thousands of design experiences every day but don’t notice them. We are immersed in design and we have even been numbed by it. Nowadays, it takes something especially good (or bad) to register and it’s the ambition of the programme to cause this shift in attention.

The museum wholly endorses that approach and asks us to challenge them with the projects we place there. However it is not just about scale and ambition but difference. That is why The Ogham Wall was such a success. It was different and it was Irish. When it comes to countries, visitor perceptions are even more entrenched, stereotypical even. For the designer it is a difficult task because you want to present an idea that can be seen as Irish but not as you know it or perceive it. This is in an era when most national design identities have virtually disappeared into a European or global generality. We have all lost our national distinctiveness.

It is not necessarily a bad thing but when you do have something to say it is a harder task without falling into clichés or dead ends. The Ogham Wall cleverly draws on Ireland’s cultural history but modernises and even blurs any preconceptions.

AM: Well, thanks again for all your support with the project, and I’m delighted that the The Ogham Wall travelled to the Kennedy Center in Washington in 2016 as part of the 1916 commemorations.

Ray, has the ID2015 New Horizon series of exhibitions at international architecture festivals which you co-curated with Nathalie Weadick of the Irish Architecture Foundation helped position a new generation of Irish architects, some of whom were taught by Grafton Architects?

181

“We are immersed in design and we have even been numbed by it.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CONNECTION

182

RR: That of course was the intention. Nathalie and I thought to select a group of architects born since 1970, that is, architects graduating in the 1990s. This deliberately excluded many of the excellent architects who had already represented Ireland in Venice. We wanted to give this younger generation a chance to do something interesting on the international stage. Benefitting from the support and managerial skills of everyone at ID2015, ambitious young architects like those selected are inevitably clued-in to a global system of peers and media – they may however need a little push to make a statement as to their deepest design intent. We were in part lucky to identify three festivals/biennales occurring at different times of the year and in radically different locations. There is an interesting evolution, I think, in the project. I was delighted to see Nine Lives, part of the larger international show, in Kilkenny. It would be wonderful if all the component parts of New Horizon could in some way come home to Ireland.

AM: Ireland’s creative output has long been framed by literature, music, theatre, filmmaking and art, yet these represent only a fraction of Irish creativity. What has, and what does, Irish design mean today to an international audience?

JM: International audiences are discovering the quality of Irish design, which can be simultaneously serious and relaxed. There is a real intent to it but also a texture that engages people through empathy. It really suits the current climate – after the crash – where people are interested in smart thinking that is not ostentatious.

AM: And finally, I’m curious to know where you all see Irish design going from here?

GW: I hope the powers that be realise that the route to making design viable and economically rewarding starts with the cultivation of culture and fostering of talent. Once this is fully implemented, from education to consumption, I honestly believe Irish design can flourish domestically and internationally.

JM: I think that this is just the beginning of a whole new phase of our development where we will be amazed before we are halfway through.

We are going to become more and more aware of our increasing strength and excellence in design and this will transform Ireland in fantastic ways. Looking back at the century that has elapsed since the rising, it is possible to extrapolate and to imagine what Ireland will be like in 2116. A society and economy based on a strong design culture will be much more sustainable than anything we have known so far. I think that my children will look back and see this as a real turning point for Ireland.

RR: I’m looking forward to seeing what recent graduates come up with in the next few years. Being a small country with a sense of itself in the wider world has a lot of advantages. In the balance of development opportunities between Dublin and the rest of the country, many rural communities seem like obvious crucibles for designers in the digital era.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

BE: The future for Irish design is promising. With London now prohibitively expensive, other European cities can benefit. Berlin has already established itself as a magnet for talent and the city authorities have cleverly fuelled that reputation through initiatives that encouraged and even subsidised established names to move there. Perhaps Ireland can follow with new activity at home - a design commissioning programme where local talent and global names are invited to showcase. It would be reputation enhancing. Or an open door policy for designers to arrive with support on space and studios. Even incentives, tax or otherwise, that make new activity not just easy but good business.

“Being a small country with a sense of itself in the wider world has a lot of advantages.”

183

SS15 collection by Manley.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

“Irish Design 2015 helped to showcase the creative potential of the latest digital fabrication technologies in a design-led space at Fab Lab Limerick, with talks and workshops that have inspired our community and strengthened the collaboration between local creatives, artists and technologists.”

Javier Burón Fab Lab Limerick Director

184

“Our ID2015 sponsored talks on developing a career in footwear design were very well attended and we were able to give participants an overview of what is entailed in both traditional and contemporary footwear design. An unexpected legacy is that three participants have engaged us as design consultants to help them get their own footwear brands up and running from Ireland! We never thought that our talks would have such a huge impact.

Because of this, we have great confidence in our decision to set up our training organisation Shoeniversity and for the future of our own brand of footwear, Equipage. Through ID2015, Ireland has proven that although we are a small country, design wise we are a superpower!”

Marie Brennan Course Director, Shoeniversity

“We at The National Film School are delighted that ID2015 has focused on the talent of Irish design and Irish designers. It's particularly important that the definition of 'design' has been broader than is perhaps normally considered.

We are also grateful to have received financial support for our pioneering GEECT (European film schools) conference, 'Teaching Production Design' in March 2015 and for the two short films on major figures, theatre designer, Bob Crowley, and animator, Nora Twomey, made by our graduates.�

Donald Taylor Black Creative Director, The National Film School, IADT

Design creates innovation

185

IRISH DESIGN 2015  DISCUSSIONS - INNOVATION

DESIGNING INNOVATION

186

Design is an approach to problem solving and can drive innovation in products, services and processes for the public and private sectors, as well as society, by integrating the needs of the users. Globalisation has resulted in the unravelling of traditional value chains, and consequently a pressing need for the private and public sectors alike to undertake significant structural change and invest in productivity-enhancing innovations. In many countries, design has gained new significance as a tool for responding to these challenges, leveraging its use as a driver of innovation. Â Professor Alex Milton, Programme Director of ID2015, speaks with Brian Stephens (Managing Director at Design Partners), John Mathers (CEO at Design Council, UK), Stephen Hughes (Consumer Retail Manager, Enterprise Ireland), and Laura Magahy (Managing Director, MCO Projects) about how Ireland can use design as a strategic means to encourage innovation.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Alex Milton (AM): Brian, as CEO of a successful Irish design consultancy that has been operating for over 30 years, can you tell us what being based in Ireland brings to your business, and how this helps you to innovate?

Brian Stephens (BS): When David Morgan and I set up Design Partners in 1984, we both had an international outlook based on our previous experience in Continental Europe and in Japan. We both chose Ireland as somewhere to live and didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t work here just as well as anywhere else. I think we were right - it’s impossible to practice industrial design without a broad international perspective.

Clients hire you for being relevant, creative and consultative. We got some of our early clients, such as Campingaz in France, through great Irish manufacturing suppliers, where we provided the necessary design expertise. I can’t honestly say access to talent would necessarily be better here than anywhere else, but on the other hand the Irish design colleges, especially NCAD and Carlow, were strongly influenced by the British model and this was essentially very positive. The Irish design graduates of the 90s were pioneers and had a strong sense of needing to make their own mark on the world - we were well able to capitalise on this. Another clear benefit of being based here has been that we have had to evolve our own processes based on what we believed the projects needed and not being too influenced by others in the profession.

I am sometimes quite surprised when I see how other designers work - glued to their computers. We were lucky to have designers like Peter Sheehan and Cathal Loughnane to continue to promote and practice a tactile hand to mind conversation as part of our creative methodology. It continues to serve us well and we apply it to every media we work in — experimentation remains at the heart of innovation. On a separate point, we do build a very clear narrative and story into everything we do — it gives our work momentum and context and very clear shared criteria for success.

It’s an approach that helps connect our clients’ brands with what really matters to their audience. Hard to say now but we may not have evolved this particular approach if we were founded in California or in London. I should add that in Design Partners there is certainly no lack of ability to talk around the challenges of the projects to hand — perhaps a distinctly Irish trait! I am happy to say our team is now more international than it was in the beginning; we actively seek out practitioners from all over the world and our international people complement perfectly their Irish colleagues — they definitely bring something and learn something from working here.

AM: John, the UK Design Council has a track record of supporting design innovation across a range of sectors. Can you talk about what you’ve been up to and tell us where you see design making the next major intervention in the innovation landscape?

John Mathers (JM): In 2015, while ID2015 was being delivered, we’ve been busy too. We celebrated our 70th anniversary amongst other things — we were set up seventy years ago by Winston Churchill as the Council for Industrial Design and have been championing the latest in design and, particularly recently, the use of strategic design ever since. One major achievement was the launch of our product accelerator programme, SPARK, which saw the first new ventures come through at the end of

“...experimentation remains at the heart of innovation.”

187

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - INNOVATION

188

the year. We worked with some key industrial sectors to produce reports for our Leading Business by Design programme as well as the Design Economy report, which is shaking up peoples’ perceptions of the scale and reach of the Design Economy in the UK, not unlike the new Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise in Ireland recently issued by your government. Alongside that, our work to support devolution and the increasing independence of cities outside London has continued through our Design Council CABE team and the Design for Europe programme grows in strength. Design creates innovations and iterative improvements every day, and we’re not sitting around waiting for the ‘next big thing’. There are still big areas of opportunity, though, where design and design thinking are not as prevalent as they could be, and we will be working to ensure there is access to the right tools and skills to meet this potential.

AM: Stephen, Enterprise Ireland and the Irish government as a whole, have demonstrated a real commitment to design through funding ID2015. What do you feel has been the impact of the year, and how can we build upon this foundation?

Stephen Hughes (SH): The impact of ID2015, and its objective of design becoming recognised as a catalyst for change, has been very significant.

For the first time in Ireland, we were able to truly put a lens on design and highlight the important role that it plays in business and economic growth by supporting companies and organisations to deliver high quality products and services. Through ID2015, we were able to bring the best of Irish design to overseas markets and potential customers and raise more awareness of the role that design can and should play in a modern economy. Enterprise Ireland has always supported and promoted design.

Being part of ID2015, however, provided us with the opportunity to evaluate how we can continue to do so in a more structured way, leading to a legacy of recognising how design and design development can play a key role in the success of Irish exporters as they look to internationalise their products and services. In a way, the journey has only just begun and if Ireland wishes to be recognised as a country where design is valued and embedded in our economy, we will need to accelerate our commitment and efforts to develop design capability at all levels in our society.

AM: Laura, you are a passionate advocate for the role design, and in particular service design, can have in helping to develop better services, environments and products. Can you tell us how Ireland is helping to develop an innovation culture through design?

Pitcher by Andrew Ludick.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Laura Magahy (LM): There is a gradual realisation at policy level in Ireland that design is not something frivolous, but rather is something that can have a profound impact on improving life and living. There is also an acceptance that design adds value to a business, because the end user appreciates, expects, and will pay for, the benefits that differentiated design brings. Ireland is a small, responsive, agile environment in which to test out new ideas. We have a young, multinational, educated workforce, highly IT literate and with an appreciation of good design – whether with regard to products, services or the environment. Ireland is well placed to foster an innovation culture in design — however we need to build upon the new Policy Framework for Design and develop a coherent strategy for design education in order to maximise this opportunity.

AM: So, how exactly does design encourage innovation?

SH: To me, a design-led approach encourages innovation because the user is considered at the outset of the process, rather than at the end when changes can be more difficult and expensive.

LM: If innovation is the art of turning invention into reality, then design is a means to achieving this, by catalysing inventions to become something useful, useable and/or beautiful.

JM: Inherent in design approaches is a focus on the user, the human.

Design spots flaws and frustrations. It is at its heart a problem solving exercise, and it’s the best framework we have for doing things in a new, better way; a way that removes people’s frustrations, and makes products and services easier and more enjoyable to use. Design innovation takes skills, and investment, of course, but any company with a desire to improve somebody’s experience of something can innovate using design.

AM: At what stage, then, of the development of a company should design be considered?

JM: Design should be considered at every stage of a company’s development, and it’s just as important for new start-ups as it is for multinational corporations. Unless you’re a company that doesn’t care about the user experience of the product you are selling (and there are a few) you need design to ensure that you’re making something that people want to buy, that is pleasant to use, and that differentiates you from your competition. There are of course companies that operate in less competitive marketplaces, who for now have no pressure to improve their products or business model. But as we’ve seen with new companies like Uber and Airbnb, complacent industries can only last so long before a better-designed alternative threatens their place.

“Ireland is a small, responsive, agile environment in which to test out new ideas.”

189

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - INNOVATION

SH: Yes, John’s absolutely right - design should be considered from the outset of a company’s life cycle and it can only have a positive impact.

Equally, established businesses can at any stage take up the design challenge and in doing so these companies could see a dramatic positive impact in how customers and the market respond to them.

AM: While the role of design is becoming understood in industry, what is the value of design to society and government?

LM: Society and government are formed in order to serve the needs of the people. Design can solve the problems of the people if services, products and the environment are designed from the end-user’s perspective — inside-out.

AM: More specifically, how can design come to play a practical role in the way countries are run?

190

BS: Design is a creative discipline that is based on thinking ahead. In Ireland, we need to decide to consciously design our own future. We already have many good examples in our history; the junior syllabus for primary schools for example was carefully designed (and redesigned) by small groups of specialists and was then applied nationally. To take three challenging examples: we also need to design an integrated transport system, a sustainable energy grid and a better health service. The redesign of these complex (but man-made) systems requires similar creative and multidisciplinary skills to those being applied in industry every day.

LM: Service design offers a framework for putting the user at the centre of everything. It offers the opportunity to organise our services, products and environment around the needs of our citizens to improve life and living.

AM: John, from an international perspective, what’s your view on this point?

Bus Éireann Expressway bus wrap by Maser.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

JM: I think that the development of new policy labs around Europe, which integrate design skills and techniques alongside traditional policy making approaches, is a move in the right direction. Design methods, integrated into policy making, can help increase the focus on the citizen and on the outcome that the policy is trying to achieve. Key to this is also ensuring that the people who are making the decisions have the skills to be great designers of their own country, not simply bureaucrats. Unless the policy makers and service managers have design skills, we’ll continue to get poorly designed services that don’t meet people’s needs. However, it’s not all just about top-down governing. Design can provide a framework for greater citizen involvement in public life. When people are empowered to redesign the world they see around them, including the governing of their country and the delivery of public services, great things happen.

AM: So what economic benefits can design bring?

LM: It’s clear that countries that adopt design as a key economic driver see the benefits in the areas of exports, tourism and inward investment.

JM: As I mentioned at the start of the conversation, Design Council conducted new research this year, and for the first time ever we looked at the contribution made by design to the wider economy. Our Design Economy report, which is based on an analysis of UK and international official statistics, provides the economic evidence to underpin something that we were anecdotally seeing in our work – that design’s economic importance lies both in its size and value as a creative industry in its own right, and also in the contribution made by design to a wide range of other industrial sectors. This research showed that design in the UK contributed £71.7bn GVA to the economy in 2013, of which £52.5bn was outside of the design sector. We also found that design workers are 41% more productive than the average. Boosting productivity is a key factor in stimulating and sustaining economic growth, and we believe design, as a sector in its own right but also as a key component of other sectors, can make a strong contribution. Of course the benefits of design go much further than just economics, and many of the improvements that design makes to people’s lives are hard to quantify.

AM: Stephen, on this point of design’s contribution to the economy, research work has been carried out as part of ID2015 on behalf of the Department of Jobs Enterprise & Innovation to measure the impact of design in Ireland for the first time, as you are aware. The published figures are pretty impressive in a European context.

SH: Indeed. Ireland has over 48,000 people employed in design roles, which equates to 2.5% of total employment in the country. Design exports account for over 21% of total exports, and were valued at €38 billion in 2013, which compares favourably to the UK. The research also features case studies of companies who have a design-led strategy and these can be used to promote the benefits of good design to the wider business community.

AM: Finally then, in light of all these positive findings about the design sector, I’m curious to know where you see Irish design going from here?

“Design can provide a framework for greater citizen involvement in public life.”

191

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - INNOVATION

BS: I hope as a creative community we will continue to enjoy each other’s work and to support each other across disciplines. I also hope design education will improve significantly. Success for me will be to see the emergence of a new breed of patrons, clients and well-informed managers who will understand, sponsor, commission and demand design excellence at every level. I would also like to thank ID2015 for the great work in 2015.

It has been inspiring to see what such a small united team could do in just one year and you all did it with such fun and energy.

JM: We have watched with great interest the growing recognition of Irish design as an economic asset, and have been happy to share our experiences with ID2015 and DCCoI colleagues over the course of the past year. At Design Council, we are proud to lead the European Commission’s Design for Europe initiative which brings together those interested in design and innovation across Europe. We look forward to Ireland continuing to build links with other European design and innovation organisations, so that we can all build our shared understanding of what design can do and where it might go in the future. Design in Ireland can go from strength to strength, and has much to offer, not only in terms of economic growth but in tackling complex social challenges, in creating cities that are fit for the future, and in helping us to rethink how public services are delivered.

192

Sugru by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

SH: We have many companies who are committed to good design, however we must have the ambition for design to permeate across all levels of business, government and society. For this to happen, we will need to invest in capability development at all levels including 2nd and 3rd levels in education, at company and organisation levels and in partnership with other countries and best practitioners globally. We have made a great start and while we have a way to go on this journey the prize will be well worth the effort.

LM: Irish Design 2015 is the start of a journey that will see Irish design growing from strength to strength if the support for the sector is continued.

I agree with Brian that our design education needs to be coordinated in a systematic way — from junior school through to postgraduate and CPD level — this should be the next step for Irish design!

“Irish Design 2015 is the start of a journey that will see Irish design growing from strength to strength if the support for the sector is continued.”

193

194

“I spent two fantastic weeks in the Centre for Advanced Textiles in the Glasgow School of Art as part of an ID2015 design residency. This opportunity allowed me to develop specialised digital textile print skills which have been invaluable to my development as a designer and to my business. I was exposed to all aspects of digital textile printing, and Alan Shaw and his team at CAT Digital could not have been more supportive and welcoming to me. Thank you to ID2015!”

Laura Vaughan Textile Designer

“We were delighted that Ireland became the inaugural focus country for London Festival of Architecture 2015. Visitors to the festival gained a genuine insight into contemporary Irish architecture and the work of its most exciting young architects through the New Horizon programme at King’s Cross. The Red and Yellow pavilions were brilliantly engaging for the public, and have become the most enduring images of this year’s festival.”

Vicky Richardson British Council

“Design is integral to the work of the Office of Public Works and it was brilliant to be part of something that brought the thrill and exuberance of design to a wide audience. The exhibitions hosted at the Design Hub in Dublin Castle were nothing short of world class, while the outreach and education programme brought a palpable energy to the Dublin Castle site.�

Mary Heffernan Office of Public Works

195

Design creates culture

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CULTURE

ID2015 IN CONTEXT Since the emergence of design as a profession, the discipline has been characterised by a spirit of reform and international discourse. A number of individual designers, self-styled movements and writers have sought to establish the role of design in national identity, culture and society.

196

ID2015 Programme Director Professor Alex Milton speaks with Angela Brady OBE (Director of Brady Mallalieu Architects), Dr. Sandra O’Connell (Editor, Architecture Ireland and RIAI Communications Manager), Dr. Linda King (CoProgramme Chair: Visual Communication Design, IADT) and Andrew Bradley (Director, Bradley Brand & Design) about the place of ID2015 within a historical and contemporary design context.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Alex Milton (AM): Angela and Sandra, your recent four-part TV series for RTÉ, Designing Ireland, explored the history and development of Irish design (and a number of our panellists contributed to the show).

Could you outline what the response to the series has been like, and where do you see ID2015 fitting into this story?

Sandra O’Connell (SO): The response has been very positive and has demonstrated that there is a large and engaged audience for design in Ireland. The series wanted to communicate how design affects us in our everyday lives, from the objects we use to the buildings and spaces that surround us. We featured quality and award winning Irish design across several disciplines, from product design in the fields of agriculture and homeware, to furniture and architecture.

Angela Brady (AB): We had already prepared the ground work for the series, so the timing with ID2015 was fortuitous. It was great to see what a big impact ID2015 had – from the large posters welcoming visitors in Dublin Airport to numerous exhibitions and features in the media, both nationally and internationally. Designing Ireland was able to complement the work of ID2015 and offer insight from another angle, showcasing a great deal of the best of Irish Design throughout the series.

AM: Linda, you have written extensively about the development of Irish design. What do you feel are the key traits and moments in Irish design history? And are we perhaps about to have ‘a moment’ or is there a different kind of thing happening at this point?

Linda King (LK): I think the key ‘traits and moments’ in any history depend on the perspective, biases, limitations and patronage of those who write, document and present it. Having written a number of surveys of Irish design, I am very conscious of my own research within this context. That said, the periods I think are particularly significant are the 1920s, when design activity became an agent of state formation; the 1950s, when the development of the tourism sector led to a huge expansion in graphic design and advertising activities; the 1960s for the establishment of the Kilkenny Design Workshops; and the 1990s when the expansion of design education (largely through the Institutes of Technology) developed in tandem with the affordability and expansion of technology, encouraging new areas of design activity to develop (for example web design) and influencing the establishment of myriad new design companies. It is impossible to predict what is about to happen in design; it’s only with the benefit of hindsight that patterns can be identified.

AM: Andrew, you have authored strategy papers for Irish design over the last 20 years. You’ve got a knowledge base that is not only specific but spans a number of ‘ebbs and flows’ within the Irish economic story. What were the issues that the sector has faced and do you think ID2015, and the resulting new Policy Framework for Design in Enterprise in Ireland issued by the Department for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, has helped to address these or played a role in helping others to address these?

“Designing Ireland was able to complement the work of ID2015 and offer insight from another angle.”

197

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CULTURE

Andrew Bradley (ABr): The issues the design sector faced 15 years ago were poor promotion of the benefits of design in a business and social context, the lack of a Government Design Policy articulating the value of the contribution of design to the country’s economy, and lack of intervention by the state to support companies to both manage and engage designers. ID2015 has successfully addressed the promotion issues, both locally and internationally, and succeeded in getting design on the Government’s agenda and the publication of Ireland’s first design policy in over 50 years means exciting times ahead. ID2015 has provided leadership, which was lacking in the sector, as well as galvanised the sector to work together towards a collective goal of promoting the value design contributes to the Irish economy. I would like to see future initiatives encompass design-led activities such as brand strategy and design management.

AM: We’ve all heard about the history of Irish craft, literature and the arts but I wonder if you can describe, or even define, what place Irish design has had in the context of global design. Has it had a place or is it now moving toward creating a place?

198

LK: I think that the greatest contribution Ireland has had to the broader design community is through emmigration. In effect Ireland exported a large proportion of its design talent particularly in the 1980s, early 1990s and from 2007 onwards. However, more recently many young graduates have been choosing to emigrate, not because of shortages in employment, but because of personal ambitions to work with international companies they admire. Many of our graduates from the Visual Communication Design programme at IADT, for example, have taken this route and can be found working in design hubs including New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Toronto with practitioners who are world leaders in their respective fields. It will be interesting to see if this generation return to Ireland and what impact this will have on indigenous design development.

KDW logo by Louis le Brocquy.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

SO: The question of what role Irish design plays both in Ireland and in the Andrew global B:context The issues was the the design startingsector point faced of our 15 ownyears creative ago journey were poor in Designing promotion Ireland. of the benefits If you had of to design describe in a Irish business design andtosocial someone context, from abroad the lackwhat of a would Government you say?

Design We have Policy a clear articulating image the in our value head of when the we think contribution of Scandinavian of designdesign to the country’s – minimalism, economy, natural and materials lack of intervention and a simple colour by the palette state to–support but is there companies such atothing bothasmanage the Irishand design engage style? designers.

And how does ID2015 it connect has successfully with the people addressed outside the Ireland? promotion Initially, issues, weboth thought locally we would and internationally, find the answers and succeeded straightawayiningetting the global design success on theofGovernment’s our architects, crafts agenda people and the andpublication designers of of Ireland’s recent years. first design A quietpolicy designinrevolution over 50 years seems means to exciting have taken times place ahead.with so many of our contemporary designers winning awards, accolades and prestigious design competitions. But we quickly ID2015realised has provided that the leadership, answer was which far was morelacking complex in the andsector, could as be well found in as our galvanised understanding the sector of context to work–together whethertowards that’s history, a collective culturegoal or place. of This promoting is where theIrish value designers the design bring sector something contributes unique to to thethe Irish global economy. worldI of Irish woulddesign like to–see theyfuture understand initiatives theencompass importancedesign of place, ledand activities place such making, as and brand this strategy has setand them design apartmanagement. from many other designers worldwide.

ABr: AM: We’ve I think all Sandra’s heard absolutely about the right. history In an of increasingly Irish craft, literature globalisedand world, the where arts but everyone I wonder is chasing if you can quality describe, and value, or even it can define, be hard what to place distinguish Irish one design product has had or one in the service context fromof another. globalFrom design. furniture Has ittohad hotels a place to cars, or is there it nowismoving a constant toward sameness. creating In aa global place?context, I believe Irish design has the potential to deliver more personality and attitude in a product or service.

LK: I think Irish that designers the greatest do not contribution try to please Ireland everyone has had andtoare theconfident broader in design themselves. community I don’t is through think Irish emigration. design has In found effect its Ireland voiceexported just yet, but a large I believe proportion thatofasitsthe design globaltalent economy particularly movesinfrom the mass 1980s, production early 1990s towards and more from 2007 individually onwards. produced However, items, more Ireland’s recently reputation many young for personality graduates have will be more been in choosing demand.to emigrate, not because of shortages in employment, but because of personal ambitions to work with international companies they LK: admire.

We Many are allof familiar our graduates with the notion from the of Visual heritage Communication and legacy in Design Irish culture. programme How at farIADT, backfor does example, Ireland’s have design takenheritage this route reach? and can Thebe historical found span working of Irish in design design hubs is subjective including as New it depends York, London, on a Berlin, coupleAmsterdam of factors and including Toronto with definitions practitioners of what whocomprises are worlddesign leadersactivity, in theirwhen respective that emerged, fields. and It willhow be interesting ‘Ireland’ is defined. to see ifDesign this generation practicesreturn are generally to Ireland understood and what to have impact emerged this will in have theon 19th indigenous century as design a consequence development. of the application of art to industry and the growth of mass-produced objects for consumer markets.

SO: The At question this point, of what Ireland rolewas Irishpart design of Britain plays so both it could in Ireland be argued and in that autonomous the global context Irish design was the practices starting did point notofemerge our ownuntil creative the foundation journey in of the Designing State inIreland.

1922.If you had to describe Irish design to someone from abroad what would you say? We have a clear image in our head when SO: we think I think of we Scandinavian can go further design back – than minimalism, that to explore natural materials Irish design andculture a — simple we can colour go all palette the way – but back is there to prehistoric such a thing timesasand thethe Irish construction design style? of our Andstone how does forts itand connect passage withgraves. the people outside Ireland? Initially, we thought we would find the answers straightaway in the global success of AB: our architects, Yes — in Designing crafts people Ireland, andwe designers visited the of Aran recentisland years.ofAInis quiet Meáin, design where revolution architect seemsMary to have Laheen taken showed place with us one so of many the of earliest our contemporary and most iconic designers forms winning of Irishawards, designaccolades expression: and theprestigious dry-stone design wall as competitions. used in a prehistoric But we quickly fort and realised fieldthat boundary the answer walls.was Today, far we more maycomplex think ofand the could drystone be found wallsin as oura understanding ‘romantic’ part of of the context Irish – landscape, whether that’s however, history, theyculture were one or place. of our This earliest is where design Irishresponses designers–bring and something quite ingenious unique – to the harsh global coastal world ofenvironment: Irish design – acting they as understand wind-breakers, the importance clearing land of place, for farming and place and creating making, and boundaries this has for setfields them and apart rural from road many systems. other designers worldwide.

Andrew B: I think Sandra’s absolutely right. In an increasingly globalised world, where everyone is chasing quality and value, it can be hard to distinguish one product or one service from another. From furniture to

199

“In a global context, I believe Irish design has the potential to deliver more personality and attitude in a product or service.”

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CULTURE

ABr: But if you’re to look at design as a problem solving profession, it’s relatively new in Ireland – this ties in with what Linda says about the answer to the question depending on what you consider design activity. The Industrial Revolution provided design with a platform to make a contribution.

As Ireland did not experience an industrial revolution to any great degree, we missed out on this opportunity.

AM: Ireland is an island, but its design culture has been informed by international influences. Where did Irish design historically look to for inspiration? Could you suggest where or how it should look for inspiration today? Is it important that Ireland looks to others?

ABr: I feel Ireland has been relatively lazy in seeking international influences, with much of its inspiration coming from other English speaking countries. We have tended to copy best in class from the US, England and parts of Scandinavia. Today, I believe we should draw our inspiration from our personality, energy for life and strong interest in people. Tourism has taught us that visitors love the Irish attitude and warm welcome. We should apply the same enthusiasm and empathy to our design process, having faith we understand what our customer wants. As a nation we are hungry for success and generally impatient. We are currently in the middle of a start-up revolution and proving to be relatively good at getting enterprises started, meaning design is in demand like never before.

200

LK: It is hard to generalise on Ireland’s design influences as it depends on a number of considerations: the period of time, the design disciplines and the interests of individual practitioners. In 2011, I co-edited and contributed to the book Ireland, Design and Visual Culture: Negotiating Modernity, 1922-1992 that, in part, considered this subject. What became apparent through the various essays by contributors is that the range of influences on Irish design was far broader than might be expected and that the cliché that Ireland looked everywhere but to Britain for cultural influences was untrue. Where Irish designers find inspiration today is an entirely personal choice but as a society we could learn from how our near neighbours in Northern Europe have a more egalitarian approach to utilising design to create better experiences and environments for all their citizens. I also think the introduction of IKEA to Ireland has gone a long way to demonstrating how effective, mass-produced design can be accessible, affordable and democratic.

Saw Swee Hock Student Centre for LSE by O’Donnell + Tuomey.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

SO: As a country at the edge of Europe, centuries of migration, invasion and colonisation have resulted in a constant ebb and flow of influence from abroad. What is fascinating is how Ireland has absorbed some of these design influences and made them our own. An early example is the early Christian period when Irish monks brought enlightenment to Europe and returned with the dominant new continental building style, which they turned into our own beautiful and unique variant known as the HibernoRomanesque. Clonfert Cathedral or Cormac’s Chapel are prime examples of this. In the Georgian era, English, German and Italian architects worked alongside Irish architects and craftsmen to develop a new building style.

Irish architect Edward Lovett Pearce became influenced by Palladian architecture and created Irish masterpieces such as Castletown House (1722-29) in County Kildare. Irish plasterwork became heavily influenced by the Swiss-Italian stuccodores, the Lafranchini brothers. In recent times, Irish architects are starting to influence other architecture cultures and are leaving their mark on European cities – Grafton Architects’ Bocconi University in Milan, and their projects in Paris and Toulouse, or even as far afield as Lima; heneghan peng in Greenwich and O’Donnell + Tuomey’s LSE in the city of London and their new campus project in Budapest.

AM: 50 years on from the establishment of Kilkenny Design Workshops, following the Scandinavian Report of 1962, have we finally addressed the issues Irish design faced then? What are the issues facing us today?

“...design is in demand like never before.”

201

LK: The landscape of Irish design has changed hugely since 1963 in terms of linking design to industrial manufacturing, access to design education and design employment. So in those contexts many of the issues facing Irish design at that point have been addressed. Commenting from an educational perspective, however, one of the biggest challenges at present is with regard to the systematic reduction in educational funding and the effect this decision is having on the provision of design education.

ABr: KDW ended up being very much craft-focused, having started off with an emphasis on design for industry. The design element of KDW came to a halt in the early 1980s as the design consultancy was wound up. KDW also pioneered design management advice and coaching to Irish companies, focusing on how to brief and engage designers. When this ceased, it left a big void in Irish manufacturing as companies were slow to realise the commercial potential design could create for their respective businesses.

KDW showed leadership as to how design could add value and gave the design sector confidence in itself. Today, the design sector still faces a lack of confidence, especially in the areas of briefing designers, understanding the value of design and articulating design recommendations.

AM: I’d like to think that having exceeded the targets set by the government, the year will be viewed as a success, but I’d hope that its legacy transcends numbers, and actually goes much deeper. What do you all feel that ID2015 has done for the design landscape in Ireland, and what is still required?

AB: We can now see how good design has the power to change our lives for the better. The legacy is to continue the conversation, listen to further stories and give others the chance to research and come up with innovative designs in areas not thought of before. It is a credit to our nation that this global Irish initiative was put in place. The legacy must have equal passion

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DISCUSSIONS - CULTURE

and vigour as a greater appetite for Irish design is now on our doorstep thanks to this initiative. We need more TV programmes and media focus on Irish design to continue to narrate this story at home and abroad, so that we are not just speaking to ourselves, but can now start to influence global collaborators, in the same way we were influenced as an island nation.

LK: ID2015 has certainly made the design community reflect on what it does, how it does it and what relevance design has to Irish society.

Broadening this conversation to the entire population, as Angela so rightly points out, is crucial, has yet to happen and cannot be achieved in one year. Designing Ireland has certainly begun this process as – speaking from personal experience - the feedback from people on the programme who would know nothing, or very little, about design has been very positive.

202

ABr: ID2015 has started to profile and celebrate Irish designers. But it’s only a start. Design is in vogue as the country reinvents itself and gets the economy moving. But we need to further integrate design thinking and design management practices into our industry, our service sector, education system, our institutions, our public bodies and our infrastructure.

There is no magic wand, and it will take a generation, albeit a relatively young one, to really integrate design into our society. Societies where design is integrated, namely the UK, Germany and in Scandinavia, have been working on design promotion initiatives for over 50 years.

AM: And finally, I’d be curious to know where you see Irish design going from here?

LK: Unfortunately we can’t predict the future but certainly there are areas to watch which challenge our current parameters of design activity, for example, there has been huge growth in design linked to film and television production (including costume, set and concept design), and in animation.

Much design activity is led by or influenced by technology, particularly graphic and industrial design, and where these areas converge with emergent technologies, new forms and experiences are created. Ten years ago, apps and smartphones were still being developed - now user interface and user experience design are huge growth areas.

The History Chair by Cathal Loughnane and Peter Sheehan.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

SO: By staying rooted in our landscape, history and culture, Irish design continues to have a huge appeal both in Ireland and the world. As our world becomes more global, the ability to understand the importance of where a design culture comes from is a unique asset for Irish designers.

AB: I think that in 2015, Irish design has been given a great boost – like being fired from a rocket, we now need to ensure that it has a safe landing and the means to thrive and strive on into the future.

ABr: As design is essentially a personal service, practiced by individuals and groups, it relies on confidence to excel. And as design confidence is linked to the overall confidence of the country, designers require confident clients, confident customers and confident policy makers for design to truly reach its potential. We are at our best when we are being disruptive. Technology is facilitating a new wave of disruption in society, and Ireland is surfing this wave well. But as design becomes a commodity, with low barriers to entry, professional designers need to work harder to distinguish their work from the enthusiastic amateur. The future is bright for Irish designers with purpose and attitude, but intervention is needed to ensure design is managed and procured in a professional framework.

“We can now see how good design has the power to change our lives for the better.”

203

Eileen Gray E1027 side table.

Illustration: Hannah Fleetwood

204

ID2015 IN PRINT 205

Some examples of printed material produced throughout the year

IRISH DESIGN 2015  ESSAYS

206

ID2015 tote bag concept by Atelier David Smith. Image: Atelier David Smith

BRANDING IRISH DESIGN 2015, THE HOW AND THE WHY David Smith

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“It is the past, not the dizzy present, that is the best door to the future...”

Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson

The challenge speaks for itself: design a logo and flexible brand guidelines to represent, celebrate and promote all of the Irish design sector for both national and international audiences in 2015. That's all, no pressure…

Finding our voice The brief we (and others) received in August 2014 outlined an ambitious plan of action for the year ahead.

Central to the then pending autumn launch was the creation of the programme identity with a particular need for a contemporary logo to ’brand’ the extensive planned activities for the year ahead. The competition brief outlined the ambition and strategic vision for ID2015 and placed primary emphasis on increasing the awareness and understanding of "the value of design; the opportunity for the design sector; the intrinsic and fundamental relevance of design and the design sector — within our society, our economy and within broader Irish culture.”

Prior to commencing the identity or logo design, we sought first to define or articulate the objectives of ID2015 in one coherent statement. One that was accessible and comprehensible to all stakeholders and all audiences, one that has currency and one that could define its legacy. Seeking a singular touchpoint for all of the above, we boldly proposed a clear, unambiguous and aspirational brand position — Ireland, the Design Island.

Ireland – a ’design Island’? Why not? We thought... unproven? Yes. Boldly speculative? Yes. Groundless? In some eyes, arguably so. It was a win or bust position. If we — as a community — aligned behind this statement and the programme built upon its foundation, we had an opportunity to establish an easily understood yet incredibly aspirational brand position for current and future activities. So ‘Ireland, the Design Island’ was central to the success of our concept and submission.

Visual form and meaning With such a broad base of stakeholders and an even more eclectic resource of artefact and of visual and material reference available, the primary challenge we faced was the selection and editing of what we perceived as relevant and worthwhile. As we initiated our research, our primary objective was to steadfastly pursue a contemporary representation to define our

Irishness and/or Irish design; to consciously ignore our rich yet relatively narrow visual heritage in pursuit of some novel and unfamiliar interpretation of our visual and design culture. However, this singular pursuit of ‘the avant-garde’ begun to suffocate the project and resulted in a narrow introspective ‘designer’s solution’ — satisfactory for some, but not serving all. It was then that we realised that we had to embrace the familiar and explore what latent potential existed within our visual heritage.

Embracing and reimagining cliché offered a way of demonstrating that our extant heritage and traditions could be presented in new ways. As designers, by focusing on reinterpretation and/or reconfiguration, we could develop the basis of a distinctive and original design concept for the programme without ignoring our rich past.

“As we initiated our research, our primary objective was to steadfastly pursue a contemporary representation to define our Irishness and/or Irish design; to consciously ignore our rich yet relatively narrow visual heritage in pursuit of some novel and unfamiliar interpretation of our visual and design culture.”

Through wide-ranging desk research, Kerbstone 52 (part of Newgrange in Co. Meath) emerged as the most interesting and iconic visual reference for the concept of ‘dialogue’. Incised and decorated with numerous Celtic motifs, the kerbstone was a generous and giving source of inspiration. The spirals, lozenges and concentric forms that are engraved on the surface of Kerbstone 52 provided us with a suite of basic geometric forms (and general design principles) that we used as building blocks for the final logotype. These simple geometric forms were assembled in a variety of combinations to initially produce a crude iteration of the final ID2015 logotype.

207

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

Mindful of the legacy, and the ambition and potential for future ‘Years of Irish Design’, we sought to foreground the date in any solution and as such our first efforts focused on creating a custom set of numerals that would be inherently flexible in the future, given the focus on ‘date stamping’ the year’s activities. Once completed, my colleague Oran Day and I extended and developed the numerals and initials to produce a full, custom typeface – ID2015 Display – which was subsequently digitised and extended by Irish type designer Tom Foley.

And now...

There’s no question that we were privileged (and lucky) to secure the commission back in August 2014, though looking back on the project now at the end of ID2015 it is easy to forget that all of our work was completed before October 2014. Like many of the stakeholders, we have spent a year observing how Irish design and the Irish design sector could be packaged, promoted and developed into an established, credible and authentic asset for all of us. The fact that the Design Island concept has been promoted and leveraged 208

with such success is a source of great pride and the numerous interpretations by other designers of the basic visual and typographic vocabulary of the identity has surprised us at every turn. Winning the best Branding Identity Scheme at the IDI awards was the ultimate accolade for the work produced back then. As the judges remarked:

“The brand identity scheme was elevated by the eloquence and thought behind the brand statement and brand positioning.

The work at brand level to help shape, define and articulate this Year of Irish Design through one coherent statement demonstrated a rigour beyond many others in the category. This approach set the tone for a year and programme of events. The positioning is very well communicated and executed through the brand applications presented.”

As flattering as this reads, in my eyes the judges are simply celebrating and acknowledging the value of the ordinary, the potential that exists when we embrace cliché, that what is commonplace can still yield surprise — no more than the idea of Ireland being the Design Island.

ID2015

1

IRISH DESIGN MAKING DESIGNMatter MATTER Irish Design 2015 2015 Making Design

3 2

209

1 ID2015 logo development by Atelier David Smith.

Images: Atelier David Smith 2-4 ID2015 marketing collateral by Detail.

Images: Christopher Heaney

4

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

1

1

210

2

2

1 ID2015 launch pamphlet designed by Atelier David Smith 2 ID2015 marketing pamphlet designed by Hannah Fleetwood 3 ID2015 calendar of events designed by Detail

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

7

211

3

3

3

3

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

2

212

1

2

1 ID2015 Team T-Shirt designed by Marc Ó’Riain 2 ID2015 marketing pamphlet designed by Hannah Fleetwood 3 ID2015 Christmas Card designed by Hannah Fleetwood

2

8

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

213

3

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

12

12

1

1

13 10

14 11

2

14 11

214

16 10

15 12

17

15

13

13

2

2

1 Platinum – A’ Design Award Exhibition pamphlet designed by Unthink

4 Making Design Matter symposium pamphlet designed by Unthink

2 Hidden Heroes exhibition pamphlet designed by Unthink

5 Appetite for Design flyer designed by Designgoat

3 A World to Win invite, image by Aida Wild

6 Ireland – Creative Island pamphlet designed by Studio Aad

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

18

20

3

21

215 4

5

22

6

22

6

4

6

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

12

12

1

2

14

13

3

14

216

3 4

4

1 Expanded Territories invite by Harnessing Creativity

4 IDI Awards invite designed by Red Dog

2 Pecha Kucha Leitrim by Leitrim Design House

5

3 August Craft Month pamphlet by Craft NI

New Horizon_architecture from Ireland London catalogue, designed by Peter Maybury

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

18

5

6

7

217

8

6 New Horizon_architecture from Ireland Chicago catalogue, designed

by Peter Maybury 7 New Horizon_architecture from Ireland Shenzhen catalogue, designed

by Peter Maybury

8

8 Theatre Design Symposium Programme

by Gate Theatre Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

12

12

1

13

14

14

2

2

218

16

2

17

15

15

1 Nine Lives flyer designed by Peter Maybury

4 In the Fold catalogue designed by Bobby Tannam and Steve O’Connell

2 Fresh Talent pamphlet designed by Atelier David Smith

5 Connections postcards designed by Studio Aad

3 Second Skin pamphlet designed by Atelier David Smith

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

18

20

3

3

21

3

4

219

22

5

22

5

4

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

12

12

1

13

14

1

14

2

220

16

15

2 17

15

3

3

3

1 In the Making catalogue designed by Build

4 Open House Belfast by Place NI

2 Connections pamphlet designed by Studio Aad

5 CREATE brochure by Brown Thomas

3 Song of the Sea exhibition invite designed by Dynamite

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

18

20

4

4

221 4

22

22

5

5

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

12

12

1

14

13

2

14

3

3

222

16

17

4

1 Collateral by Sligo Design Week

4 Supporting Start-ups invite by Fumbally Exchange

2 Guide by DesignFest Clonmel

5 Irish Craft Studio Experience guide by DCCoI, designed by PIXEL

3 Flyer by Belfast Design Week

6 Pivot Dublin Map designed by Conor & David

15

4

15

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

18

20

21

223 5

6

22

6

22

6

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

12

12

14

13

1

1

224

2 15

2

3

17

3

1 Issue 2 of DRAFF magazine designed by Liv O’Donoghue

4 Guide by Galway Design Week

2 Ibec CEO conference pamphlet designed by Unthink

5 Make 2015 pamphlet by CIT

3 Exhibition poster for DRAFF designed by Christopher Donnelly

15

3

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

18

4

20

4

21

4

5

225

22

5

43

44

22

5

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

2

226 1

2

3

3

1 ITERATIONS designed by Con Kennedy 2 The Secret Lives of Objects edited by Lisa Godson for NCAD and Little Museum of Dublin

3 Liminal - Irish design at the threshold New York catalogue designed by New Graphic 4 Stage and Screen Design Ireland by the Irish Theatre Institute, designed

by Atelier David Smith

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

4

227

4

4

5

5

5 Liminal - Irish design at the threshold Milan postcards Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

1

1

228

2

1 Liminal – Irish design at the threshold book, edited by Alex Milton and Louise Allen, designed by New Graphic 2 Ó catalogue designed by Studio Aad

2

2

3 Mapping the State by Zero-G 4 PORTFOLIO – Critical Selection 2015-2016 by DCCoI, designed by Atelier David Smith

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

229

4

4

4

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

230 1

2

2

1 Irish Blarney – Double Dutch by The Stone Twins 2 This Place We Call Home by Irish Architecture Foundation, designed by WorkGroup

2

3 Irish Architecture, RIAI Annual Review 2015/2016 edited by Sandra O’Connell 4 Liminal - Irish design at the threshold Dublin pamphlet designed by Hannah Fleetwood

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

3

231

4

4

4

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

232

1

1 Designed and Made in Ireland catalogue by DCCoI for Showcase 2015, designed by Studio Aad 2 Showcase 2015 catalogue designed by Studio Aad

1

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

2

233

2

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

1

1

234

2

1 Liminal - Irish design at the threshold Milan catalogue designed by New Graphic 2 Global Irish Design Challenge flyer/poster designed by Bureau 3 In the Making poster designed by Build

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

235 3

2

Images: Christopher Heaney

IRISH DESIGN 2015 IN PRINT

1

1

1

236

1

2

2

1 Unfold catalogue designed by Post

3 Resonate exhibition poster for Gallery of Photography

2 Catalogue for RDS National Craft Awards Exhibition, designed by A

4 RDS Student design awards invitation, designed by A Worthy Cause

Worthy Cause

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

3

3

3

237

4

4

Images: Christopher Heaney

238

DESIGN MATTERS 239

A selection of the Design Matters columns published in The Irish Times Magazine each week in association with ID2015

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DESIGN MATTERS

“I’d been working with a Dutch anarchist group and they got a copy from Jean-Paul Sartre for me. Cloak and dagger stuff” Jim FitzPatrick Graphic Designe

240

Artist and graphic designer Jim FitzPatrick’s iconic red and black image of Che Guevara is a potent symbol of protest. “It was 1968. I’d been working in advertising with some of the best people from Europe who’d come here after the war. We highlighted ads with spot colour, single-block colour on a black and white image, so I knew how effective it was.”

“I worked on four poster versions of Che, to protest his murder. The famous poster was the most stripped down, pulled back to black and red, with the yellow star. The fourth — my favourite — was psychedelic. But the red and black one was the most bang in your face.”

“This was before the internet, so even getting a decent copy of the Alberto Korda photograph was tricky. I’d been working with a Dutch anarchist group and they got a copy from Jean-Paul Sartre for me. It was cloak and dagger stuff. I loved it.”

“Feltrinelli bookshops in Italy were selling my poster, claiming it as theirs; so I thought: how can I beat that? I announced that I was making it copyright free to the people, for the masses. I set out to make it proliferate, these days you’d call it viral, but I worked in advertising so I knew how. I got it out through different revolutionary underground networks - in Spain my distributors got arrested and the posters destroyed.”

“In 2011, I reclaimed the copyright, and gave all legal documents to Alieda Guevara, Che’s daughter, in 2012, giving the image rights in perpetuity to the Cuban people. The image is number six in a list of the greatest iconic images in the entire history of civilisation in Martin Kemp’s book Christ to Coke. The Mona Lisa is number four, Christ is number one.

It doesn’t get much better than that.”

“I’ve just done a portrait of James Connolly, deliberately using the same colours. I’m always getting asked to do people in the style of Che. I always refuse. Connolly is the only one I’d do it for. It’s to raise funds for the Reclaim 1916 campaign. I’m not looking for a bloody revolution, I’m looking for an Irish Spring.”

A World to Win, a V&A exhibition exploring socio-political posters, was hosted at the National Print Museum as part of ID2015. nationalprintmuseum.ie jimfitzpatrick.com

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“It might sound like a strange one for NCAD, medical device design, but they’re complicated things” Enda O’Dowd Lecturer at NCAD

Did you know Ireland is a world leader in the design of medical devices?

At the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin, Enda O’Dowd, lecturer and co-ordinator of the college’s MSc in Medical Device Design, is enabling a new generation to fill jobs in this life-saving sector.

“It might sound like a strange one for NCAD: medical device design,” he says. “For a lot of people [it is], actually, but they’re complicated things.

As more technologies are involved, including drugs, electronics and engineering, the complexity increases, so having someone to be the voice of the end user, patient or clinician is where we come in.”

“Although my background is in engineering, I had always preferred the creative side of things. I came to NCAD when the industrial design course was run in partnership with the University of Limerick. The medical device design course was set up in 2009 by Paul Fortune and when he retired in 2012 I took over.”

“Designers used to be brought in at the end to make things look good, but the clever companies are now getting us in as early as possible. The beauty of this course is that it’s very collaborative. We teach the students the technical skills they need – not to be scientific designers but to understand the languages of science and engineering so that they can collaborate more effectively. Nurses, doctors and patients are all involved along the way.”

“There’s usually about 12 students on the one-year course, they come from all over the world, and it’s probably unique in being studio-based. They all go on to good jobs, as nearly all the major players in medical device design have a facility in Ireland. We’re a European base for them, with a well-educated, English-speaking workforce, but there’s still a skills shortage.”

“The human-focused innovation is very important, and we still stick to the hands-on focus, creating sketch models and trying things out, not going straight to computer. What we teach is a skill set that wasn’t in the industry until now, and it’s growing more important all the time.”

NCAD MSc Medical Devices programme was featured in the Irish Design + Medical Technology exhibition created by Dolmen for ID2015. ncad.ie

241

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DESIGN MATTERS

“The Brewbot concept marries smartphone technology, cool design...service design” Jonny Campbell Brewbot co-founder

242

Brewing up a storm by smartphone, Brewbot’s co-founder Jonny Campbell is part of the Belfast-based team bringing the art of making craft beer to your own home.

“I studied multidisciplinary design at the University of Ulster, graduating in 2011. I’d been working freelance with start-ups, where the big visions and exciting ideas gave me the bug. I grew up around Lego, art and drawing. Then I started playing with kits like Arduino, which is like electric Lego for grown-ups; but the idea for Brewbot came about, naturally enough, over a pint.”

“We were working as an app agency, and we’d attended the XOXO conference in Portland Oregon, which is all about creativity and independence. But we were also amazed at the variety of craft beers available, and realised that we couldn’t get that at home.”

“Invest NI helped us to create the Brewbot concept, which marries smartphone technology, cool design (made in wood and stainless steel, it’s like a piece of furniture), service design, and touches on the craft and maker movement.”

“We wanted to see if there was a market for us, so Kickstarter was a good way of doing research... We launched that in 2013, and were selected to join the Techstars accelerators programme in Austin, Texas.”

“I’m told it’s harder to get into Techstars than Harvard,and since then we’ve been featured in Wired, New Scientist, and NBC News. We hired an RV and put Brewbot in the back and drove down to San Francisco. It was at the time that Breaking Bad was on TV, and there were the five of us in the RV, pitching up to companies like Dropbox and Twitter. We were pinching ourselves, they were so receptive.”

“Now there’s 29 of us, and we’re still growing. We were looking for a new office and development base, and found a pub on the Ormeau Road, so now we have a bar too. We’re in the final stages of engineering, and we’re hoping to have the first units out over the coming few weeks.”

Jonny Campbell spoke about Brewbot as part of the Design Bites talks programme for the ID2015 exhibition Fresh Talent at the Design Hub, Dublin Castle. brewbot.io

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“I went to one factory that makes 100,000 pairs of jeans every day” Aidan Madden Structural Engineer, Arup

From the Guinness Storehouse to the garment factories of Bangladesh, Aidan Madden of Arup says “structural engineering encompasses everything: from designing structures to detective work and a bit of ghosthunting too.”

“My father is a carpenter, which was a fantastic introduction to making things, opening my eyes to engineering. I studied at UCD then applied to Arup. So many things appealed: Ove Arup was a philosopher as much as an engineer, he made the company an employee-owned trust, and they bring different disciplines together to create.”

“Irishman Peter Rice, who worked for Arup on the design of the Sydney Opera House, used to talk about ‘having the courage to start’. Not every project is a Sydney Opera House, but it’s always varied.”

“We started working in Bangladesh through Inditex, one of the largest garment manufacturers in the world. After the disaster in Rana Plaza in 2013, where a building collapsed and more than a thousand people died, we were asked to go in and develop a methodology for assessing the structural safety.”

“It’s a huge industry, employing more than four million people, many of whom are the only wage earners in their family, so you can’t just go in and start over. We came up with a pragmatic approach for carrying out this work, focused on critical life-safety issues. So far we’ve done about 750 assessments.”

“You go with a certain set of prejudices, and are often surprised. I went to one factory that makes 100,000 pairs of jeans every day. It’s a phenomenal business and the set-up was a far cry from my sweatshop preconception. But there are bad ones too. Of those 750, eleven needed to be closed, and around 50 per cent required immediate actions.”

“When you’ve built something, you know how it works, but this is more like detective work. Working with older buildings, like the Guinness Storehouse, is different again. Then you’re breathing new life and you’re a ghost-hunter too, finding the stories.”

Aidan Madden spoke about Arup’s work in Bangladesh as part of the Design Bites talks programme for Hidden Heroes: the Genius of Everyday Things at the Design Hub, Dublin Castle, and featured in the ID2015 Design Island exhibition at Dublin Airport. arup.com

243

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DESIGN MATTERS

“There has been a history of design and medicine connecting” Lorna Ross Design Director, Mayo Clinic

244

Looking to back up her design skills with some business know-how put Dubliner Lorna Ross on a path that has taken her via Silicon Valley to developing Patient-First services at the famous Mayo Clinic in the United States.

“My first career after NCAD was in fashion then, realising I needed more business skills, I enrolled at London’s Royal College of Art. But the design management course was cancelled, and I ended up on their new interactive design programme, which is now world famous.”

“At first I felt uncomfortable, I didn’t think I had the computer skills necessary, but one day, about a year in, we were asked to design a new kind of telephone for a project.”

“I was stuck, and went back to what I knew – which of course was fashion – and presented a glove that functioned as a phone. That was the beginning of my career working on wearable technologies, which has seen me with MediaLab at MIT in Palo Alto, Motorola, the US Department of Defense, and the UK Design Council.”

“I’m now at the Mayo Clinic, where I’m strategic leader in directing the discovery and implementation of transformative, user-centric care models.

What this really means is that I use my design background to look at how to put the patient first in healthcare.”

“I’ve always run design teams with very tight parameters, but within healthcare you can have the situation where science leads, and the system has become institutionalised. I really believe design should be part of conversations that also consider people’s experience and that if something is broken, we should try to learn what is really the problem behind it rather than just fix it.”

“From the very first surgeons going to metalsmiths and glassblowers to create their tools, there has been a history of design and medicine connecting. As things have evolved, and medicine is as much a service as it is a product, design is still key.”

“It can help to create the environment, the culture that understands patient experience. The more people realise how crucial this is, the better, and more efficient our healthcare services will get.”

Lorna Ross spoke at Med in Ireland, Enterprise Ireland’s largest medical technologies event at the Convention Centre in Dublin. medinireland.ie

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“We want to make something that is of its time, and which can sit with things from another time” John Tuomey & Sheila O’Donnell Architects, O’Donnell + Tuomey

Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey met while they were studying architecture at UCD. Working together for more than 25 years as O’Donnell + Tuomey, they have won multiple awards for their sensitive and intelligent work. Earlier this year, they received the world’s most prestigious architecture award, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Buildings include Cork’s Glucksman Gallery, the Lyric Theatre Belfast, the LSE Student Centre in London, as well as domestic, schools and social housing projects.

“Architecture is more than monuments and civic buildings. It’s about all buildings and public spaces; how they are used in our lives. People often enjoy these spaces without realising they’re architecture. A porch in the rain – that’s architecture. When you get it right, it’s life enhancing.”

“From Timberyard in Dublin, to the Glucksman in Cork, our buildings don’t look like one another, but they do feel like one another in the way they extend the idea of threshold, blur the lines between inside and outside and dissolve rigid boundaries. We like the idea of that contingent space – where you don’t quite have to commit; it makes for invitational buildings.”

“A city is a living thing; and to weave new buildings and spaces into its fabric, you have to consider place, context and character. ‘New’ is only new on the day it’s new, so we want to make something that is of its time and which can sit with things from another time. As we travel more, talk more, especially since getting the Gold Medal, we’ve started to feel that architects in other parts of the world aren’t as concerned with those conversations between new and old.”

“Architecture has a secret life, a poetic life, it’s all about understanding the world and how we live in it. Yes, we’re obsessed. When we take a break, we go and look at architecture. Currently we’re working on a new Student Hub at UCC, centred around a very beautiful 19th century building, and a school on Patrick’s Hill, the steepest street in Ireland. We’re also building a new university in Budapest.”

O’Donnell + Tuomey spoke as part of the Design Bites talks programme for Hidden Heroes: the Genius of Everyday Things at the Design Hub, Dublin Castle. odonnell-tuomey.ie

245

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DESIGN MATTERS

“I work on Game of Thrones from May until Christmas.

Then, in my own studio in Derry, I make my collections” Oliver Doherty Duncan Designer

246

High fashion is all about fantasy, so it’s only fitting that Donegal-born designer Oliver Doherty Duncan also spends his days working on some of the extraordinary creations sweeping the screen on Game of Thrones. It all started with macramé.

“This will be my third season at Game of Thrones. There’s usually about 70 working in the costume department, and it can go over 100 when we’re busy. I always knew that I wanted to work in fashion, but I hadn’t thought of costume.”

“I got into the University of Ulster to do weaving. There were 30 other students, and I wanted something that would make me stand out. I discovered a book in the library that hadn’t been taken out since the 1970s about macramé. I took it home and taught myself. You can get structure with macramé, and I love the craft element.”

“On my final day, I’d just cleared everything up. I was on my way out when my tutor stopped me at the door and said would I like to work on Game of Thrones. The interview was the next day. I stayed up all night putting my portfolio together, and I started right away. The first two years I made the costumes for the characters North of The Wall. All the wildlings and the giants. Last year we had something like 300 wildlings.”

“This year I’m the costume illustrator, which is a big change. The designer or assistant designer will come to me with an idea or a sketch, and I’ll develop it into a costume. I work on Game of Thrones from May until Christmas. Then, in my own studio in Derry, I make my collections. I can’t imagine many women wanting to dress up like wildlings, but it’s great that I’m able to incorporate things I’ve learned.”

“Who would I love to dress on the show? It’s not safe to have favourites, characters don’t always survive so long!”

“ID2015 has been hugely beneficial for me so far, I was at London Fashion Week, and have been flat out with orders and commissions since.

Right now I’m getting the best of both worlds, having my own label and working in costume. I know I’ll have to choose one day, but not just yet.”

Oliver Doherty Duncan’s work was exhibited in In the Fold at London Fashion Week as part of ID2015. oliverdohertyduncan.com

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“The products must be easy to use and look well” Muiris Flynn Technical Director Glen Dimplex

It has a world-wide work force of 8,500 people and turns over between €1.5 billion and €2 billion a year, but as technical director Muiris Flynn describes, working at Irish electrical heating company Glen Dimplex is still all about the excitement of problem solving and good design.

“It was my second job out of college; what attracted me was company founder Martin Naughton, and how he was building an Irish international success story. I wanted to be part of that, and started there in 1992. From a design and engineering perspective, the thrill is in being involved in a project from the ‘sketch-on-a-page’ stage, through engineering and eventually seeing it in someone’s home. Our judge is the end consumer, so we need to give them good design that functions well and helps in their lives.”

“Much of our current research agenda is driven by global climate change and the need to decarbonise the electricity system. That means generating more from renewable sources such as wind. The difficulty is that wind is intermittent. We’ve developed devices that allow that energy to be stored as heat. In our homes, most energy is used as heat, so storing it that way is cost effective. The products must also be easy to use and look well.”

“We can imagine a future where your home is part of a network, with smart technology managing the consumption and generation of electricity and trading with the grid system. As US House leader Nancy Pelosi said, Ireland is well placed to demonstrate such technology, small enough to test new ideas, but big enough to make the results significant. That’s the thinking behind our Quantum system, and the reaction worldwide has been amazing. In Ireland we are working with SSE Airtricity, Intel, EirGrid, ESB Networks and UCD to demonstrate the benefit of this type of demand side flexibility to the power system.”

“There’s a direct connection with creativity — Glen Dimplex are known sponsors of the arts; Martin Naughton may be president of a €2 billion company, but he still takes time to chair our monthly product development meetings and retains a passion for product design. That drives us all.” glendimplex.com

247

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DESIGN MATTERS

“Design is a team sport. We work across engineering, product management, financial and business functions” Ré Dubhthaigh Citi’s Innovation Lab

248

What exactly is service design? As Ré Dubhthaigh from Citi’s Innovation Lab explains, it’s nothing short of improving the systems that make up our world.

“I studied graphic design at DIT, but I’d always been more interested in how systems fit together. I went on to an MA in Interaction Design at the Royal College of Art in London in 2002. It was amazing to be plugged in to that network, to meet people who were not just making websites, but looking at the broader social impacts of technology. My internship was at Lego, which was reliving a childhood dream!”

“Myself and a friend set up a company out of college, consulting with clients such as the BBC, Hitachi, Sony and Hasbro. It was thought provoking to look at future technologies and what they might mean.”

“I realised that service design is about the wider systems, not so much about a ‘thing’, but about the wider context – how do you design an overall service with pieces of technology, and how do the people fit in?”

“Coming to Citi has been exciting. Citi employs more than 350,000 people globally. I work within the enterprise bank, which enables the financial operating systems of some of the biggest companies across large parts of the planet.”

“The Innovation Labs are there to look at new ways of doing things from all perspectives. There are labs in Singapore and Miami, but Dublin was the first and is the leading lab in the network.”

“Design is a team sport. We work across engineering, product management, financial and business functions. It’s not about art or craft; it’s about pulling things together to make tangible value in the world. Thinking in this way lets you think about how the world works, and what role design can have to make it better.”

“It gives you the opportunity to make change. Just adding a veneer on top of current systems is a waste of the potential of design.”

“It’s not magic that makes services work; people design them. Designers need to roll up their sleeves and go deep. My hope for ID2015 is that it can shift perspectives for designers as well as the general public.” citigroup.com

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“We’re at risk of an obesity epidemic, so the benefits of designing nutrition are huge” Muireann Kelliher Glanbia’s Director of Strategy and Development

Healthy eating means we can live well for longer and as Glanbia’s Director of Strategy and Development in global ingredients, Muireann Kelliher, explains, design thinking has enabled major developments.

“I studied economics in Trinity, went to Oxford, then to Mc Kinsey in Australia before coming to Glanbia 11 years ago. Irish farms had been scaling up since the 1970s but when milk quotas came in the 1980s Ireland was badly hit. Because our industry was so export based (about 90 per cent of Irish milk is exported) we looked abroad initially bringing our expertise to Wisconsin, Idaho and New Mexico.”

“The US was ahead of Ireland in performance sports nutrition, and Glanbia is now a major global player. Our products cover a wide range of users, from physique based athletes to professional rugby players to exercise enthusiasts to people who want to keep their strength as they grow older. Now we’re still based on, but not limited to, dairy products and in 2014 our revenues were around €3.5 billion, employing more than 5,800 people in 34 countries.”

“The beauty of design thinking is how it gives a way for companies to be systematic in their development. The key thing is empathy, which goes beyond knowledge and insight, letting us get in to the hearts, minds and feet of the people who consume our products. It’s like moving from thinking a person needs a drill to asking the question: do they really just want a hole in their wall?”

“It’s also very galvanising within the organisation: design thinking gives people a set of tools to work together, and equips internal entrepreneurs to make those big leaps, while still keeping an intimacy with customers as we grow. We ask: is it desirable, feasible and viable? Once everyone knows the conversation we’re in we can have a much richer dialogue to everybody’s benefit. A lot is common sense but the tools, and realising why you’re doing it, are really important.”

“We’re at risk of an obesity epidemic, so the benefits of designing nutrition that helps build muscle as well as strong bones alongside an exercise regime are huge. It’s about helping people have healthy, mobile, useful and vital lives.” glanbia.com

249

IRISH DESIGN 2015 DESIGN MATTERS

“What makes UX design different is the need to get inside the user’s head, to understand what they want and why” Frank Long Director of Frontend

250

UX – or user-experience design – is the art of bridging the gap between people and technology, as Frank Long, Director of award winning agency Frontend explains, and it is becoming the most influential field in design today.

“I graduated in 1994 from NCAD in industrial design, and went to LG Electronics before joining Frontend in 1998, when it was just starting up.

As a specialist UX research and design consultancy, we were one of the first outside the US, and in the beginning we had to persuade clients of the value of what we did, but now it’s considered integral to the success of any project.”

“In the early days most work was in websites, but we quickly graduated to more challenging problems like banking, digital TV, software applications, mobile apps and more recently healthcare systems.”

“Our clients can be big or small, from antivirus software that protects 100 million customers worldwide to a digital app that helps your local milkman deliver milk to your door. It’s about defining how people engage with the technology that surrounds them. Most people don’t know what UX is, but everyone uses our work on a daily basis, so the next time you tap your phone to check your bank balance or buy a flight online, remember that these interactions, now almost automatic, were defined and created by UX designers.”

“What makes UX design different is the need to get inside the user’s head, to understand what they want to do and why. We do a lot of user research at the outset, and then at regular intervals we put designs in front of users and listen to what they have to say. The feedback is not always positive but we like that. It tells us what we have to fix.”

“It seems to be working – Frontend scored a major international success for Irish design at the IxDA awards in San Francisco this year, ahead of competition from 29 countries, featuring brands like Skype, Nike, Lego, Yahoo and VW. Frontend were awarded the grand prix for MyMilkman.ie, a digital ecosystem designed for milkmen and their customers.”

Frank Long spoke as part of the Design Bites talks programme for Hidden Heroes: the Genius of Everyday Things at the Design Hub, Dublin Castle. frontend.com

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

“To challenge things you need to unwind the current approach to their design” Martin Ryan Designer and Lecturer

Equestrian enthusiast and design expert Martin Ryan is the man behind a game-changing new saddle.

“Bua is Irish for triumph, and the Bua saddle has been 10 years in the making,” says Ryan, who is Programme Director of Product Design at Maynooth University. “Its inception goes back to my final year at NCAD. Growing up in Co Wexford, I had been riding and competing all my life. With an open design brief, I relished the chance to design a piece of equestrian equipment.”

“I was keenly aware that the saddle was a piece of traditional equipment, made with great skill, but which hadn’t evolved too much over the years.

Great advancements had come about in materials and engineering in the mean time and I knew they must have something to offer the future of saddles.”

“Sometimes to challenge things you need to unwind the current approach to their design and manufacture. I went back to first principles, spending time in the veterinary library in UCD, studying the anatomy and biomechanics of horses. I tried to imagine: if a saddle had never been made before, what would it need to achieve?”

“I grew up in a family business based on strong values of precision craft and progressive thinking. My father was always an early adopter of the latest technologies in production. I think these values come through in the Bua saddle, it avails of aerospace materials and production techniques, and marries this with traditional leather craft. It’s super-light, strong and yet flexible, offering great freedom for the horse.”

“After I first designed the concept, I started to win some awards beginning with Dyson. It was only then that I began to consider it as a business. Once investors got involved we started a prolonged testing period. We selected riders to test it across many disciplines – from leisure riding, to dressage, to show jumping – and improved the product based on feedback and results.”

The Bua saddle launched at the RDS Dublin Horse Show 2015. buasaddles.com

251

252

A YEAR OF DESIGN 253

A timeline capturing the hundreds of events and projects that made up ID2015

254

“Irish Design 2015 has been a game changer for Irish design, internationally, nationally and regionally. It has changed the conversation within Government, linked departments and demonstrated that Ireland’s economic and social future can and should be designed and not just allowed to happen by accident.�

Colin McKeown Chairman of Northern Ireland Design Alliance

Event

Exhibition

Installation

Trade Fair

Network

Project

Online Platform

Workshop

255

Residency

Conference

Publication

Film

Talk

IRISH DESIGN 2015  A YEAR OF DESIGN

2013 Title

Dates

Venue

Website

04.10.13 05.10.13

-

-

Title

Dates

Venue

Website

1

Launch of ID2015 website

01.11.14

-

2

Launch of ID2015

08.12.14

Dublin Castle

-

3

Event to promote upcoming ID2015 programme

07.12.16

Embassy of Ireland, Sofia

-

1

ID2015 - Our Future is in Our Hands

19.12.14

-

http://tinyurl.com/hqvcl8w

1

Second Skin

07.11.14 25.01.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

http://tinyurl.com/zw63vyo

2

Weathering

08.12.14 14.12.15

Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing

-

3

In the Making

30.12.14 17.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

1

100 Archive redesign

01.06.14

-

http://tinyurl.com/htmtg8a

1

New Irish harp design competition

01.12.14 01.03.14

-

-

Second Skin: schools programme

11.11.14 23.01.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

1

EVENT

Global Irish Economic Forum - A year of Irish design conceived

2014

EVENT

http://tinyurl.com/gtrwvue

FILM

256

EXHIBITION

ONLINE PLATFORM

PROJECT

1

WORKSHOP

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

JAN 2015 Title

EVENT

Dates

Venue

Website

Networking event and Maison et Objet microexhibition

23.01.15 27.01.15

Embassy of Ireland, Paris

-

Launch of ID2015 with Joseph Walsh

27.01.15

Embassy of Ireland, Tokyo

-

ID2015 - The beginning

27.01.15

DISRUPT: IDI Awards Exhibition

05.01.15 15.01.15

Cork County Hall

http://tinyurl.com/htfp8y4

Solas

07.01.15 31.01.15

Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork

http://tinyurl.com/ja2c2rr

DISRUPT: IDI Awards Exhibition

29.01.15 28.02.15

SOMA Waterford

http://tinyurl.com/zuag93d

4

PORTFOLIO: Ceramics

30.01.15 14.03.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

1

Design Island

01.01.15 31.12.15

Dublin Airport

Design Network West/ Galway Design Week

01.01.15

Galway

http://tinyurl.com/zckwgmb

North West Design Network

16.01.15

The Fashion and Textile Centre, Derry

http://tinyurl.com/zdcoga6

The Gray Legacy Research Project

01.01.15 30.09.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/jx5g98a

1

2

1

-

http://tinyurl.com/hny6tzl

FILM

1

2

EXHIBITION 3

INSTALLATION 1

NETWORK

2

1

PROJECT

1

2

TALK

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

3

Blueprint Talks

4

In the Making: Design Bites

5

In the Making: Design Bites

6

1

TRADE EVENT

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

Creative Mornings

Showcase - Ireland’s Creative Expo

-

http://tinyurl.com/hmotlmc 257

26.01.15

Trinity College Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

29.01.15

Trinity College Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

29.01.15 29.10.15

Indigo & Cloth

http://tinyurl.com/gvoswu2

15.01.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

29.01.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

30.01.15

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hkuwha5

18.01.15 21.01.15

RDS, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zshp2yo

-

Maison et Objet

23.01.15 27.01.15

Paris Nord Villepinte, Paris

http://tinyurl.com/pkpmmvr

2

Nuremberg Toy Fair

28.01.15 02.02.15

Nuremberg Exhibition Centre, Nuremberg

http://tinyurl.com/zdky726

3

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

1 2

3

WORKSHOP 4 5

Second Skin: Family Day

10.01.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Second Skin: Saturday Sewing Sessions

14.01.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Second Skin: Twisted Layers

22.01.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

3 week millinery course

29.01.15

Ballybane Library, Galway

-

In the Making: Family Day Design Workshops

31.01.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

FEB 2015 Title

Dates

Event to honor RIBA Royal Gold Medal award to O’Donnell + Tuomey

02.02.15

Launch of KDW app

24.02.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/hcqsvu3

ID2015 | Ireland the Design Island

25.02.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zs55mkh

1

Fresh Talent

06.02.15 18.03.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

2

Lifelogging

13.02.15 17.04.15

Science Gallery

3

In the Fold

20.02.15 24.02.15

International Fashion Showcase, London

Creative Digital Network Cork

03.02.15

Cork Institute of Technology

Northern Ireland Design Alliance

16.02.15 06.11.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/yk6xurx

The Prowlster (Re-design & Content Hub for LFW 2015)

23.02.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/hb8x3df

Profiles Launch

27.02.15

Filmbase Dublin

In the Making: Third level visits, tours and talks

03.02.15 13.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Emerge & Make: Curator’s talk with Dieter Rowe-Setz

06.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Fresh Talent: Schools programme - school tour

10.02.15 13.0315

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

In the Making: Design Bites

12.02.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

5

RDS Design Lecture Series

16.02.15

RDS, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zy6oqae

6

Cocktails & Product Design

25.02.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hqprely

7

In the Making: Design Bites

26.02.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

1

EVENT 2

1

FILM 258

EXHIBITION

1

NETWORK

2

1

ONLINE PLATFORM 2

1

2

3

TALK 4

Venue Embassy of Ireland, London

Website -

http://tinyurl.com/jaqu4y9 -

http://tinyurl.com/zsuayue

http://tinyurl.com/hvwcx9u

-

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

1

Scoop London

01.02.15 03.02.15

Saatchi Gallery London

http://tinyurl.com/htj3x3s

2

Vivaness

11.02.15 14.02.15

Nuremberg Exhibition Centre

http://tinyurl.com/jpkslhy

3

Ambiente

13.02.15 17.02.15

Messe Frankfurt

http://tinyurl.com/z4a82ru

4

Self Build and Improve Your Home Show

13.02.15 15.02.15

Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/gvctk4j

5

Kidscreen

22.02.15 26.02.15

InterContinental Miami, USA

http://tinyurl.com/hycuzlw

1

Fresh Talent: Screen Printing

02.02.15 05.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

3 week millinery course

04.02.15

Ballybane Library, Galway

-

Fresh Talent: International Women’s Day event

08.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

4

Fresh Talent: Object Portrait, Assemblage, Collage, Juxtaposition

08.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

5

Fresh Talent: Drawing as Research

13.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

The Village Table

13.02.15 08.05.15

Ogonnelloe Community Centre, Clare

In the Making: Family Day Design Workshop

14.02.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

8

Fresh Talent: Fresh Prints

14.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

9

Fresh Talent: Pop Prints

14.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

10

Animation workshop for kids

21.02.15

Sixmilebridge Library, Clare

Ongonelloe Coffee Exchange

21.02.15 14.03.15

Ogonnelloe Community Centre, Clare

Fresh Talent: Drawing as Research

25.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

13

Design Thinking Masterclass

25.02.15

SAP

14

Fresh Talent: Fresh Approaches to Jewellery

26.02.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Animation Workshop for kids

28.02.15

Sixmilebridge Library, Clare

-

In the Making: Family Day Design Workshop

28.02.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

TRADE EVENT

2 3

6

7

WORKSHOP

11

12

15

16

http://tinyurl.com/zltlceg

http://tinyurl.com/z3r7jw9 http://tinyurl.com/z7uwz3n

MAR 2015 Title 1

EVENT

2

Dates

Venue

Website

Launch of Connections website

01.03.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zseppdo

St. Patrick’s Day event

17.03.15 29.0315

Embassy of Ireland, Rome

-

259

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

CONFERENCE

Ibec CEO Conference 2015: ‘Better Business by Design’

04.03.15

Printworks, Dublin Castle

2

OFFSET

05.03.15 08.03.15

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/gnsyomy

3

GEECT Teaching Product Design Symposium

11.03.15 13.03.15

National Film School, IADT

http://tinyurl.com/zpw3sk5

1

Ibec CEO Conference 2015: ‘Better Business by Design’

10.03.15

-

1

Resonate

12.03.15 29.03.15

Gallery of Photography, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/2e6k7vg

2

Launch of Connections

13.03.15 31.03.15

Embassy of Ireland, Stockholm

-

3

Second Skin

16.03.15 25.03.15

City Hall, London

-

4

Connections

17.03.15 29.03.15

Embassy of Ireland, Rome

-

5

Hidden Stories of Design: The Secret Lives of Objects

19.03.15 19.04.15

The Little Museum of Dublin

6

PORTFOLIO: Glass

19.03.15 16.05.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

-

7

Side by Side

27.02.15 28.04.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

1

Your Future in Fabric

02.03.15

Sligo Central Library

-

2

In the Making: Curator’s Talk

05.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

3

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

10.03.15

Trinity College, Dublin

4

In the Making: Design Bites

12.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

5

John Holland: Submarines

14.03.15

Kilfinaghty Library, Clare

-

6

John Holland: Submarines

21.03.15

Kilfinaghty Library, Clare

7

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

23.03.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://ixdalimerick.org/

8

Interaction Ireland

25.03.15

NCAD

http://www.ncad.ie/

9

The New Ways We Make

25.03.15 23.04.15

Fab Lab Limerick; NCAD

http://fablab.saul.ie/

10

Cocktails and Film

25.03.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

11

Side by Side: Curator’s Talk

27.03.15

National Craft Gallery Kilkenny

-

12

The Normans and Us

31.03.15

New Ross Library, Wexford

-

FILM

EXHIBITION

260

TALK

-

1

http://tinyurl.com/jlk68er

http://tinyurl.com/hdq2kz3

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

-

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

1

MedTech UK

03.03.15 04.04.15

ExCel London

2

Cartoon Movie

04.03.15 06.03.15

Centre de Congrès, Lyon

http://tinyurl.com/hubu7em

3

DesignMarch

12.03.15 15.03.15

Iceland Design Centre, Reykyavik

http://tinyurl.com/jgyvgrl

Bologna Children’s Book Fair

20.03.15 01.04.15

Bologna Fair Centre

http://tinyurl.com/y92wx8w

Inward buyer trip for Built Environment

23.03.15 27.03.15

Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/jmckzeq

Hidden Heroes: Exhibition tours

02.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

ATTIRE

07.03.15 26.03.15

Fab Lab, Limerick

http://tinyurl.com/gvdzbjn

Service Design Master Class

10.03.15

CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork

http://tinyurl.com/zt5y7dq

Fresh Talent: Drawing as Research

11.03.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

In the Making: Family Day Design Workshop

14.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Set Design

14.03.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

In the Making: Design Challenges

17.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

In the Making: Educational Exploration

20.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: Educational Resource Participation

20.03.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Design Thinking Masterclass: Medtronic

25.03.15

Medtronic, Dublin

11

Side by Side: Drop in activity - Discover and Design

27.03.15 28.04.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

12

Infographic Storytelling

28.03.15

Fumbally Exchange, Dublin

Title

Dates

Venue

1

Launch of Liminal - Irish design at the threshold site

07.04.15

-

Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission and Life and Culture capsule exhibition

20.04.15 11.05.15

Reflect Yourself - Irish Design 2015

03.04.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/hv5fynn

In the Fold at London Fashion Week

17.04.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zry5hjs

-

TRADE EVENT 4

5

1

2

3

4

5

6

-

WORKSHOP 7

8

9

10

http://tinyurl.com/z7uwz3n -

http://tinyurl.com/y92wx8w

APR 2015

EVENT

2

1

FILM

2

Embassy of Ireland, Prague

Website http://tinyurl.com/hfzpkf5 -

261

IRISH DESIGN 2015  A YEAR OF DESIGN

EXHIBITION

http://tinyurl.com/zvxvk2t

1

A Stitch in Time: The Fabric of Contemporary Life

03.04.15 05.07.15

Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork

2

Hidden Heroes

03.04.15 14.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

3

Wilderness

09.04.15 20.04.15

Gallery Zozimus, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/7yse4ew

4

Open House Cork

10.04.15 12.04.15

Cork

http://tinyurl.com/grf949j

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold

13.04.15 19.04.15

Tortona District, Milan

6

Mies van der Rohe Awards Exhibition 2015

28.04.15 09.05.15

University College Dublin

1

IDI Network

01.04.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/y92wx8w

2

Leitrim Design House Network

01.04.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zj7fkjy

Launch of Liminal Milan catalogue

13.04.15

Milan Design Week

1

Pecha Kucha at The Leitrim Design House

07.04.15 20.10.15

Leitrim Sculpture Centre, The Dock, Leitrim

http://tinyurl.com/c74au5m

2

In2 Design Series

13.04.15 23.04.15

Cork Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/c4v2jrn

3

The Normans and Us

13.04.15

New Ross Library, Wexford

-

4

Hidden Heroes: Design Bites

16.04.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

5

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

20.04.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

6

Creative Mornings

24.04.15

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hkuwha5

7

Your Future in Fabric

27.04.15

Sligo Central Library

-

8

Cocktails and Graphics

29.04.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

9

Hidden Heroes: Design Bites

30.04.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

1

MoCCA Arts Festival

09.04.15 13.04.15

Centre 548, New York

http://tinyurl.com/kwee5ej

2

MIPDOC/MIPTV

10.04.15 17.04.15

Palais des Festivales, Cannes

http://tinyurl.com/zd2wc2k

3

British Craft Trade Fair

12.04.15 14.04.15

Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate

http://tinyurl.com/gplxu25

4

Apex Multimedia Market

20.04.15 22.04.15

Forum Karlin, Prague

http://tinyurl.com/hwlb765

Hidden Heroes: Third level visits, talks and tours

03.04.15 14.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: School visits, tours and workshops

03.04.15 14.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Common Ground

07.04.15 28.04.15

Bruree Community Hall

5

NETWORK

1

-

http://tinyurl.com/zd7qxob

-

PUBLICATION

262

TALK

TRADE EVENT

1

2

WORKSHOP 3

http://tinyurl.com/zn9afg8

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

4

Hidden Heroes: Design Sessions

11.04.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

5

Hidden Heroes: Family Day Design Workshop

11.04.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Side by Side: Family Day Inspired Ceramics

11.04.15

National Craft Gallery Kilkenny

-

7

Side by Side: Textile Workshop

11.04.15

National Craft Gallery Kilkenny

-

8

Side by Side: Schools Programme - Focus on Furniture

14.04.15 28.04.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Emerging (Older) Artist

14.04.15 30.05.15

Debora Ando Print Studio

10

Side by Side: Collecting, Thinking, Drawing

17.04.15

National Craft Gallery Kilkenny

-

11

Hidden Heroes: Design Sessions

25.04.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: Family Day Design Workshop

25.04.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Design Thinking Masterclass

29.04.15

Logitech

6

9

12

13

http://tinyurl.com/jhoe5kx

http://tinyurl.com/z7uwz3n

MAY 2015

263

Title

CONFERENCE

FILM

EXHIBITION

Venue

Website

01.05.15

VISUAL Carlow

http://tinyurl.com/gwyob5a

Desrist 2015

21.05.15 22.05.15

Clontarf Castle, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zzpbxrw

Appetite for Design: Event with Barry Fitzgerald

09.05.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Appetite for Design: Event with Domestic Godless

23.05.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

1

Liminal Showreel

05.05.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zewer9y

2

Dezeen: Liminal exhibition

29.05.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/hcl6qv2

3

Screening of ID2015 launch film, ‘Our Future is in Our Hands’

04.05.15 16.05.15

Embassy of Ireland, Bratislava

-

1

Connections

04.05.15 16.05.15

Embassy of Ireland, Bratislava

-

2

Connections

04.05.15 10.05.15

Embassy of Ireland, Vilnius

-

Design Island photographic exhibition excerpts

04.05.15 10.05.15

Embassy of Ireland, Vilnius

-

4

Appetite for Design

08.05.15 30.06.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

5

DRAFF: an exhibition

14.05.15 21.05.15

Fumbally Exchange, Dublin

2

1

EVENT

Dates

Nimble Spaces - Ways to Live Together: New Cultures of Housing

1

2

3

http://tinyurl.com/zh6olrz

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

Shed in New Work

14.05.15 17.05.15

NYCxDesign, The Standard Hotel, New York

7

Appetite for Design

15.05.15 17.05.15

Ballymaloe Lit Fest, Cork

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold

15.05.15 18.05.15

WantedDesign, New York

-

2015 Annual AAI Awards Exhibition

21.05.15 31.05.15

City Assembly Rooms, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/jdsp6cs

10

2015 ICAD Awards Display

21.05.15 28.05.15

The Institute of Creative Advertising and Design

http://tinyurl.com/gmxlfru

11

PORTFOLIO: Furniture

22.05.15 04.07.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

12

Resonate

25.05.15 13.06.15

South Dublin County Library

http://tinyurl.com/2e6k7vg

13

Brave New Worlds

29.05.15 20.09.15

VISUAL Carlow

http://tinyurl.com/h5s4mxn

14

Refract

29.05.15 19.09.15

Waterford City Hall

http://tinyurl.com/h69o3hn

Launch of Liminal New York catalogue

17.05.15

WantedDesign, New York

2

FAULTLINES: Book of Abstracts

28.05.15

1

Edel McBride

05.05.15

Donegal County Library

2

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

11.05.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

3

Edel McBride

13.05.15

Donegal County Library

4

Urban design and natural flows

14.05.15

Alliance Française, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/2fmje39

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

14.05.15

Trinity College, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

6

Hidden Heroes: Design Bites

14.05.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

7

Edel McBride

20.05.15

Donegal County Library

-

8

Cocktails and Interiors

27.05.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

9

Hidden Heroes: Design Bites

28.05.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

10

Creative Mornings

29.05.15

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hkuwha5

Pharmacy Forum UK & Ireland

17.05.15 18.05.15

Tivoli Victoria Hotel, the Algarve

http://tinyurl.com/h3w6ra4

Walled City Brewery Design Workshop

05.05.15

North West Regional College, Derry

http://tinyurl.com/j7c6xh6

Hidden Heroes: Design Sessions

09.05.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: Family Day Design Workshop

09.05.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Appetite for Design: Food Design Tour and Activities (Schools)

12.05.15 26.06.15

National Craft Gallery, Killkenny

-

5

Appetite for Design: National Drawing Day

16.05.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

6

3D Printing

21.05.15 13.11.15

Cork Institute of Technology

8

9

1

PUBLICATION

264

http://tinyurl.com/zbn8rpj

6

5

TALK

1

TRADE EVENT

1

2 3

4

WORKSHOP

-

-

http://tinyurl.com/h2epaxv

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t -

http://tinyurl.com/c4v2jrn

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

7

8

9 10

11 12

13

14

Appetite for Design: Packaging Design for Food

21.05.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Appetite for Design: Bealtaine Festival Crafternoon Tea

22.05.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Hidden Heroes: Design Sessions

23.05.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: Family Day Design Workshop

23.05.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Design Thinking Masterclass: Dell

27.05.15

Dell, Dublin

Bloom in the Park: Craft & Design Workshops

30.05.15 01.05.15

The Phoenix Park, Dublin

BloomFringe Garden Clinics & Urban Interventions

30.05.15 01.05.15

The Dubhlinn Gardens, Dublin Castle Grounds

http://tinyurl.com/jylngmt

Mobile Baskets: Sustainable Design for Urban Cycling

30.05.15

Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/h2vkguf

http://tinyurl.com/z7uwz3n -

JUN 2015

1

Title

Dates

FAULTLINES - Irish Design Research Conference

04.06.15 05.06.15

Venue Institute of Technology, Carlow

Website http://tinyurl.com/jkjacf4

CONFERENCE 265 Appetite for Design: Eating Experience with Culinary Counter

07.06.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Enterprise Ireland Market Study Visit and Design Island poster exhibition

09.06.15 16.06.15

Embassy of Ireland, Tallinn

-

ID2015 at London Festival of Architecture

15.06.15

New Horizon_architecture from Ireland

01.06.15 18.06.15

King’s Cross, London

7 Hands - Inspiring Crafts from West Cork

02.06.15 03.06.15

Vision London

http://tinyurl.com/z4cpppm

Irish Architecture - A Sense of Place

02.06.15 03.06.15

Vision London

http://tinyurl.com/hq3wbse

Universal Design Grand Challenge 2015 Student Awards

04.06.15

Westin Hotel, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zpoc4hv

Second Skin

08.06.15 16.07.15

The Playhouse, Derry

-

Life and Culture exhibition capsule

12.06.15 12.07.15

Embassy of Ireland, Paris

-

7

PORTFOLIO

12.06.15 12.07.15

Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris

http://tinyurl.com/hl6d7bo

8

Side by Side

12.06.15 10.07.15

Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris

http://tinyurl.com/h445nwe

9

Resonate

15.06.15 28.06.15

Ballyroan Library, Dublin

1

EVENT

2

1

FILM

1

2

3

4

EXHIBITION

5

6

-

http://tinyurl.com/h5ycqyl

-

-

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

15.06.15 07.08.15

Ireland Pavilion, Expo Milano

The Chocolate Factory Collection

19.06.15 21.06.15

The Chocolate Factory, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hl6d7bo

12

Productive Fragments

22.06.15 03.07.15

Mews House, 2 Pery Square, Limerick

http://tinyurl.com/h445nwe

13

We Built This City

30.06.15

London

Damn Fine Print Website Relaunch

01.06.15

Launch of New Horizon London catalogue

01.06.15

ITERATIONS: design research and practice review

04.06.15

-

Eileen Gray: Her Work and Her World (ebook)

17.06.15

-

1

timelines

01.06.15 14.06.15

Kilgraney House, Carlow

http://tinyurl.com/jzsv8sv

2

Share 6 Talks

04.06.15

Blick Studios, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/nyc4et

Irish Design Talks at Borris House Festival

05.06.15 07.06.15

Borris, Carlow

http://tinyurl.com/h2vanfy

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

08.06.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

5

RIAI Walks + Talks London with O’Donnell + Tuomey

09.06.15

London

http://tinyurl.com/z6kdpju

6

Hidden Heroes: Design Bites

11.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

7

Hidden Heroes: Seminar

12.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: Curator’s Talk

13.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Hidden Heroes: Design Bites

13.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

10

Colour & Context

19.06.15

Harry Clarke Room, NCAD, Dublin http://tinyurl.com/jxl7k4s

11

Cocktails and Media

24.06.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

12

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

25.06.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

Irish Fashion: At Home and Abroad at Hay Festival, Kells

26.06.15

Kells Theatre, Meath

http://tinyurl.com/jr2fsw8

Annecy International Animation Festival

15.06.15 20.06.15

Annecy, France

1

UX Design Workshop

05.06.15 06.06.15

Fumbally Exchange, Dublin

2

Hidden Heroes: Design Sessions

06.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

3

Hidden Heroes: Family Day Design Workshop

06.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

11

1

ONLINE PLATFORM

1

2

PUBLICATION 3

3

266

4

TALK

-

Life and Culture exhibition capsule

10

8

9

13

1

-

-

http://tinyurl.com/z6jqnkj

-

London

http://tinyurl.com/z7lgvlh -

-

http://tinyurl.com/5sgorgw

TRADE EVENT

WORKSHOP

http://tinyurl.com/goqrhj2

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

4

5

6 7

Appetite for Design: Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

13.06.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Hidden Heroes: National Drawing Day

16.06.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Spaces, Places and Faces

20.06.15

Creative Spark Print Studio, Louth

http://tinyurl.com/zcgax29

Appetite for Design: Design Talks, Public Spaces and Food

25.06.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

JUL 2015 Title

Dates

Venue

HOUSE

2

Fresh Talent

03.07.15 20.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

3

Song of the Sea

04.07.15 11.10.15

Butler Gallery, Kilkenny

PORTFOLIO: Textiles, Paper, Calligraphy

10.07.15 22.08.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

Connections

13.07.15 17.07.15

Lyric Theatre, Belfast

Life and Culture capsule exhibition

13.07.15 17.08.15

Craft Northern Ireland, Belfast

-

7

Open House Belfast

17.07.15 19.07.15

Belfast

-

8

Festival of Curiosity

23.07.15 26.07.15

Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/gww8spm

9

Dublin Maker

25.07.15

Physics Lawn, Trinity College Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hr9nxl2

10

RDS National Craft Awards

27.07.15 09.08.15

RDS, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zdglpcq

Second Skin at the Playhouse Theatre, Derry/Londonderry

03.07.15

-

2

Design Makes Belfast

10.07.15

Discover Ireland

http://tinyurl.com/zf6swnp

3

ID2015: The year so far

22.07.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/hvmplcj

1

Design Island app launched

10.07.15

-

Fiona McAndrew - Bodycraft: Designing for the augmented body

13.07.15 17.07.15

Copenhagen

http://tinyurl.com/j8daabs

1

Imagine Kerry

02.07.15

Tech Amergin, Kerry

http://tinyurl.com/gt9buoc

2

Fresh Talent: Design Bites

09.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

4

5

01.07.15 Permanent

PLACE, Belfast

Website

1

http://tinyurl.com/jg4p9rv http://tinyurl.com/pbtlxwj -

-

EXHIBITION 6

1

FILM

http://tinyurl.com/zjf4cgv

-

ONLINE PLATFORM

1

RESIDENCY

TALK

-

267

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

First Thought Talks at Galway International Arts Festival

13.07.15 26.07.15

Galway

http://tinyurl.com/jpdmy4f

Developing a Career in Footwear Design

14.07.15 05.09.15

Bantry House, Cork

http://tinyurl.com/hao58kf

Fresh Talent: Designer Panel

16.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Emerge & Make: Curator’s Talk with Dieter Rowe-Setz

17.07.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Fresh Talent: Designer Panel (Festival of Curiousity)

25.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

8

Cocktails and Craft

29.07.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

1

Children’s Media Conference

01.07.15 03.07.15

Sheffield Technology Park

http://tinyurl.com/q3a8scp

2

Modefabriek

12.07.15 13.07.15

Amsterdam RAI

http://tinyurl.com/7hslf93

1

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

02.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Family Design Workshop

02.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: public and special tours

03.07.15 20.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Educational Resource Participation

03.07.15 20.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

04.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Family Design Workshop

04.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Children’s Design Workshops with CBL

17.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

18.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Emerge & Make: Meet the Makers

23.07.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Fresh Talent: Children’s Design Workshops with CBL

24.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Festival of Curiosity Workshops

24.07.15 26.07.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Emerge & Make: Wizard Wire and Fairy Beads

30.07.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

3

4

5 6

7

TRADE EVENT

2

3

4

268 5 6

WORKSHOP 7

8 9

10

11

12

AUG 2015 Title

Venue -

1

Launch of New Horizon website

01.08.15

1

7 Hands - Inspiring Crafts from West Cork

01.08.15 08.08.15

Haugaard Gallery, West Cork

Nine Lives

08.08.15 27.09.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

Ireland at the Movies: Costume in Irish Cinema 1987-2015

13.08.15 28.09.15

The Little Museum of Dublin

EVENT

EXHIBITION

Dates

2

3

Website http://tinyurl.com/gsamlqo

http://tinyurl.com/z4cpppm http://tinyurl.com/zwqu8c5

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

14.08.15 02.09.15

Consulate General of Ireland, Edinburgh

Inspirational Homes: Green Door Weekend

28.08.15 30.08.15

Leitrim

6

Life and Culture capsule exhibition

28.08.15 10.11.15

Consulate General of Ireland, New York

-

1

Cavan Crystal

06.08.15 07.08.15

Bailieborough Library, Cavan

-

2

Fresh Talent: Design Bites

06.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

3

Nine Lives: Curator’s Talk

08.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

4

Nine Lives: Occupation and Craft in Architecture

11.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

5

Fresh Talent: Exhibition Tour

13.08.15 20.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

6

In the Making: Design Bites

20.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

7

Cocktails and Fashion

26.08.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

8

Fresh Talent: Designer Panel

29.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

1

Scoop International, London

03.08.15 05.08.15

Saatchi Gallery, London

2

NY NOW

16.08.15 19.08.15

New York

-

1

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

01.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

2

Fresh Talent: Family Design Workshops

01.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

3

Nine Lives: Drop in Family Creative Space

06.08.15 13.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

4

Nine Lives: Drop in Workshop

08.08.15 09.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

5

Game Design Workshop

08.08.15

Six Minute, Dublin

6

Nine Lives: KAF Workshop

11.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

7

Nine Lives: KAF Workshop

12.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

8

Nine Lives: KAF Workshop

13.08.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

9

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

15.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Family Day Design Workshop

15.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

11

Salt Shop

15.08.15

The MART, Dublin

12

Fresh Talent: Mini Makers

19.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

13

Lacemaking

19.08.15

Mountmellick Library, Laois

-

14

Lacemaking

25.08.15

Mountmellick Library, Laois

-

15

Lacemaking

26.08.15

Mountmellick Library, Laois

-

16

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

29.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Family Day Design Workshop

29.08.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

5

TALK

TRADE EVENT

-

Life and Culture capsule exhibition

4

WORKSHOP 10

17

http://tinyurl.com/jnkvle3

-

http://tinyurl.com/htj3x3s

http://tinyurl.com/z27va8n

http://tinyurl.com/h8oncvg

269

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

SEP 2015 Title

Dates

Future Legacy: Contemporary contexts for glass in tourism, design and technologies

18.09.15 19.09.15

Waterford Institute of Technology

Society and Progress capsule exhibition and Design Island photographic exhibition

01.09.15 26.10.15

Consulate General of Ireland, Shanghai

-

PORTFOLIO: Basketry and Woodturning

04.09.15 26.09.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

-

Life and Culture capsule exhibition

04.09.15 08.10.15

Embassy of Ireland, London

-

Connections

04.09.15 08.10.15

Consulate General of Ireland, Shanghai

-

Miroslav Havel Glass Exhibition Waterford

07.09.15 19.09.15

Central Library Waterford

-

Ireland Fashion Showcase New York

10.09.15

Consulate General of Ireland, New York

http://tinyurl.com/jjfpfkz

7

New Architecture: Ireland

12.09.15 26.09.15

Solaris, Rävala puiestee 12, 10143 Tallinn

http://tinyurl.com/ztywop2

8

Appetite for Design

14.09.15 19.09.15

CultureTECH, Derry

The LOUPE: Alternative Perspectives at the Hunt Museum

14.09.15 25.09.15

Hunt Museum, Limerick

10

A World to Win

17.09.15 08.11.15

National Print Museum, Dublin

-

11

Unfold

18.09.15 19.09.15

London Fashion Week

-

12

The Ogham Wall

19.09.15 27.09.15

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

-

IIBN & ID2015 Tech Scale Up Event

22.09.15

Digital Catapult, London

-

The Souvenir Project

22.09.15 27.09.15

Rochelle School, London

-

Slip.Flux.Flock at the British Ceramics Biennale

26.09.15 08.11.15

Britsh Ceramics Biennale, Stoke on Trent

http://tinyurl.com/6czycmq

The Nature of Design

04.09.15

Discover Ireland

http://tinyurl.com/zvtujum

2

Screening of ID2015 launch film

21.09.15 02.10.15

Embassy of Ireland, Luxembourg

3

Timelapse: The Ogham Wall

21.09.15

-

Trailer Park, Electric Picnic 2015

04.09.15 06.09.15

Electric Picnic, Laois

2

Invent Showcase

21.09.15 01.01.15

Convention Centre; CHQ, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/juxstk5

1

DRAFF: Issue 1

17.09.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/jmjrtzt

1

CONFERENCE

1

2

3

4

5

6

EXHIBITION 270

9

13

14

15

1

Venue

Website http://tinyurl.com/zrssvkb

http://tinyurl.com/hgamk3b

-

FILM

1

INSTALLATION

PUBLICATION

http://tinyurl.com/jy2zy64

-

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

The Costume Design Fellowship

21.09.15 21.10.15

Wexford Festival Opera

1

Fresh Talent: Design Bites

03.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

2

Dinner Dialogues

04.09.15 04.03.16

9 North Great George’s Street, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/gkrmttk

3

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

14.09.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

4

Share 6 Talks

17.09.15

Blick Studios, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/4xxb236

5

Fresh Talent: Design Bites

17.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Nine Lives: Commonage Talk (Culture Night)

18.09.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

Fresh Talent: Culture Night Participants

18.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Culture Night Tours

18.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

1

http://tinyurl.com/26fgmpa

RESIDENCY

TALK

6

7

8

-

9

Cocktails & Architecture

30.09.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

10

Platinum Symposium

30.09.15

Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

-

1

Cartoon Forum

13.09.15 16.09.15

Centre de Congrès Pierre Baudis, Toulouse

http://tinyurl.com/lhtufjb

2

Top Drawer

13.09.15 15.09.15

Olympia, London

http://tinyurl.com/zcn4wqg

3

Scoop London

20.09.15 22.09.15

Saatchi Gallery London

http://tinyurl.com/htj3x3s

4

100% Design

23.09.15 26.09.15

Olympia, London

http://tinyurl.com/djswob

Design Junction, London Design Festival

24.09.15 27.09.15

The College, Southampton Row, London

http://tinyurl.com/9brv4qp

Tent London (Ó)

24.09.15 27.09.15

London

EU Brokerage Event on KET in H2020

30.09.15 02.10.15

Maison de la Région, Strasbourg

http://tinyurl.com/zqtjvgo

Design a Length of Fabric with Liz Nielsson

01.09.15

Cork

http://tinyurl.com/zkraowx

Mulranny Geodesign Workshop

03.09.15 04.09.15

Mulranny Park Hotel, Mayo

http://tinyurl.com/j8u5w9s

3

Cold Glass Prototyping

07.09.15 09.09.15

Waterford Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/h3co6zj

4

Hot Glass Prototyping

07.09.15 09.09.15

Waterford Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/h3co6zj

Fresh Talent: Design Sessions

12.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Fresh Talent: Family Day Design Workshop

12.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Nine Lives: Crafternoon Tea

16.09.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

Transformation: Creative Thinkers Moving Humanity Forward

17.09.15 18.09.15

Fumbally Exchange, Dublin

TRADE EVENT 5

6

7

1

2

WORKSHOP

5

6

7 8

-

http://tinyurl.com/jreyequ

271

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

Fresh Talent: Culture Night Workshop

18.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Nine Lives: HOME Workshop x 3

22.09.15 24.09.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

11

Publishing Ireland

28.09.15

Dublin Chamber of Commerce

http://tinyurl.com/jocxrqn

12

Rebase

30.09.15 02.10.15

NCAD & Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin

http://rebase.ie/

9

10

OCT 2015 Title

Dates

Venue

Website

Universal Design Homes | Community Engagement Week

19.10.15 25.10.15

Town Hall Theatre, Galway

http://tinyurl.com/hpt2m22

D3D: Print Conference 2015

27.10.15 31.10.15

Creative Spark, Dundalk

http://tinyurl.com/jn5y3a6

déanta: Irish design from concept to market

30.10.15

GMIT, Letterfrack

http://tinyurl.com/hesxzbb

Design Feasibility Study/Society and Progress capsule exhibition

01.10.15 15.01.16

Consulate General of Ireland, Chicago

-

2

Design Feasibility Study

05.10.15 23.10.15

Embassy of Ireland, Copenhagen

-

3

Open House Limerick

09.10.15 11.10.15

Limerick

4

Design Feasiblity Study

12.10.15 09.11.15

Embassy of Ireland, Stockholm

5

Open House Dublin

16.10.15 18.10.15

Dublin

6

Design Feasibility Study

17.10.15 25.10.15

Embassy of Ireland, The Hague

1

In Residence

01.10.15 31.10.15

Oliver Sears Gallery

Platinum: A’ Design Award Exhibition

01.10.15 07.11.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Irish Architecture - A Sense of Place

02.10.15

Irish Pavillion, Expo Milano

http://tinyurl.com/hq3wbse

4

Expo Milano

02.10.15 04.10.15

Milan

-

5

PORTFOLIO: Jewellery

02.10.15 24.10.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

-

New Horizon_architecture from Ireland

03.10.15 31.01.15

Chicago

-

VISUAL Autumn Season

03.10.15 01.10.15

VISUAL Carlow

-

Irish Architecture - A Sense of Place

04.10.15 05.10.15

RDS, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/hq3wbse

9

New Architecture: Ireland

05.10.15 27.10.15

Kunstakademiets Designskole (KADK), Copenhagen

http://tinyurl.com/ztywop2

10

Temoignages

10.10.15

Museo Temporaneo all’Aperto, Ravenna

http://tinyurl.com/jycemeh

1

2

CONFERENCE 3

1

272

EVENT

2

3

EXHIBITION 6

7

8

http://tinyurl.com/hwjar4m http://tinyurl.com/gmfpqyq -

http://tinyurl.com/haj8wev

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Mies van der Rohe Awards Exhibition 2015

13.10.15 21.10.15

University of Limerick

http://tinyurl.com/zd7qxob

12

Landscape Awards 2015

15.10.15

Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/jq536eq

13

Solas

15.10.15 19.10.15

NCAD Gallery

http://tinyurl.com/ja2c2rr

14

Describing Architecture

16.10.15 01.11.15

City Assembly House and Powerscourt Townhouse, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/h79eawa

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold

17.10.15 25.10.15

Eindhoven

Solas

22.10.15 09.11.15

Hunt Museum, Limerick

http://tinyurl.com/ja2c2rr

2015 Annual AAI Awards Exhibition

23.10.15 30.11.15

PLACE Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/jdsp6cs

18

New Architecture: Ireland

26.10.15 30.10.15

AHO, Oslo

http://tinyurl.com/ztywop2

19

Fresh Talent

30.10.15 08.11.15

The Model, Sligo

-

20

PORTFOLIO: Metals and Stone

30.10.15 22.11.15

Solomon Fine Art, Dublin

-

Dublin Animation Film Festival 2015

16.10.15 17.10.15

IADT & Pavilion Theatre Dun Laoghaire

http://tinyurl.com/hgbkgd6

2

Irish by design

19.10.15 23.10.15

Kerry Film Festival

http://tinyurl.com/j26feet

3

From Ash

20.10.15

Liverpool Irish International Film Festival

http://tinyurl.com/zravl8g

1

Domenico.cc

16.10.15 18.10.15

Maker Faire Rome, Maker Faire Bilbao

http://tinyurl.com/zlz67ef

1

The SALT Network / Sligo Design Week

31.10.15

Sligo

http://tinyurl.com/zefwfu7

1

Launch of New Horizon Chicago catalogue

03.10.15

Chicago Design Museum

-

2

Launch of Liminal Eindhoven catalogue

16.10.15

Dutch Design Week

-

3

Make Believe online journal

16.10.15

Hunt Museum, Limerick

http://tinyurl.com/z34a7l4

1

Digital Textiles Residency

11.10.15 25.10.15

Glasgow School of Art

http://tinyurl.com/jpw9gxu

1

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

01.10.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

2

Platinum: Design Bites

01.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

3

Platinum: Exhibition tours

01.10.15 07.11.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Platinum: School visits, tours and talks

05.10.15 30.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

11

15

16

17

1

FILM

INSTALLATION

NETWORK

PUBLICATION

RESIDENCY

TALK

4

-

273

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

274

TRADE EVENT

5

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

10.10.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

6

Waterford Festival of Architecture

13.10.15 18.10.15

Waterford

http://tinyurl.com/zfvhzxw

7

Platinum: Design Bites

15.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

8

Ó: Late Date - Ceadogán Rugs

22.10.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

9

Helen Cody - Irish Design

23.10.15

Design Success Summit, Shanghai

-

10

Standard Lives

28.10.15

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zpmg7bw

11

Cocktails and Furniture

28.10.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

12

G6 Series: Design and Blogging

28.10.15

Dublin Institute of Technology, Grangegorman

http://tinyurl.com/heztllb

13

Share 6 Talks

29.10.15

Blick Studios, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/nyc4et

14

Platinum: Design Bites

29.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

1

Imoni, Paris Fashion Week

03.10.15 05.10.15

Imoni Showroom, Paris

http://tinyurl.com/zh2qje3

2

MIP Junior/Mipcom

03.10.15 08.10.15

Palais des Festivales, Cannes

http://tinyurl.com/mc2fk7c

3

EyeForPharma Conference

19.10.15 20.10.15

Hilton Tower Bridge, London

http://tinyurl.com/h4matyg

4

Frankfurt Book Fair

19.10.15 23.10.15

Festhalle Frankfurt

http://tinyurl.com/yhw5dfl

5

ICT 2015

20.10.15 23.10.15

Centro de Congressos de Lisboa

http://tinyurl.com/hynkmrl

Irish Design + Medical Technology Showcase

29.10.15

Convention Centre, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/jareukb

6

-

Platinum: Design Sessions

03.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

2

Platinum: Family Day Design Workshop

03.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

3

Fumbally Lunchtime Exchange

06.10.15

Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery, Waterford

4

Platinum: Design Sessions

17.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Platinum: Family Day Design Workshop

17.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Platinum: Design Sessions

31.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Platinum: Family Day Design Workshops

31.10.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Title

Dates

1

WORKSHOP 5

6 7

http://tinyurl.com/5w728wb

NOV 2015 1 2

CONFERENCE

3

4

Venue

Website

Design Camp Belfast

03.11.15

The Design Salon, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/jnx6nm6

Design for Social Innovation Symposium

06.11.15

Dublin Institute of Technology, Grangegorman

http://tinyurl.com/gqz5rbs

Engage Enterprise at Allingham Festival

06.11.15

Ballyshannon, Donegal

http://tinyurl.com/hd56sm8

Make 2: Remaking Tradition

09.11.15 03.11.15

Cork Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/c4v2jrn

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Universal Design in Education Conference and 24 Hour Universal Design Hackathon

12.11.15 13.11.15

Print Works, Dublin Castle

http://tinyurl.com/guh8g93

The Irish Fashion Summit

14.11.15

Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park

http://tinyurl.com/hkwbwf4

Internet of Things Charette - creating and embracing interconnectivity

16.11.15 18.11.15

IADT, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/z2gn6ke

8

IRDG Annual Conference 2015

17.11.15

The Pavillion, Leopardstown Racecourse, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/gm2trnc

1

Built Environment Networking Meeting

17.11.15

Consulate General of Ireland, Edinburgh

-

1

Liz Christy Handweaving Exhibition

01.11.15

Clones Library, Monaghan

-

2

Second Skin

03.11.15 23.12.15

Designfest, Clonmel

-

3

Design It

07.11.15 16.01.15

The Ark, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zzzdlrg

4

Sligo Design Week

07.11.15 14.11.15

Sligo

http://tinyurl.com/24gombz

Mies van der Rohe Awards Exhibition 2015

10.11.15 24.11.15

Waterford Institue of Technology http://tinyurl.com/zd7qxob

We Built This City

10.11.15

Chicago

DISRUPT: IDI Awards Exhibition

12.11.15 28.11.15

Teeling Distillery, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/htfp8y4

8

Establish Change

12.11.15 19.11.15

An Táin Arts Centre, Dundalk

http://tinyurl.com/jt4p8dy

9

DesignFest Clonmel

16.11.15 21.11.15

Limerick Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/zmszyok

10

New Architecture: Ireland

16.11.15 30.11.15

Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), Stockholm

http://tinyurl.com/ztywop2

7 Hands - Inspiring Crafts from West Cork

17.11.15 28.11.15

RIAI, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/z4cpppm

Dublin Art Book Fair

18.11.15 22.11.15

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/nnpbkml

Life and Culture capsule exhibition and Design Island photographic exhibition

18.11.15 11.12.15

Embassy of Ireland in The Hague

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold

20.11.15 30.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

2015 Annual AAI Awards Exhibition

22.11.15 10.01.16

VISUAL Carlow

Design Island photographic exhibition

23.11.15 04.12.15

Embassy of Ireland, Hanoi

17

Essence of Design

27.11.15 02.01.16

The Dock, Leitrim

http://tinyurl.com/jbl3qyz

18

Solas

27.11.15 29.12.15

Greyfriars Municipal Art Gallery, Waterford

http://tinyurl.com/ja2c2rr

5

6 7

EVENT

5

6 7

EXHIBITION

11

12

13

14

15

16

275 -

http://tinyurl.com/jdsp6cs -

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

FILM

1

Designing Ireland

05.11.15 26.11.15

2

Irish by design

06.11.15 08.11.15

NETWORK

http://tinyurl.com/j26feet

3

We Built This City: London

13.11.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/gptkheq

We Built This City: Chicago

13.11.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/haweq88

5

Irish by design

18.11.15 22.11.15

6

The Vitrine Project

25.11.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zxkfn7w

7

Design is...

26.11.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/y92wx8w

UNFOLD: Irish designers at LFW 2015

30.11.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/hqkftua

Irish Film Festival London

http://tinyurl.com/j26feet

Galway

http://tinyurl.com/h95yl86

20.11.15 22.11.15

Maker Faire Rome, Maker Faire Bilbao

http://tinyurl.com/zlz67ef

Design Week

07.11.15 14.11.15

Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/24gombz

Lifeline

13.11.15

Dublin Institute of Technology, Grangegorman

http://tinyurl.com/jz4tbzx

RIAI Annual Review Volume 6

17.11.15

RIAI, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/3xgwy

2

Launch of Liminal book

19.11.15

3

SET Collective: Volume 2

21.11.15

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/grtq65m

1

IxDa Limerick Talk Series

02.11.15

Absolute Hotel; FabLab Limerick; Ormston House

http://tinyurl.com/z6oxf7t

2

Share 6 Talks

05.11.15

Blick Studios, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/nyc4et

Inspire Creativity at The Allingham Festival

06.11.15

Ballyshannon, Donegal

http://tinyurl.com/hd56sm8

4

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

12.11.15

Trinity College, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

5

Talks at Internet of Things

16.11.15 18.11.15

IADT, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/z2gn6ke

6

Standard Lives

18.11.15

The Chocolate Factory, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zpmg7bw

7

Liminal: exhibition tours

20.11.15 30.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: School visits, tours and talks

23.11.15 23.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Cocktails and Technology

25.11.15

The Liquor Rooms, Dublin

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Design Bites

26.11.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

11

Ó: Late Date - Made in Kilkenny

26.11.15

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

12

Design Symposium

30.11.15

Gate Lab, Dublin

1

Galway Design Box

2

Domenico.cc

1

2

06.11.15 Permanent

276 1

PUBLICATION

Waterford Film Festival

http://tinyurl.com/jsg6qme

4

8

INSTALLATION

-

3

TALK

8

9 10

-

-

http://tinyurl.com/d2qv3cv

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

TRADE EVENT

1

World Travel Market

02.11.15 05.11.15

ExCel London

http://tinyurl.com/nsehnc

2

Sieraad Art Fair

04.11.15 09.11.15

Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam

http://tinyurl.com/yjmxkvu

Allergy and Free From Show

07.11.15 08.11.15

Exhibition Centre Liverpool

http://tinyurl.com/gupyklz

Healthcare Brokerage Event, Medica 2015

17.11.15 19.11.15

Messe Dusseldorf

http://tinyurl.com/ot4jgv3

Design Workshops at Allingham Festival

06.11.15

Allingham, Donegal

http://tinyurl.com/hd56sm8

Project 2nd Level Curriculum Workshop

13.11.15

Dublin Castle

http://tinyurl.com/zpoc4hv

Workshops at Internet of Things

16.11.15 18.11.15

IADT, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/z2gn6ke

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Design Sessions

28.11.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

Title

Dates

3

4

1

2

WORKSHOP

3

4

-

DEC 2015 Venue

Website 277

1

Face Forward: Typography Conference

11.12.15 12.12.15

Dublin Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/zz6t6pt

Moments Photographic Exhibition (Joseph Walsh)

03.12.15 08.01.16

Cork Central Library

-

New Horizon_architecture from Ireland

04.12.15 04.03.16

Shenzhen

-

Graphic Explorations in Print

10.12.15 29.02.16

National Print Museum, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zaf3god

Redrawing Typographic Horizons

11.12.15 12.12.15

Dublin Institute of Technology, Grangegorman

http://tinyurl.com/zz6t6pt

Life and Culture capsule exhibition

14.12.15 24.12.15

Embassy of Ireland, Vienna

Inside the line

15.12.15 15.01.16

The Hive, Leitrim

http://tinyurl.com/hc49ro6

Mies van der Rohe Awards Exhibition 2015

15.12.15 10.01.16

Queen's University Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/zd7qxob

Design Matters

08.12.15

Launch of New Horizon Shenzhen catalogue

04.12.15

Shenzhen

Stage and Screen Design Ireland - Highlights 2007 - 2014

08.12.15

Irish Theatre Institute, Dublin

CONFERENCE

1

2

3

4

EXHIBITION 5

6

7

1

-

-

http://tinyurl.com/h3ulgza

FILM

1

PUBLICATION

2

http://tinyurl.com/glhadmx

IRISH DESIGN 2015 A YEAR OF DESIGN

The Five Ages of Design and Craft Creativity

03.12.15

National University of Ireland, Maynooth

http://tinyurl.com/zsoohnt

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

03.12.15

Trinity College, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Design Bites

03.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

Share 6 Talks

05.12.15

Blick Studios, Belfast

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Curator's Talk

06.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

6

Design Symposium

07.12.15

Gate Lab, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/d2qv3cv

7

Design Symposium

09.12.15

Gate Lab, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/d2qv3cv

8

Design Symposium

10.12.15

Gate Lab, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/d2qv3cv

1

2

3

4

TALK

5

9

1

WORKSHOP

2

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Design Bites

10.12.15

http://tinyurl.com/nyc4et -

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Design Sessions

12.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold: Family Day Design Workshop

12.12.15

Dublin Castle Design Hub

-

278

2016 Title

Venue

Website

22.01.16 18.03.16

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, USA

-

Life and Culture capsule exhibition

29.02.16 07.03.16

Embassy of Ireland, Warsaw

-

Connecting the Future of the Dun Laoghaire Region

08.03.16

Royal Marine Hotel

Connections

16.03.16 10.04.16

Consulate General of Ireland, Sydney

-

Ashleigh Myles Photography

01.04.16

Blanchardstown Library, Dublin

-

Liminal - Irish design at the threshold

08.04.16 03.07.16

National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

-

7

We Built This City

27.04.16

New York

8

Connections

10.06.16 19.06.16

One Design Week Festival, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

9

Wunderkammer exhibition

20.08.16 04.09.16

Marsh’s Library, Dublin

Connections: the Irish Design 2015 Capsule Exhibition

15.01.16

Irish Design Insights

01.02.16

Internet of things: Processes and outcomes of the charette

07.03.16

1

2

3

4

EXHIBITION

Dates

Society and Progress capsule exhibition

5

6

1

2

http://tinyurl.com/glazla3

-

-

IADT, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/gmfpqyq -

http://tinyurl.com/z9nquub

http://tinyurl.com/yce2tkk

FILM 3

-

http://tinyurl.com/guggwun

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

24.06.15

-

http://tinyurl.com/zq3yqds

Designer for a Day on RTÉ Junior

Spring/Summer 2016

-

http://tinyurl.com/h3e4m25

6

Strangely Familiar

Spring/Summer 2016

-

http://tinyurl.com/zk3exyb

1

Creative Frame

20.01.16

1

Modus Design Journal

25.01.16

-

http://tinyurl.com/j9l9vph

2

DLR Charette

07.03.16

-

http://tinyurl.com/glazla3

3

UnSilent Film on Lyric FM

4

5

Dezeen - Putting Irish Design on the Map

The Dock, Leitrim

http://tinyurl.com/zzmtggc

NETWORK

ONLINE PLATFORM

4

1

PROJECT

1

2

3

4

01.04.16

-

http://tinyurl.com/zv7nb8y

Spring/Summer 2016

-

http://tinyurl.com/h55pnpv

European Glass Road: People & Places

01.06.16 31.05.20

-

http://tinyurl.com/j3vft2x

Campaign: the journal of the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design

01.03.16

Institute of Creative Advertising and Design, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/gwzlhrw

Internet of things: Connecting the Future of the Dun Laoghaire Region

08.03.16

-

Building Material: Issue 20

01.04.16

12 years of the ISTD Student Assessment Scheme in Ireland

01.05.16

National Design Strategy

01.08.15

Dublin

-

ID2015 Making Design Matter

12.08.15

Dublin

-

Castles, Cottages and Pubs: Irish identity in vernacular design and interiors

01.10.16

Creative Industries Journal - Ireland Edition

01.11.16

London, Rome, Killybegs on Newstalk

Architectural Association of Ireland, Dublin -

http://tinyurl.com/glazla3 279

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena http://tinyurl.com/zg7nj3d

PUBLICATION 5 6

7

8

http://tinyurl.com/yce2tkk

IADT, Dublin -

March/April 2016

http://tinyurl.com/zvslydj

http://tinyurl.com/zbe5zo9

9

Notations

1

Share 6 Talks

20.01.16

Blick Studios, Belfast

http://tinyurl.com/nyc4et

2

Bread & Butter

28.01.16 04.04.16

Odeon, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/y92wx8w

AAI Irish Design 2015 Lecture Series

10.03.16

Trinity College, Dublin

http://tinyurl.com/zh89ena

4

Claddagh Ring

11.03.16

Westside Library, Galway

-

5

Claddagh Ring

18.03.16

Westside Library, Galway

-

6

3

TALK

-

ID2015 review

07.06.16

Xpo North, Inverness, Scotland

http://tinyurl.com/gmob5lg

7

ID2015 Making Design Matter

11.06.16

One Design Week Festival, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

http://tinyurl.com/jjlv8c5

8

Lecture series on glass design

01.09.16

Waterford Central and Ardkeen Libraries

-

IRISH DESIGN 2015  A YEAR OF DESIGN

1

Premiere Classe

21.01.16 24.01.16

Parc des Expositions de la Porte de Versailles

http://tinyurl.com/hdheolp

2

Santa Barbara International Film Festival

03.02.16 13.02.16

The Metro 4 Theatre, Santa Barbara, California

http://tinyurl.com/7qjm26x

3

Kidscreen

08.02.16 11.02.16

Intercontinental Miami

http://tinyurl.com/gnvs2jc

Production and Lean Manufacturing for Fashion Designers

01.03.16

Dublin Institute of Technology

http://tinyurl.com/hgcefoy

2

Printmaking with Evie Hone

08.07.16

Tallaght Library, Dublin

-

3

Animation with Elias Spinn

17.07.16

Killarney Library, Kerry

-

4

Eco-printing

08.08.16

Borris Library, Carlow

-

Handbag design with Lisa Ryder

14.09.16 14.10.16

Castlebar Library, Mayo

-

Toy design with Bear Design

26.09.16

Cootehill Library, Cavan

-

7

Millinery with Fiona Mangan

29.09.16

Ennis Library, Clare

-

8

Design your own book cover

03.10.16

Lexicon Library, Dublin

-

Origami workshop with Naomi Fleury

16.10.16

Donegal City Library

-

TRADE EVENT

1

5

6

WORKSHOP

9

280

10

Design your own garden

27.10.16

Phibsborough Library, Dublin

-

11

Design your own theatre set

28.10.16

Pearse Street Library, Dublin

-

12

Design your own chair

28.11.16

Bray Library, Wicklow

-

Everything Changes Everything Stays the Same

04.12.16

Galway Library, Ballinasloe

-

13

281

ID2015 PARTNERS

282

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

283

ID2015 would like to thank all partner organisations who made delivering the year-long programme possible through their generous support and involvement.

APPENDIX

284

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

SELECTED EXHIBITIORS APPETITE FOR DESIGN Irish contributors The Decorators The Domestic Godless Designgoat VAV architects Loam Chapter One Forest Avenue The Pig’s Ear Makers & Brothers Sister Sadie Fingal Ferguson O’Hagan Design Rory O’Connor Handmade Knives Sweeney O’Rourke’s Design Partners Superfolk Conor & David (Now WorkGroup) Creative INC Carlow Bewing Company Nobo Mic’s Chilli Bean and Goose Arran Street East Thomastown School of Food J. HILL’s Standard

International contributors Bompas & Parr Marije Vogelzang Martí Guixé Chloe Rutzerveld Omer Polak Katharina Unger Tomas Alons Nomiku Alessi Philippe Starc Achille Castiglioni Chemex Kantan

CONNECTIONS Cabinet Eileen Gray J. HILL’s Standard Orla Kiely Gazel Steve Simpson Chris Haughton Inis Meáin Knitting Company Petria Lenehan James Hoban Henry J Lyons Architects David Rooney Brown Bag Cartoon Saloon Jam Media Geronimo Productions Sugru Obeo The Stone Twins Detail.

Aedín Cosgrove Tom Conroy Joan Bergin Peter Rice O’Donnell + Tuomey The Book of Kells Johnny Kelly Chris Judge and Pilcrow McCullough Mulvin Architects VascoCare Torc Product Development Arup Ireland Roughan & O’Donovan Mcor Technologies Dolmen

Library Chris Haughton Atelier David Smith Red&Grey Oliver Jeffers Niamh Sharkey Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby Cartoon Saloon The Design & Crafts Council of Ireland Dublin City Council Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland The Institute of Creative Advertising and Design The Institute of Designers in Ireland The Arts Council of Ireland

285

IRISH DESIGN 2015 APPENDIX

286

DESIGN ISLAND

FRESH TALENT

Brown Bag Films O’Donnell + Tuomey Joe Hogan Michael Calnan and Gunvor Anhoj Arup Helen Steele Joseph Walsh Jerpoint DCCoI’s Jewellery & Goldsmithing Skills & Design Course Atelier David Smith Studio Donegal Design Partners Bláithín Ennis Carraig Donn Garvan de Bruir Martha Lynn DCCoI’s Ceramics Skills & Design Course Print Block Notion Tutty’s Handmade Shoes Hennessy & Byrne Frontend Cushendale Chaïm Factor

Ail and El Arturo Boreggo Ashleigh Smith Billy MacDonald Cait Corkery Craig Higgins Darragh Casey Designgoat Edwyn Hickey Gazel James King Julie Connellan Kate O’Kelly Kevin Callaghan Orla Reynolds Rebecca Marsden Richard Malone Ronan Kelly Rory Simms Sinead Kennedy Vincent Lamb

GLOBAL IRISH DESIGN CHALLENGE earo – orchestral chair Dr. Gearóid Ó Conchubhair/One Off Design GREY · WHITE · KLEE Agnes de Vlin/Figure2Ground The Visual Time Traveller Garrett Bennis, Sarah Moloney, Daniel Morehead, Alison Hackett/The Visual Time Traveller; 21st Century Renaissance Designing Ireland TV series Angela Brady and Sandra O’Connell via Newgrange Pictures Noticing Tools for NYSCI John Ryan/Local Projects Target Open House John Ryan/Local Projects Aran Ambitions Berni Raeside-Bell/Detta Textiles Connect Cara Murphy VIBE Cian McLysaght Neighbourhood Furniture Factory Conor Trawinski, Minsung Wang/Corner Spot

Looking for/through/with/amongst/beyond/ around Content Paul Bailey Arc Devices Design Partners Logitech G Cormac Ó Conaire/Design Partners Tomra CUI Cormac Ó Conaire/Design Partners Anya Brown Bag Films Arckit Damien Murtagh/Arckit Scriba David Craig/Dublin Design Studio Sense: a concept which introduces tactile feedback into firefighting performances Eilis Delany Experiments In Urban Re-Use, Regeneration, Culture And Architecture In The Ravenna Docklands Meme Exchange, Officina Meme, Atelier Francis Einstein 100 Eoin Duffy

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

ESET Remote Administrator Console Frontend MyMilkman.ie Frank Long, Henry Poskitt/Frontend Out of Box Experience – AccuChek Frank Long/Frontend Origami Craft Pack and Storybook – Children’s Creative Learning George Dempsey Flanagan/Mojo Creations BloodCaptor Heinrich Anhold, Di-Sien Chan, Vincent Naughton/ Epona Biotech Ltd (StableLab) The Story of Gin Daniel Cantwell/Ben & Anvil Tullamore DEW TRILOGY box Jordan Ralph Craft Whiskey Distillery Julian O’Reilly Misery Matters Karen Barrett Titanic Hotel Liverpool Maria Rice/adi studio Éntomo Lara Hanlon Dust Matter(s) Lucie Libotte Tailored/Sur Mesure Maria Cárdenas SteriPak Moses Rowen Immersion 2.0 Nigel Roddy, Ivor Roddy/Climote Ltd. THX.OBJ Nora O’Murchú Stride Patrick Horrigan and Mark Kerins

ROY Jam Media Nano Filter Peter Bolger Float Simon Dennehy, Philip Hamilton/Perch Ray Chair Simon Dennehy, Hans Thyge/Perch Rotary EUS-FNA Rory O’Callaghan/Real Motives Design EiraBot Robert Miculas Looking and Telling Ronan McDonnell/A Worthy Cause Grow A Rascal Sean Keating LittleBig bike Simon Evans/LittleBig bikes Tea with the Dead Wiggleywoo Flint Table Taylor McKenzie-Veal Twist Chair Tony O’Neill Seven Wood Trevor Finnegan/Revert Design FUNGO BIO Biological mushroom campaign Valentina Downey and Patrizia Scarzella/Agricola Hortoitalia MICKLEM BRIDLE William Micklem/Buie Enterprises Bangladesh Project Arup Ireland

HIDDEN HEROES: THE GENIUS OF EVERYDAY THINGS Irish designers showcased Andrew Bradley Gazel Design Partners

IN THE FOLD

IN THE MAKING

Michael Stewart Caoimhe Mac Neice Richard Malone Oliver Duncan Doherty Jocelyn Murray Boyne Naoise Farrell Rory Parnell Mooney Laura Kinsella

Irish designers showcased Meitheal Mara Stryker

287

IRISH DESIGN 2015 APPENDIX

LIMINAL – IRISH DESIGN AT THE THRESHOLD Main exhibition and capsule exhibition

288

A Man & Ink America Village Apothecary Andrew Ludick Animation Ireland Arckit Atelier Projects Atlantic Equipment Barley Films Blacknorth Studio Boulder Media Brendan Joseph Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry Brown Bag Films Caboom Calor Cartoon Saloon Cathal Loughnane Ceadogán Rugs Chris Haughton Claire Anne O’Brien Clancy Moore Architects Cleo Conor & David (now WorkGroup) Dancing Girl Productions Dave Comiskey David Smith dePaor Derek Wilson Design Island Project Team Design Partners Detail.

Distiller’s Press Dolmen Dolmen & Novaerus Double Z Enterprises Egg Post Production Elks Emma Cahill Fred Raguillat Garrett O’Hagan Garrett Pitcher Genevieve Howard Geronimo Productions Giant Animation Studios Grafton Architects Graphic Relief Helena Newenham IBM In the Company of Huskies Ink and Light J. HILL’s Standard

JAM Media Jamie Murphy John McLaughlin Architects Johnny Kelly Katie Sanderson Kavaleer Productions Keg Kartoonz Kilkenny Design Workshops Knut Klimmek & Alex Gufler Labofa Lara Hanlon Le Creuset Love & Robots Lovely Productions Magpie 6 Media Makers & Brothers Mcor Technologies Moetion Films Monster Entertainment Mourne Textiles Niamh Lunny Nicholas Mosse Notion Novaerus Obeo Paper Dreams Paul Guinan Perch Peter Maybury Peter Sheehan Pink Kong Studios Piranha Bar Pony Post Prickly Pear Productions Print Block Project Twins Rothschild & Bickers Sarah Bowie Saturday Workshop Scott Burnett Screen Scene Seed Labs Inc Seymours Irish Biscuits Shane Holland Simon Finney Smarter Surfaces Snug Solaris Tea Sphere One Stephen Pearce

Steve Simpson Still Films Studio AAD Studio POWWOW Studio PSK Sugru Superfolk TAKA Telegael The Souvenir Project The Stone Twins The Tweed Project Think & Son Thomas Montgomery Thomas O’Brien & Emily Mannion Treehouse Republic TruCorp Unthink VFX Association of Ireland Wiggleywoo Windmill Lane WorkGroup Zero-G Zink Films

Library publications Kilkenny Design: Twenty-One Years of Design in Ireland

by Nick Marchant Art and Architecture of Ireland various Eds. Yale University Press Speculative Everything

by Dunne and Raby, MIT Press Eileen Gray: Her Work and Her World

by Jennifer Goff, Irish Academic Press A Bit Lost/Shhhhh

by Chris Haughton, Candlewick Once Upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All the Letters

by Oliver Jeffers, Philomel Books Designing the Secret of Kells

by Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart and Eloise Scherrer, Cartoon Saloon Logo R.I.P.: A Commemoration of Dead Logotypes

by The Stone Twins, BIS Publishers

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Irish Country Posters (Plakate in der Irischen Provinz) by the Deutsches Plakat Museum Oranje & Green: Holland – Ireland Design Connections 1951 – 2002

by Conor Clarke, BIS Publishers Ireland Design & Visual Culture; Negotiating Modernity Eds. Linda King and Elaine Sisson, CUP Press The Moderns: The Arts in Ireland from the 1900s to the 1970s various Eds. IMMA PIVOT Dublin Bid Book published by Dublin City Council Architects Office Campaign published by ICAD IDI Awards 2014 published by IDI RIAI Annual Review Irish Architecture, Vol 5 (2014/15) published by RIAI House Projects published by Atelier Project and House Projects Into the Light; 60 yrs of the Arts Council Ed. Karen Downey published by Arts Council Motion Capture Ed. Fiona Kearney, published by Glucksman Gallery On Seeing Only Totally New Things Gavin Murphy & Atelier Projects Enignum and Other Stories, Joseph Walsh Second edition published by Atelier Projects and JW Studio

NEW HORIZON_ARCHITECTURE FROM IRELAND // NINE LIVES Clancy Moore Architects Emmet Scanlon Architects Hall McKnight Architects Steve Larkin Architects TAKA Architects AP+E Urban Agency GKMP A2 Ryan W. Kennihan Architects

MAISON ET OBJET Designers featured in the Irish Design Pavilion Andrew Ludick Chaïm Factor Cillian Ó’Súilleabháin Cushendale Woollen Mills déanta Design – Andrew Clancy and Matthew O’Malley Derek Wilson Foxford Woollen Mills Gazel Glenn Lucas J. HILL’s Standard Joe Hogan The Local Maker Co. M&B with Hennessy & Byrne M&B with Matt Jones Muriel Beckett Scott Benefield Shane Holland Design Stickman Superfolk Woodenleg 31 Chapel Lane

NY NOW 31 Chapel Lane Arran Street East Avoca Belleek BTU Studio Chaïm Factor Chupi Foxford Woollen Mills Galway Crystal Hanna Hats Helen Faulkner Ceramics Hennessy & Byrne Inis Irish Linen House J.HILL’s Standard Saturday Workshop Shane Holland Design Slated Snug The Handmade Soap Company Thomas Diem Ceramics TJH Whackpack Furniture

289

IRISH DESIGN 2015 APPENDIX

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

Ó

BASKETRY & WOODTURNING

290

Adam Frew Andrew Ludick Aodh Furniture Arran Street East BTU Studio Catherine Keenan Ceadogán Chaïm Factor Cillian Ó Súilleabháin Donna Bates Design Eamon Tobin Foxford Woollen Mills Helen O’Connell Hennessy & Byrne Jack Doherty Klimmek & Henderson Liz Nilsson Mourne Textiles Mullan Lighting Print Block Saturday Workshop Shane Holland Design Workshops Simon Doyle Snug Superfolk Tony Farrell Whackpack 31 Chapel Lane

PLATINUM – A’ DESIGN AWARD EXHIBITION Irish designers featured in show RKD Architects Marc Ó’Riain

PORTFOLIO: SIDE BY SIDE Angela O’Kelly Cara Murphy Cillian Ó’Súilleabháin Cóilín O’Dubhghaill Edmond Byrne Eoin M Lyons Helen O’Connell Helen Cody Jack Doherty Joe Hogan Joseph Walsh Karl Harron Liam Flynn Michael McCrory Nuala Jamison Pierce Healy Roger Bennett Sara Flynn Simon Doyle Stuart Cairns Úna Burke Zelouf + Bell

Joe Hogan Bob Johnston Alison Fitzgerald Kathleen McCormick Ian Hawthorne Mark Hanvey Roger Bennett

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON: CERAMICS Juliet Ball Magda Bethani Mike Byrne Jack Doherty Isobel Egan Peter Fulop Adam Frew Jennifer Hickey Alison Kay Andrew Ludick Claire Molloy Michael Moore Karen Morgan Nuala O’Donovan Kate O’Kelly Mandy Parslow Nicole Portlock Freda Rupp Kathleen Standen Grainne Watts

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

FINALE EXHIBITION

FURNITURE

Magda Bethani Jack Doherty Alva Gallagher Seamus Gill Joe Hogan Nicola Henely Shane Holland Nuala Jamison Brendan Joseph Catherine Keenan Bernie Leahy Michael McCrory Claire Molloy Cara Murphy Helen O’Connell Cóilín Ó’Dubghaill Mandy Parslow Killian Schurmann Jennifer Slattery

Ceadogán Rugs Connolly & Company Simon Doyle Dunleavy Bespoke Figure2Ground Studio Martin Gallagher Tricia Harris Horizon Furniture Alison Kay Klimmek & Henderson Shane Holland John Lee Andrew Ludick LyonsKelly Cara Murphy Stephen O’Briain Cillian Ó Suilleabháin / COS Furniture Agnes de Vlin Zelouf & Bell

291

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

GLASS

JEWELLERY

Scott Benefield Emma Bourke Edmond Byrne Sean Campbell Debbie Dawson Róisín de Buitléar Karen Donnellan Alva Gallagher Karl Harron Catherine Keenan Peadar Lamb Alison Lowry Michael Ray Louise Rice Killian Schurmann Andrea Spencer Paula Stokes Catherine Wilcoxson Danuna Glass Peter Young

Alan Ardiff Yvonne Beale Úna Burke Julie Connellan Eiley O’Connell Eimear Conyard Seliena Coyle Seamus Gill Pierce Healy Rudolf Heltzel Nuala Jamison Eoin M Lyons Rachel McKnight Angela O’Kelly Debbie Paul Inga Reed Rachel Swan Garvan Traynor

IRISH DESIGN 2015 APPENDIX

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

PORTFOLIO @ SOLOMON:

METALS & STONE

TEXTILES, PAPER & CALLIGRAPHY

Michael McCrory Cara Murphy Stuart Cairns Coilín O Dubhghaill Alan Ardiff John Hogan Helen O’Connell

Denis Brown Deirdre McCrory Nicola Henley Patricia Murphy Figure2Ground Studio /Agnes De Vlin Bernie Leahy Jennifer Slattery Ceadogán Rugs Muriel Beckett Frances Crowe Helen Cody Liz Nilsson Brendan Joseph Úna Burke

SECOND SKIN JRothwell Joanne Hynes NATALIEBCOLEMAN Lennon Courtney

292

THE SOUVENIR PROJECT America Village Apothecary Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry Cathal Loughnane dePaor J. HILL’s Standard Johnny Kelly Lucy Downes Makers & Brothers Nicholas Mosse Pottery Peter Sheehan Post Studio Print Block Scott Burnett Shane Holland Sphere One Stephen Pearce Pottery Superfolk The Tweed Project WorkGroup

UNFOLD NATALIEBCOLEMAN We Are Islanders Manley Jill de Burca Helen Steele Honor Fitzsimons Chupi Maria Dorai Raj Laura Kinsella Martha Lynn Capulet & Montague

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

WEATHERING Déanta Design with Matthew O’Malley Woodenleg Horizon Furniture with Molloy & Sons Úna Burke with the Irish Handmade Glass Company Nest Design Shane Holland Design J. HILL’s Standard Joe Hogan Derek Wilson Jack Doherty Ceadogán Rugs with Katie Hession Molloy & Sons Cushendale Woollen Mills Print Block Glenn Lucas Makers & Brothers with Matt Jones Snug Stickman/James Carroll Scott Benefield 31 Chapel Lane Cillian Ó Súilleabháin Muriel Beckett Tierney Haines Architects with Alan Meredith Studio Andrew Ludick The Local Maker Co.

FUNDING RECIPIENTS INTERNATIONAL TRADE FUND AIne Behan Allergy Lifestyle Arklu Ire Ltd Bradley Brand Brooke & Shoals Fragrance Ltd Cartoon Saloon Ltd Clickworks Dingle International Film Festival DMS Knitwear Dolmen Edyta Szymanska Gazel Design Limited Gearoid Muldowney Gillian Leavy Ltd Green Gorgeous Illustrators Guild Jaki Coffey Jam Media Ltd Jane Walsh t/a Button Studio Katarzina Ramsey Kavaleer Productions KDK Fashions Monster Entertainment Mooshku Ltd Niamh O’Neill Ltd Orla Barry Orla Reynolds Studio Paul Leech Polly Passive Mould Salty Dog Pictures Sarah McKenna Telegael Teoranta Thomas Montgomery Trevor Winckworth We Are Islanders Zelouf + Bell

293

IRISH DESIGN 2015 APPENDIX

DESIGN INNOVATION FUND

294

100 Design Archive Age & Opportunity Alliance Française Allingham Arts Association Andrea Cullen Angela Brady Antóin Doyle Aoibheann McCarthy Architectural Association Areaman Productions Art Gallery UCC Associazione Meme Exchange Ballyhoura Development Blick Shared Studios Brian Colhoun Carlow Arts Centre Ltd Carlow County Council Cle Teoranta Con Kennedy Cork Institute of Technology Cork Textiles Network Creative & Cultural Skills Darklight Festival Ltd Denise Rushe Design Week Designing Ireland Diarmuid McIntyre Dolmen Donegal County Council DRAFF Dublin Animation Film Festival Dublin City Council Dun Laoghaire Inst. of Art & Design & Technology Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Dyehouse D&B Ltd Eainne McDonald Edmund Shanahan Edwards Mac Liammoir Dublin Gate Theatre Eigse Carlow Arts Festival Ltd Eleanor Flegg Eleanor Maloney & Gerard Walsh Eleanor Moloney Emperor’s Robes Equipage Esther Gerrard Fields of Athenry Harps Ltd Fingal County Council Fiona Mangan Fiona McAndrew

Filip Szymazak Fumbally Exchange Galway County Council Galway Design Network Galway Mayo Institute Of Technology George Beattie Glass Eye Productions Grainne Hassett Grainne McCarthy GSOI Contemporary Glass Makers IGLU Media Ltd No. 2 IIBN Ltd Industry of Research & Development Group Inspirational Homes International Society of Typographic Designers Irish Academic Press Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) Irish Gallery of Photography Irish Theatre Institute Ltd IT Carlow J.E. Bolhuis James Young Joseph Coveney Joseph Walsh Furniture Co Ltd Karishma Dile Kate O’Kelly Kells Literary & Cultural Festival Kerry County Council Kilkenny Art Gallery Kim Willoughby Laois County Council Laura Vaughan Londonderry Inner City Trust Louth Craftmark Designers Network Louth Craftmark Ltd Lucia Poliakova Makers & Brothers Marie Madden Marietta Doran Marion Dowdican Mary Ann Bolger Mary Deely Maurice Kelliher Maynooth University Mella Cahill Michael Hayes Michael McDonnell Monaghan County Council National Print Museum

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

NCAD New Ross Needlecraft Ltd NUIM Oliver Sears Gallery Open House Cork Open House Limerick Orla Murphy Orlaith Ross Owen Harris Path Pacific Ltd Patricia Harris Peter Maybury Place Premier Nightlife Ltd Prof. Peter Robertson Purchase; Irish Landscape Institute Rachel Tuffy Róisín De Buitléar Rosalind Murphy Roseanne Lynch Royal Dublin Society Royal Institute of Architects Ire Sarah Conneely Selena Coyle Shane O’Donoghue Sitric Compost Garden Community Sweatshop Media TCD (Science Gallery) Temple Bar Gallery & Studio Ltd The Children’s Cultural Centre (The Ark) The Festival of Curiosity Ltd The Institute of Creative Advertising and Design The Institute of Designers in Ireland The Leitrim Design House Ltd The Little Museum of Dublin Tipperary County Council True Output Ltd UCD School of Architecture University of Limerick Waterford City & County Council Waterford Festival of Architecture Wexford Opera House

295

IRISH DESIGN 2015 APPENDIX

CELEBRATE YOUR LOCAL DESIGN HERO - LIBRARIES PROJECT

296

Bailieborough Library, Cavan Ballinasloe Library, Galway Ballybane Library, Galway Blanchardstown Library, Dublin Borris Library, Carlow Bray Library, Wicklow Castlebar Library, Mayo Clones Library, Monaghan Cootehill Library, Cavan Donegal City Library Donegal County Library Ennis Library, Clare Kilfinaghty Library, Clare Killarney Library Lexicon Library, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin Lisburn Library, Antrim Louth Library Lurgan Library, Armagh Marsh’s Library, Dublin Mountmellick Library, Laois New Ross Library, Wexford Pearse Street Library, Dublin Phibsborough Library, Dublin Sixmilebridge Library, Clare Sligo Central Library Tallaght Library, Galway Waterford Central & Ardkeen Libraries Waterford Central Library

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME PARTICIPANTS DESIGN4GROWTH AMC Branding Anna May’s Bakery ArtConnected Limited ASSIST GARMENTS LTD Capcon Catalan Elite Football Core Design Solutions Coworkinn DB Sports Tours Ellie O’Donnell Ellsec Ltd Fiona Hedigan & Assoc Ltd. Goodform Handy Food innovate Dublin Kelda O’Toole Lara Wilkens Lex Software Lisa C Lucy’s Lounge Miller 87 Musacc Niall M. Kelly Office for Art Ltd Oxford College International Paul Henry Tailoring/National Tailoring Academy Payroll Matters Ltd Pieman Pizza Sorrento PPJ Ltd Stone To Life The CHBC Group The Production People Triangle Marketing Zile Organics

COMPETITIVE START FUND – DESIGN Click Financial Ltd Dog Day Design Hamstring Brendan Joseph Mamukko Niamh O’Neill Scriba 297

DESIGN AND INNOVATION NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Aisling Duffy Andrew Tynan Ann-Marie Carty Jackie Maurer James Delaney Joanna Doyle Jo Anne Butler John Harrington Katie Niamh Lynch Linda Byrne Louise France Marco Novara Martina Shannon Nathaniel Kaar Patricia Duignan Wendy Ward

ID2015 BOARD MEMBERS

298

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Laura Magahy, Executive Chair

Carmel Creaner Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive Stephen Hughes Kathryn Meghen John O’Connor Marc Ó’Riain Dermott Rowen

Mary Blanchfield, Company Secretary

299

ID2015 TEAM

300

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Laura Magahy, Executive Chairman

Secondments from DCCoI (Full-time/part-time) Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive Louise Allen, Head of International Programme Mary Blanchfield, Head of Operations and Company Secretary Susan Brindley, Head of Public Affairs and Communications Susan Holland, Education and Outreach Coordinator Tanya Jones, Executive Assistant to CEO

Full-time contractors Alex Milton, Programme Director Dobrawa Brach-Kaluzna, Events Coordinator Alex Calder, Communications Officer Una McMahon, Project Assistant Joeleen Lynch, Design Hub Gallery Assistant Donna Marie O’Donovan, International Project Coordinator 301

Part-time contractors Sybil Cope, Project Assistant Rachel Donnelly, Content Editor Hannah Fleetwood, Graphic Designer Rachel Gallagher, Built Environment Coordinator Aoibhie McCarthy, Project Assistant Frances McDonald, International Exhibition Coordinator Colin McKeown, Regional Coordinator Marc O’Riain, Regional Coordinator Leslie Ryan, International Liaison Shauna Sweeney, Design Hub Education Assistant Yvonne Thunder, Project Assistant Laura Woulfe, Project Assistant

Part-time advisors Aileesh Carew, Tourism Advisor Aisling Farinella, Fashion and Textiles Advisor Nathalie Weadick, Build Environment Advisor

Interns Dan Eames Jane Gleeson Sarah McCoy

DCCOI TEAM

302

1 2 3 4 5 7

seconded to Irish Design 2015 from May 6th 2015 from April 27th seconded to Irish Design 2015 from May 6th 2015 from May 14th 2015 seconded to Irish Design 2015 during 2014 on maternity leave from February 23rd 2015

8 9 10 11 12 13

maternity leave cover seconded to Irish Design 2015 from January 5th 2015 part-time from May 6th 2015 on maternity leave from August 24th 2015

14 15 16 17

part-time from August 10th up to May 14th 2015 from March 23rd 2015 part-time from April 2nd 2015

DCCoI would also like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of others who supported the team throughout the year.

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Karen Hennessy 1, Chief Executive Brian McGee 2, Acting Chief Executive Tanya Jones 3, Executive Assistant to CEO Mary Dunne 4, Executive Assistant to Acting CEO

EDUCATION, TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT John Tynan, Head of Education, Training & Development Muireann Charleton, Education & Innovation Manager Susan Holland 5, Education & Engagement Curator Carrie Lynam, (Independent Contractor) Interim Education & Outreach Officer Amanda Walsh, Education, Training & Development Administrator Eimear Conyard 7, Jewellery Skills & Design Course Manager Dieter Rowe Setz 8, Jewellery Skills & Design Course Manager Gus Mabelson, (Independent Contractor) Ceramics Skills & Design Course Manager

INNOVATION & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES Louise Allen 9, Head of Innovation & Development Programmes Evelyn McNamara 10, (Independent Contractor) Project Manager - Innovation Emer Ferran, Business Development Programme Manager Mary Whelan, Client Liaison Officer Mary Rhatigan 11, Client Services Administrator Ruth Duignan 12, (Independent Contractor) Innovation Administrator

MARKET DEVELOPMENT Brian McGee, Head of Market Development Nicola Doran, Retail Programme Manager Emma McGrath, Trade Development Manager Ciara Garvey 13, Development Manager, Collector & Tourism Programmes Ann Dack 14, (Independent Contractor) Project Manager – Market Development Mary Dunne 15, Market Development Administrator

NATIONAL CRAFT GALLERY Aileesh Carew 16, Project Director Brian Byrne, Exhibitions Assistant

PUBLIC AFFAIRS & COMMUNICATIONS Susan Brindley, Head of Public Affairs & Communications Catherine Phibbs, Communications Manager Ciara Gannon 17, Communications Assistant

OPERATIONS Mary Blanchfield, Head of Operations and Company Secretary Julie Jackman, Finance Assistant Nuala McGrath, HR & Corporate Services Manager

303

IRISH DESIGN 2015  APPENDIX

INDEX Bold indicates authorship or featured quotations

304

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

4 40 Years of Irish Design at IT Carlow

125

A A2 99 Accenture Ireland 158–62 Adler, Geoff

images 97, 99 AGI 151 Alan Meredith Studio 155 Allen, Louise 29–32, 93, 108, 136, 228 Alliance Française 126 America Village Apothecary 141 Ambiente 88 Anaya, Yosi 164 Anderson, JW 180 Aodh 88 Appetite for Design 108, 110, 214 Architecture Ireland 196 Architecture Practice + Experimentation 91, 99 Arckit 91 Argent (Property Services) LLP 98 Arup 130, 243 Arup, Ove 243 Assemble 126 Associazione per il Disegno Industriale 112, 126 Atelier David Smith 62, 69, 132–3, 206, 209–10, 218, 226, 228 Atkins, Annie 67 August Craft Month 216 A Worthy Cause 236

B Baboró Festival 115 Ballyroan Library 66 Barber, Edward 36, 106, 126 Barber & Osgerby 32, 36, 136 Bealtaine Festival 115 Beattie, George 128 Belfast Design Week 113, 222 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzen), the 30, 96, 98–9 Bianco, Gisella 112, 126 Blair, Alastair 158, 159–62

BLOOM 115 Bocconi University Building, the 101 Bokkelaar, Nick

images 95 Bord Gáis Energy Theatre 159 Bosworth, Jon

images 8, 97, 99 Brach-Kaluzna, Dobrawa 107 Bradley, Andrew 11, 196, 198–203 Bradley Brand & Design 196 Brady, Angela 196, 197–203 Brady Mallalieu Architects 196 Brennan, Marie 184 Brewbot 242 Brindley, Susan 35–8 British Council, the 29, 102–3, 126 British Fashion Council, the 102–3, 180 Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry 141 Brown Bag Films 130, 134 Brown, Suzie

98 Brown Thomas 150, 220 Bruton, Richard 87, 132 Bucholz McEvoy 177 Build 220, 234 Bureau 234 Burke, Úna 150 Burnett, Scott 140 Burón, Javier 184 Burton, Joan 142 Bus Éireann Expressway 9, 134–5 Business to Arts 156

C Caffrey, Laura Cairns, Stuart Calder, Alex Campbell, Hugh Campbell, Jonny Cardiff Metropolitan University Carlow Enterprise Board Carlow Tourism Cartoon Forum Cartoon Saloon CAT Digital Catalyst Arts Centre, Belfast Ceadogán Rugs Central Saint Martins Chaotic Moon Chester Beatty Library, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the

76 142 34, 38 166, 168–73 242 75 125 125 156 124 194 67 90 103 160 106 30, 38, 96, 98–9

305

IRISH DESIGN 2015 INDEX

306

Chicago Design Museum, the 27, 29, 96–8, 128 Churchill, Winston 187 Clancy Moore 8, 99 Clune Construction Company 98 Coach House, Dublin Castle, the 93, 136, 179 Cody, Helen 105 Coffeeworks + Press 60 Coillte Panel Products 98 Collect 35 College of Arts and Tourism, the 170 Competitive Start Fund, the 78 Connolly, James 240 Conor & David 222 Connections 29, 32, 104–5, 146, 218, 220 Cook Medical 86 Coolmore Bees 140 Cork Institute of Technology 126, 148, 224 Council of Irish Fashion Designers, the 148 Craft NI 146, 216 CRAFTed 120 Crawford College of Art and Design 164 CREATE 220 Creganna 86 Crowley, Bob 185 Culture Ireland 70, 98 Culture Night 115 CultureTech 109 Cusack, Ann Marie 164 Cusack Clyne, Michael 74

D

Design Council UK, the

29, 32, 38, 82, 136, 154, 186–7, 191–2, 244 Design Directory Ireland 72–3 Design for Europe 192 Design Hub, Dublin Castle 6, 95, 106–7, 114– 15, 141, 194, 242, 245, 250 Design in Enterprise in Ireland 64 Design Innovation Fund, the 66 Design Island 77, 104, 132–3, 159, 243 Design Museum London, the 27, 29, 38, 96, 98, 106 Design Network West 60 Design Partners 5, 186–7 Design Success Summit, the 105 Design Week 115 Design4Growth 19, 82 designCORE 124–5 designED 120–1 DesignFest Clonmel 222 Designgoat 93, 108, 110, 214 Detail.

59, 209–10 Devane, Andy 177 DICE 2015 67 Diena, Fabio

images 93, 95 Dock, the, Carrick on Shannon 67 Doherty Duncan, Oliver 246 Dolmen 86–7, 168, 241 Donegal Gathering 123 Donnelly, Christopher 224 Donohue, Paschal 130 Downes, Lucy 141 Doyle, Simon 142 Doyle Collection, The 9, 98, 103, 142 DRAFF 69, 224 Dubhthaigh, Ré 248 Dublin City Council 82 Dublin City Local Enterprise Office 19 Dublin Institute of Technology 126, 166–7, 170, 248 Dublin School of Creative Arts, The 170 Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology 170, 185, 196, 198 Dutch Design Week 38, 92, 95, 141, 175 Dyehouse Films 138 Dynamite 220

d.School, Stanford University 84, 167 daa 9, 104, 130 Dacheng Flour Factory, the 96 Daeron, Isabelle 126 Day, Oran 208 de Buitléar, Róisín 147 de Eyto, Adam 118 de Paor, Tom 141, 177 Deenihan, Jimmy 96 Deevy, Colin 124–5 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Northern Ireland, the 61, 66 Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, the 9, 18, 32, 35, 104, 139 Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 9, 18, 64–5, 74, 87, 97, 132, 191, 197 Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the 130 Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, the 7, 9, 18–20, Eames, Charles 35, 38, 64–5, 72, 74, 76–7, 80, 88, 91, 104, 108–10, Eames, Ray 116, 120–1, 130, 140, 142, 158, 192, 222, 228 Éigse Arts Week

E 159 159 124–5

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Eisenbrand, Jochen 126 Elevate PR 38 Eliot, T.S. 178 Ellis, Giles 124 Embassy Network Programme, the 104–5 Emerge & Make 109–10 Enterprise Ireland 9, 18, 19, 29, 35, 64, 76, 78, 86, 88, 97, 104, 157, 186, 188, 244 EUNIC: European Union National Institutes for Culture 126 Evans, Ben 176, 177–83 EXCHANGE 124 Expanded Territories 67

F Fab Lab Limerick 184 Fáilte Ireland 36 Farinella, Aisling 103, 180

images 66 Farrell, Yvonne 100–1 Fashion and Design Hub, Derry, the 60 FAULTLINES – Irish Design Research Conference 124–5, 155, 169 Finney, Simon 133 FitzPatrick, Jim 240 Fjord 160 Fleetwood, Hannah 210, 212, 230

images 117, 150, 152, 155, 168, 170, 172, 178, 180, 183, 188, 190, 192, 198, 200, 202–3 Fleury, Naomi 122 Flood, Catherine 36 Flynn, Muiris 247 Flynn, Sara 109 Foley, Tom 208 Fortune, Paul 241 Fresh Talent 106, 109, 218, 242 Frontend 58, 86, 250 Fumbally Exchange 222

G Gahan, Damien 62 Gallagher, Rachel

images 138 Gallery of Photography, Dublin, the 67, 236 Galway City Architects 164 Galway Design Box 71 Galway Design Week 224 Galway Mayo Institute of Technology Letterfrack 71, 96

Galway Print Studio 60 Gate Theatre 217 Gibbons, Niall 133 Gilbert, Phil 84, 161 Gilligan, Rich images 95, 109 GKMP 99 Glanbia 249 Glasgow School of Art, the 194 Glen Dimplex 247 Global Irish Design Challenge Exhibition, the 32, 104, 136–7 Glucksman Gallery, the 245 Godson, Lisa 226 Goethe-Institut Irland 113, 126 Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media, the 170 Grafton Architects 27, 31, 100–1, 152, 178–9, 181, 201 Graphic Relief 27, 31, 100–1, 181 Gray, Eileen 152, 203 Grennan, Clare 76 Grey Heron Media 88 Grow Your Design Business 68 Guevara, Aileda 240 Guevara, Che 240 Guixé, Martí 36, 126–7 Gurtz Electrics 98

H Hall McKnight 99 Hanlon, Lara 58, 133 Hardesty, Pamela 164 Harnessing Creativity Network, Leitrim 60–1, 216 Heaney, Christopher 39 images 22, 39, 64, 87, 118, 124, 127, 209–37 Heffernan, Mary 195 Heinz Architectural Center, Pittsburgh, the 96, 98 Heneghan Peng 178 Hennessy, Karen 17–21, 24, 145, 158,159–62 Hetherington, Andrew 156 Hidden Heroes 6, 106, 115, 214, 243, 245, 250 Higgins, Michael D. 4, 76, 93 Hinde, John 177 Hogan, Joe 142 Holland, John 122 Holland, Shane 140 Honeycomb Creative Works 67 Horseware 136 Howard, Genevieve 174

307

IRISH DESIGN 2015 INDEX

Hua Shu Hughes, Declan Hughes, Stephen Hynes, Joanne

136 64–5 186, 188–91 108

I Ibec IBM

308

84, 158–61, 224 9, 58, 72–3, 84, 97–8, 132–3, 158–9, 161, 170 ICA 103 IDA 64 Ignite Academy, The 79 IMAGE 38 In the Fold 30, 102–3, 180–1, 218, 246 In the Making 106, 220, 234 Indigo & Cloth 93 Industry Research and Development Group’s Design Thinking Masterclass 68 Infra-Éireann 179 Inner City Trust, the 60 Institute of Creative Advertising and Design, the 69, 148, 151 Institute of Designers in Ireland, the 18, 66, 68, 70, 72, 118, 132, 148–9 Institute of Technology Carlow 124, 126 Instituto Cervantes 126 International Association of Designers, the 107 International Fashion Showcase, the 102 International Trade Fund, the 29, 88–9, 156 Invest NI 242 Irish Architecture Foundation, the 96, 98, 138, 181, 230 Irish Craft Studio Experience 222 Irish Design + Medical Technology Showcase, the 86–7, 241 Irish Design Directory, the 159 Irish Design Shop 76 Irish Fashion Summit, the 150 Irish Film Board, the 70 Irish Invent Showcase 74 Irish Medical Devices Association, the 86 Irish Research Council, the 169 Irish Theatre Institute 70–1, 226-7 Irish Times, the 38 Istituto Italiano di Cultura 112, 126 ITERATIONS: design research and practice review 118, 125, 226

J. HILL’s Standard 140 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the 77 Jansen, Christina 109 Jewellery and Goldsmithing Skills & Design Course 109 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 101, 181 John Sisk and Sons 98 Jones, Barbara 92 Joseph Walsh Studio 11

J

K Kane, Alan Kavaleer Productions Kavanagh, Paul Kearney, Bill Kelley, Tom Kelliher, Muireann Kelly, Johnny Kemp, Martin Kennedy, Con Kenny, Denis Kenny, Enda Kenny, Mike Kerbstone 52 Kidscreen Summit, the Kiely, Orla Kildare Village Kilkenny Arts Festival Kilkenny Design Workshops King, Caithriona King, Linda Kinsella, Laura Korda, Alberto

146 156 96 158, 159–63 84 249 140–1, 151 240 74, 226 90 84 60 207 88 134 103 109, 115 9, 23–4, 108, 197–8, 201 60 196, 197–202 103 240

L Laheen, Mary 199 Larkin, Steve 8, 99 le Brocquy, Louis 198 Legge, Jonathan 140 Leitrim Design House 216 Lennon Courtney 108 Letterkenny Institute of Technology 67 Lier, Thomas 113 Lifelogging Lab 68 Liminal 29–30, 36–8, 91–3, 95, 107, 141, 174, 179, 226–8, 230, 234 Lir, The 159

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Little Museum of Dublin, the 226 London Art Fair, the 109 London Design Festival, the 29, 31–2, 35, 38, 77, 88, 100, 109, 141, 176, 181 London Fashion Week 36, 38, 102–3, 180, 246 London Festival of Architecture, the 8, 30, 35, 96–9 Long, Frank 58, 250 Lord, Laurence 91 Loughnane, Cathal 141, 187, 202 Love & Robots 93 Lovin’ Dublin 38 Lucas, Katja 175 Ludick, Andrew 188 Lunny, Niamh 93 Luxaa 126 Lynn, Martha 180 Lyons, Eoin M 172 Lyric Theatre Belfast 146, 245

M Madden, Aidan 243 Magahy, Laura 9, 17, 134, 186, 189–91 Mainzer, Philipp 126 Maison et Objet 29, 31, 76–7 MAKE 2015 Symposium, the 164 Makers & Brothers 140–1 Malone, Richard 150 Manley 183 Marsden, Rebecca 122–3 Martin, Suzanne 39 Maser 134, 190 Masterson, Siobhan 84 Mathers, John 186, 187–92 Maxwells 132 Maybury, Peter 88, 97, 216, 218 Mayden, Jason 84 Maynooth University 251 Mayo Clinic 244 McCabe, Conor images 130 McCloud, Kevin 84 McCoy, Danny 158, 159–62 McDonagh, Bobby 92 McGee, Brian 18, 130 McGinnis, Catherine 113 McHugh Construction Company 98 McIntyre, Diarmuid 88 McKeown, Colin 60, 254 McLaughlin, John 176, 177–82

McLysaght, Cian 136 McMahon, Muireann 166, 167–73 McNabola, Ailbhe 32, 136 McNamara, Shelley 100–1 McNamara, Steven 76, 109 images 77 McNulty, Sean 86–7 MCO Projects 186 Medtec UK 88 Meghen, Kathryn 148, 152 Micklem, William 136 Micro Finance Ireland 79 Midlands Design Network, the 60 Milan Design Week 36, 92, 95 Milton, Alex 18, 23–7, 60, 93, 107, 117, 145,148, 149–54, 166, 167–73, 176, 177–182, 186, 187–91, 196, 197–202, 228 Misono, Hideichi 32, 136 Modus Design Journal 146 Montgomery, Thomas 93 Moore, Rory

images 142 Moore, Tomm 124 Morgan, David 187 Morris, James 165 Morris, Tom 129 Motech 86 Murphy, Chris 67 Murphy, Jamie 174 Murphy, Tara 142 Murray, Ste images 6, 95, 106, 109 Murtagh, Damien 91

N Nash, Ged 7, 82, 93, 96–7, 101, 136 NATALIEBCOLEMAN 108 National Centre of Excellence for Furniture Design and Wood Technology, the 96 National College of Art and Design 86, 126, 170, 187, 226, 244, 250–1 National Craft Gallery, the 108–10, 114–15 National Design Innovation Centres 19 National Drawing Day 115 National Print Museum, the 106, 240 Naughton, Martin 247 Nelson, George 177 New Graphic 226, 228, 234 New Horizon_architecture from Ireland 8, 30, 96–9, 181–2, 216 Newgrange Pictures 39 Ní Dhulchaointigh, Jane 192

309

IRISH DESIGN 2015 INDEX

Nicholas Mosse Pottery 140–1 Nimble Spaces 67 Nine Lives 96, 109, 115, 182, 218 Nolan, Brian 59 Nolan, Conor 62 Nolan, Eoghan 63 North West Design Network, the 60–1 Northern Ireland Design Alliance, the 60–1, 254 Novaerus 86 Noyes, Eliot 159 NY NOW 77 NYCxDesign 36

O

310

Ó 32, 77, 109, 111, 228 Ó Riain, Marc 60–1, 148,149, 153–5, 212 O’Connell, Sandra 196, 197–203, 230 O’Connell, Steve 218 O’Donnell, Sheila 245 O’Donnell + Tuomey 130, 152, 179, 200–1, 245 O’Donoghue, Liv 224 O’Donovan, Morgan

images 103 O’Dowd, Enda 241 O’Kelly, Angela 93, 106, 109 O’Murchú, Nora 136 O’Neill, Niamh 162 Office of Public Works, the 9, 106, 194 OFFSET conference, the 126, 150–1 Ogham Wall, The 27, 31, 100–1, 181 Open House Belfast 220 Osgerby, Jay 32, 106, 126, 136

P Paglia, Camille 207 Paul, Michael

images 77, 101, 141 Pearce, Edward Lovett 201 Pecha Kucha Leitrim 216 Pelosi, Nancy 247 Perch 93 Phillips, Michael 68 Pivot Dublin 9, 18, 222 PIXEL 222 Place NI 220 Politecnico di Milano 126 PORTFOLIO @ Solomon 142

PORTFOLIO: Critical Selection 2015–2016 109, 142, 228 Post 67, 236 Potting Shed, The 68–9 Print Block 115, 140 Professional Development Service for Teachers 120 profiles.ie 128 PUSH PR 38

R Raguillat, Fred 133 RDS, the 68, 76, 236 Red Dog 216 Resonate 67 Rice, Peter 243 Richardson, Vicky 195 Rocha, Simone 150, 180 Rochelle School 141 Romeril, Danielle 150 Rometty, Ginni 161 Ross, Lorna 244 Rothwell, Jennifer 108 Roughan & O’Donovan 134 Rowen, Peter 130

images 93 Royal College of Art, the 102, 244, 248 Royal Dublin Society, the 179 Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, the 18, 72, 80, 148, 152, 196, 230 RTÉ 38–9, 197 Ryan W. Kennihan Architects 99 Ryan, Caroline 115 Ryan, Martin 251 Ryan, Raymund 96, 98, 176, 177–82

S Salvage Press, The Sanderson, Katie Sandford PR Santos, Elena Sartre, Jean-Paul Scanlon, Emmett Schneemann, Anja Schofield Watches Science Foundation Ireland Science Gallery Dublin, the

174 93 38 60 240 109 126 124 64, 163 68

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Scott, Michael 177 Scott, Patrick 179 Scott, Toby 67, 82–3

images 82 Scottish Gallery, The 109 Scriba 79 Second Skin 108, 218 Seymours Biscuits 93 Shanahan, Darragh 66 Shanahan, Eddie 148, 150, 153–4 Shannon Group PLC 98 Shaw, Alan 194 Sheehan, Barry 166, 167–73 Sheehan, Peter 141, 187, 202 Shiels, Eileen 150 Shoeniversity 184 SHOP Showcase 76–7 Showcase – Ireland’s International Creative Expo 65, 76, 232 Sinnamon, Julie 157 SISK 9 Slater Design 148 Sligo County Council 71 Sligo Design Week 71, 222 Sligo IT 71 Smith, David 130, 151, 206­–8 SOFA 35 Solomon Fine Art 142 Souvenir Project, The 32, 140–1 SPARK 187 Sperandio, Renata 112 St Patrick’s Fest 115 stageandscreendesignireland.ie 70 Steele, Helen 130 Stephen Pearce Pottery 140 Stephens, Brian 186, 187–92 Stone Twins, The 67, 93, 151, 230 Stryker 86, 170 Studio Aad 105, 214, 218, 220, 228, 232 Superfolk 77, 140 Sydney Opera House 243

T TAKA Architects 8, 99 Tannam, Bobby 218 Taylor Black, Donald 185 Tent London 29, 38, 77 Terzariol, Alex 126 Think & Son 93 Thompson, Matthew

images 99 Thornton, Kevin 134 Tierney Haines Architects 155

Tourism Ireland Trautwein, Anne Tuomey, John Turner & Associates Turner, Raymond Tweed Project, The Twomey, Nora

35, 38–9,45, 132–3 126 245 124 124 140 185

U Ulster University Unfold University College Dublin University of Limerick, the Unthink Urban Agency

170, 242, 246 30, 102–3 166, 243, 245, 247, 251 166–7, 170, 241 115, 214, 224 99

V 311

Vasorum 86 Vaughan, Laura 194 Vibe 136 Victoria and Albert Museum, the 27, 29, 31, 36, 38, 100–1, 106, 181, 240 Virtual Business School, The 83 VISUAL Arts Centre 124–5 VISUAL Carlow 67, 118 Vitra Design Museum, the 6, 27, 106, 126

W Wainfest Arts and Book Festival Waldron, James Wall, David Walsh, Ciara Walsh, John Walsh, Joseph WantedDesign NYC Waterford the Glass City Wauchob, Sharon We Built This City Weadick, Nathalie Westbury Hotel, The Whicher, Anna White, PJ

123 150 62, 62–3 150 66, 70 11, 109, 130 95 71, 147 150 138–9 96, 98, 181 142 75 124

IRISH DESIGN 2015 INDEX

Wild, Aida

images 214 Williams, Gemma 103, 176, 177–82 Wilson, Kathryn 148, 151, 153, 155 Windmill Lane Pictures 165 Wolves PR 38 Woods, Anthony

images 103, 134–6 Woodford, Tanner 128 WorkGroup 62–3, 132–3, 230

X XOXO (conference)

242

Y Year of Craft 2011 9,18 Yeats, W.B. 178 312

Z Zero-G Zurlo, Francesco

2-3, 22, 228 126

IRISH DESIGN 2015  MAKING DESIGN MATTER

313

IRISH DESIGN 2015  INDEX

CONTRIBUTORS

314

IRISH DESIGN 2015 MAKING DESIGN MATTER

Louise Allen

Alastair Blair

Andrew Bradley

Angela Brady

Susan Brindley

Hugh Campbell

Colin Deevy

Dolmen

Ben Evans

Grafton Architects

Karen Hennessy

Declan Hughes

Stephen Hughes

Adam de Eyto

President Michael D. Higgins

315

Bill Kearney

Linda King

Laura Magahy

Siobhan Masterson

John Mathers

Danny McCoy

John McLaughlin

Muireann McMahon

Sean McNulty

Kathryn Meghen

Alex Milton

Ged Nash

Sandra O’Connell

Marc Ó’Riain

Raymund Ryan

Toby Scott

Eddie Shanahan

Barry Sheehan

David Smith

Brian Stephens

PJ White

David Wall

Gemma Williams

Kathryn Wilson

EDITORS

316

Alex Milton Alex Milton is the Programme Director of Irish Design 2015. As a designer, educator, researcher, curator and author he has promoted a critical, provocative and entrepreneurial approach to design. He is a visiting professor at Manchester School of Art, Aston University and the National College of Art and Design, Ireland. Alex has previously taught at a number of institutions internationally including Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Edinburgh College of Art and the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing. His creative work has been exhibited at numerous international venues including 100% Design London, IMMA Dublin, MUDAC Lausanne, INDEX Copenhagen and Designersblock Milan. He has published extensively, and his most recent book ‘Research Methods for Product Design’, co-authored with Paul Rodgers, was published by Laurence King in 2013.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Karen Hennessy Karen Hennessy is the Chief Executive of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and Irish Design 2015. Karen is a key instigator, negotiator and influencer of design promotion and development in Ireland. Karen currently chairs the National Design Strategy Steering Committee and is a member of the Advisory Group for Small Business (AGSB), Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Members in Business Committee, and Kilkenny & Carlow Education and Training Board. Karen is also a member of the Association of Chief Executives of State Agencies (ACESA) and of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. She was recently appointed to the Irish Advisory Board of UCD Cantillon Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Design. Previously Karen worked for over 10 years in the field of mergers and acquisitions in the multinational sector. She was previously the Head of Corporate Development at Glanbia Nutritionals and was a founder of DH Financial.

Karen holds an MBA and is a Chartered Accountant.

Rachel Donnelly Rachel Donnelly is an editor and writer working primarily in the fields of design and the arts. Rachel was Content Editor for ID2015, is editor and co-founder of DRAFF magazine, and contributes regularly to publications in Ireland on a range of topics, working with organisations like the Dublin Theatre Festival, Dublin Dance Festival and Totally Dublin.

317

318

CREDITS

Thanks to The Irish design sector and community for their invaluable support in making ID2015 happen, and to all who contributed their time, words and images to this publication.

The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for their support of Irish Design 2015.

The Interdepartmental Steering Committee, the Research Steering Committee and the Inaugural Programme Advisory Group for their invaluable input.

The Northern Ireland Assembly, Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure for their support of cross-border ID2015 initiatives.

319

The Boards of Directors and the teams at Irish Design 2015 and the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland.

Our corporate partners who have contributed enormously to the impact of the year and all other ID2015 partners.

The media and the general public for their enthusiastic support of and involvement in our programmes.

COLOPHON This book was designed by Hannah Fleetwood and printed in Dublin

by Plus Print. The text is composed in Theinhardt Thin and Medium from the Optimo Type Foundry. The display font used is a custom face, ID2015 Display Bold and Light designed by David Smith and Oran Day of Atelier and digitised by Tom Foley. This book is printed on 100g Cyclus paper. First edition of 1,000 copies.

Design Hannah Fleetwood

Printer Plus Print Ltd. www.plusprint.ie Publisher Design & Crafts Council of Ireland Castle Yard, Kilkenny Ireland dccoi.ie © Design & Crafts Council of Ireland

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain permission for the use of copyright material in this publication. We are grateful to the individuals, companies and institutions who have assisted in this task. Any errors or omissions are unintentional.

Corrections should be addressed to DCCoI.

ISBN 978-1-906691-50-9

320

12

2

14

13

15

1 Pitcher by Andrew Ludick

4 Hypercube ring by Eoin M Lyons

7 SS15 collection by Manley

2 Brace Chair by Tierney Haines Architects with Alan Meredith Studio

5

8 The History Chair by Cathal Loughnane and Peter Sheehan

3 Sugru by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh

Throw by Cushendale Woollen Mills

6 Replacement knee joint lost wax mould by Stryker

9 Eileen Gray E1027 side table

16

3

17

18

10 Porcelain Vessels by Sara Flynn

13 Moocall designed by Dolmen

16 Offset branding

11 Saw Swee Hock Student Centre for LSE by O’Donnell + Tuomey

14 KDW logo by Louis le Brocquy

17 Connemara Marble Whiskey Stones by Hennessy & Byrne

12 ibi digital memory vessels by Cathal Loughnane and Peter Shehan

15 Rug by Ceadogán Rugs with Katie Hession

18 University Campus UTEC Lima University development model by Grafton Architects

20

19

4

21

22

19 Millinery by Martha Lynn 20 Ceramic Jugs by Diem Pottery 21 Walnut with Ash inlay Tetrahedra Chest of Drawers by Cillian Ó Súilleabháin

22 Giant’s Causeway Visitors Centre by heneghan peng

25 Walnut Bowl by Roger Bennett

23 Acrylic Stripe Rings by Nuala Jamison

26 Bus Éireann Expressway bus wrap by Maser

24 3FE Coffee branding by Conor and David

Illustrations: Hannah Fleetwood

23

5

24

25

26

3