Liminal No.4 Dublin

id2015 PARTNERS
CONTENTS
Foreword Irish Design 2015
At the threshold
Creative Collaborations
Minister Ged Nash
Karen Hennessy
Alex Milton Louise Allen pg 2
pg 3
pg 4
pg 6
INTERACTION Design Partners X Seed Labs Causeway by Design Partners
IBM X Atelier Projects X ID2015
Dolmen
Novaerus Dolmen X Novaerus
Dolmen + Novaerus (Interview)
Mcor Technologies
Deirdre McCormack, Mcor (Interview)
Arckit
Damien Murtagh Arckit (Interview)
Studio Aad X John McLaughlin Architects
Cabinet of Modern Irish Life
Scott Burnett Studio Aad (Interview)
Katie Sanderson Recipes
pg 11
pg 12
pg 13
pg 14
pg 18
pg 19
pg 20
pg 21
pg 22
pg 23
pg 24
pg 25
pg 26
pg 27
pg 31
pg 32
OBJECTS
Mourne Textiles
Notion
Mourne Textiles X Notion
Mario Sierra Mourne Textiles (Interview)
Aodh Perch
Perch X Labofa
Thomas Montgomery
Perch X Thomas Montgomery
Simon Dennehy, Perch (Interview) Ceadogan Rugs Andrew Ludick
Ceadogan Rugs X Andrew Ludick
Claire Anne O’Brien
Claire Anne O’Brien X Ceadogan Rugs
Love & Robots
Niamh Lunny Love & Robots X Niamh Lunny
Love & Robots (Interview)
Emma Cahill
Genevieve Howard
Designgoat
Katie Sanderson
Designgoat X Katie Sanderson
Garrett Pitcher
Design Partners X Calor
Design Partners X Le Creuset
Derek Wilson
Rothschild and Bickers
Snug
Cathal Loughnane
Peter Sheehan
Cathal Loughnane X Peter Sheehan
The Souvenir Project
pg 36
pg 37
pg 38
pg 40
pg 42
pg 44
pg 45
pg 46
pg 47
pg 48
pg 50
pg 51
pg 52
pg 54
pg 55
pg 56
pg 56
pg 58
pg 59
pg 60
pg 61
pg 62
pg 63
pg 64
pg 66
pg 68
pg 69
pg 70
pg 72
pg 73
pg 74
pg 75
pg 76
pg 78
ENVIRONMENT
Grafton Architects
Graphic Relief
Grafton Architects X Graphic Relief
Milan
Smarter Surfaces
Eindhoven
pg 92
pg 93
pg 94
pg 98
pg 100
pg 102
COMMUNICATION
Sarah Bowie
Sarah Bowie X Dolmen X Novaerus
VFX Association of Ireland
James Morris Windmill Lane (Interview)
In The Company Of Huskies
Studio PSK
The Stone Twins
Animation Ireland
Atelier Projects
The Salvage Press
The Salvage Press X Distiller’s Press X Solaris Tea
Think & Son
Seymours Irish Biscuits
Think & Son X Seymours Irish Biscuits
Zero-G
Zero-G X Partners
Design Matters
pg 106
pg 108
pg 110
pg 114
pg 116
pg 118
pg 120
pg 122
pg 132
pg 134
pg 135
pg 136
pg 137
p g 138
pg 140
pg 142
pg 146
Showreels
Library
Credits
Hospitality Sponsors
pg 152
pg 153
pg 154
pg 155
Exhibited at Milan Design Week 2015
Exhibited at NYCxDESIGN 2015
Exhibited at Dutch Design Week 2015
Exhibited at Design Hub, Coach House, Dublin Castle 2015
1
FOREWORD
Ireland’s creativity in areas such as literature,
music and art 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
showcase these world-class 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.
Bringing Irish design to the world is
based on bringing the very best of design
across all disciplines to key international
design weeks, architectural biennales and
fashion weeks. The idea of designating a year
to celebrating and promoting 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
is to bring visibility to Ireland’s
dynamic design businesses,
supporting them in trading in
competitive foreign markets
and ultimately creating jobs
at home. ”
2
The aim of Irish Design 2015 (ID2015)
is to bring visibility to Ireland’s dynamic
design businesses, supporting them in
trading in competitive foreign markets and
ultimately creating jobs at home. The initiative
is being convened by the Design & Crafts
Council of Ireland (DCCoI), in collaboration
with partner organisations, on behalf of
the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation, the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade and Enterprise Ireland.
As the flagship exhibition for ID2015,
Liminal – Irish design at the threshold
offers a unique platform for showcasing
Irish innovation and creativity to discerning
audiences around the world. The continued
evolution of this exhibition throughout the
year has resulted in new work being shown in
each location on its touring programme. The
response to this exhibition’s previous outings
at Milan Design Week, WantedDesign in New
York and Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven
highlights the success of Irish Design
2015 in promoting the breadth of Ireland’s
design talent on the international stage.
As the year long programme for ID2015
comes to a close, presenting this exhibitIon
back home at the Design Hub in Dublin
Castle will allow Irish audiences to enjoy and
take pride in the exciting work emerging
from Ireland’s vibrant design sector. Liminal
– Irish design at the threshold plays an
instrumental role in positioning design at the
heart of our creative economy and in growing
Ireland’s reputation abroad as a home for
innovative design products and services.
Ged Nash, TD
Minister for Business and Employment
IRISH DESIGN 2015
Showcasing Irish design to the world is central
to all of the events and activities taking place
this year as part of Irish Design 2015 (ID2015).
Through an extensive year-long programme,
we are presenting the work of contemporary
Irish designers at major international design
events and through trade missions, developing
commercial opportunities and establishing
strategic partnerships for the ongoing
development of this vibrant sector.
As an Irish initiative with a global reach,
ID2015 offers Irish designers a unique
opportunity to highlight the significant role and
impact that design has in every facet of life,
shining a spotlight on the level of innovation,
collaboration and new product development
happening in Ireland right now.
“ ID2015 offers Irish designers a
unique opportunity to highlight
the significant role and impact that
design has in every facet of life.”
The business model of showcasing Irish
creativity abroad through our flagship exhibition
Liminal – Irish design at the threshold is proving
successful in generating real commercial
opportunities. The featured designers have
the ambition and capability to expand into
international markets and the experience and
industry knowledge gained from presenting
Liminal at international design weeks this year
will have lasting benefits for the sector as a
whole. Following its tour of international design
capitals, we are delighted to be showing Liminal
in Dublin as the final exhibition in our year-long
programme at the Design Hub in the Coach
House, Dublin Castle.
Collaboration with public and private
partners both in Ireland and abroad, for which
we are extremely grateful, has been central
to the planning and delivery of the ID2015
programme in order to ensure a legacy from this
year. With continued support and investment
in design and working with our partners,
ID2015 has the potential to act as a catalyst for
significant change in Ireland’s competitiveness
in the global marketplace and in creating
employment opportunities over the years to
come.
Karen Hennessy
Chief Executive, Irish Design 2015
3
At the threshold
Ireland is a small island at the edge of Europe
with remarkable global reach. There are
an estimated 80 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.
With a breadth of disciplines ranging
from the tech start-ups of Dublin’s silicon
docks, through to architectural innovation
and woven textile manufacture, the Ireland of
today tells a fascinating story of design on the
edge and design between the boundaries.
To mark the year of Irish Design 2015
(ID2015) – a major government-backed
initiative seeking to increase the awareness,
understanding and use of design in Irish
society, and to promote Irish design capability
internationally – Liminal – Irish design at
the threshold is an exhibition presenting a
selection of Ireland’s most exciting design
thinking and practice. Working across a
variety of disciplines, the exhibiting designers,
companies and studios have been selected
for the innovative outlook of their work, its
connectivity and ability to transcend disciplinary
4
boundaries to address the issues of today.
Increasingly, designers across the globe
are striving to locate their work within a state
of political, economic and social flux, to find a
position where their thinking and practice stays
emergent and fresh, without becoming stylised
and fixed. In this sense, contemporary design
offers a provisional exploratory and transitional
space laden with unexplored possibilities,
a dynamic state of creativity where work is
held in a playful, transformative tension.
Ireland’s creative output has long
been framed by literature, music, theatre,
filmmaking and art, yet these represent only
a fragment of the breadth of Irish creativity.
This flagship exhibition adds a new chapter
to Ireland’s creative story, a tale that has
featured iconic figures such as Eileen
Gray and progressive initiatives such as
the Kilkenny Design Workshops (the first
government-sponsored design agency in
the world, launched in 1963), all built upon
a rich legacy of indigenous craft skills.
This exhibition reveals the potential for the
transgressive quality of Irish design in 2015
and beyond. The Irish are innate storytellers,
keen to address and resolve the big issues
of today through passionate conversation
and debate. As design increasingly seeks to
create holistic experiences and narratives,
Ireland is well placed to play a significant
role in twenty-first century design, helping
“ Liminal spaces lie
between the
known and the
unknown.”
to meet the design challenges of tomorrow.
Revelling in its trans-geographical, transcultural and trans-disciplinary nature,
Liminal provides a timely platform for
creative change on the island of Ireland.
Liminal spaces lie between the known
and the unknown – transitional spaces of
heightened intensity that we experience when
we cross the threshold of what is known. They
are doorways, gateways and pathways between
ideas, feelings or disciplines. Taking the theme
of ‘the liminal’, this exhibition explores the craft
of collaboration and presents the exploratory
journeys undertaken by designers. Moving
through a series of design venues, starting in
Milan, and traveling to New York, Eindhoven and
on to Dublin, the evolving exhibition narrative
plays with the scope of the provisional, the
possible and the unexplored
in Irish design.
Tasked with exhibiting new products,
experiences or processes, the exhibitors
have created work that resonates across the
world but is indicative of the modern Irish
design community. Commissioned projects
move between global market and local space,
public use and private value, work and home,
commerce and culture to foster creative
collaborations across design disciplines.
Liminal explores the dissolution of
disciplinary order and hierarchies, creating
a fluid, malleable domain that enables
new design methods and customs to take
speculative form. It stimulates, contextualises
and celebrates interdisciplinarity as a particular
phenomenon of emerging design practice
in Ireland, curating an open space where
design is presented and reflected upon, and
where it can elaborate on the possibilities and
processes embedded in creative collaborations.
Liminal has sought to evoke and capture
the mutually constructed sense of place
and the social, cultural and professional
relationships that create Ireland’s distinct
design landscape. Exhibition designers John
McLaughlin Architects have created an abstract
terrain, into and onto which the specially
commissioned projects map Ireland’s design
landmarks, districts (sections of coherence),
paths, nodes (points of interest), and edges
(boundaries), creating a curated, cartographic
tool for navigating Irish design today.
Liminal presents a pivotal chapter in Irish
design, exploring, identifying and presenting
our creativity, and how our designers,
companies and studios are moving across
the boundaries and limits of what design
was, into what design can become.
Alex Milton
Programme Director, Irish Design 2015
Liminal Co-curator
5
Creative
Collaborations
Over the past year, the content and context
of work developed for Liminal has evolved.
The exhibition, which has traversed Europe
and the United States, has presented the
diversity, quality and innovative force of
Irish design. It has forged multiple working
relationships, juxtaposing a range of skills,
materials, references and perspectives to
enrich the design process. Liminal has aimed to
provide the impetus and space for design-led
collaborative relationships to emerge during
Irish Design 2015 (ID2015). By its nature,
collaboration demands a level of trust and
openness: there can be unknowns, surprises
and unintended outcomes. Designers were
invited to work together with purpose and
collective determination to create a narrative
between their own creative process and one
that is influenced by parameters of partnership,
time and material.
Liminal intentionally sets out to present
work that asks questions of design week
audiences, and invites them into a collaborative
conversation. The first iterations of Liminal,
exhibited in Milan and New York, focused on
collaborations between furniture, textile and
interior-related product. As the exhibition
evolved for Dutch Design Week, the nature and
scope of collaborations was extended to include
future-focused speculative works intended to
be experimental in character along with those
that integrate technology and digital media.
In Dublin, Liminal presents a synthesis of
design process, product and environment. The
evolution of collaborative work is re-framed by
the re-constituted exhibition design (by John
McLaughlin Architects), moving from modernist
geometry in Milan to futurist rhomboid plinths
in Eindhoven. The exhibition design for the
second phase of Liminal was aptly inspired by
Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map, ‘the only
flat map of the entire surface of the Earth which
reveals our planet as one island in one ocean’
– a counterpoint to the perceived liminality of
Ireland as an island adrift.
As Liminal moves between continents,
the connection to landscape and topography
dominates. Design Partners’ ‘Causeway’ is
an intersection of artefact and experience, a
bespoke creation for ID2015 representing
a design island connecting to the rest of the
world. Each corner of ‘Causeway’ controls a
beautiful animation that travels along a faceted
topographical surface. Only by pressing
combinations of corners does ‘Causeway’
really come to life, encouraging interaction,
play and discovery between people across this
landscape.
Navigating Ireland’s journey from the past
to the future is reflected by the work of Zero-G,
who took Ireland’s 1937 constitution as the
starting point for their project. Over a period
of months, Zero-G mapped the evolution of
Ireland’s legislative, judicial, executive and local
governmental structures over the past 100 years
to create a nuanced and layered infographic
that conveys complex data in a single view.
Zero-G’s ‘Map of the State’ is intended as a
polemic, inviting audiences to engage in debate
at a pivotal moment in the maturation of the Irish
state.
Moving from topography to the built
environment, Damien Murtagh’s ‘Arckit’ is a
groundbreaking, scaled, freeform modelling
system. It allows architects to physically
explore designs and bring their projects to life
with speed and precision. ‘Arckit’ is based on
modern building techniques and a 1.2m grid to
scale, consisting of a series of interconnecting
components that enable vast building
“ Liminal has
forged multiple
working
relationships,
juxtaposing a
range of skills,
materials,
references and
perspectives to
enrich the design
process.”
7
possibilities. In Dublin, an interactive space will
allow budding architects as young as 12 years
of age to build impressive physical models with
a professional design tool.
The reality of 3D printing becoming
mainstream and accessible to all is part of
the vision of Ireland’s Mcor Technologies.
Mcor are an innovative manufacturer of the
world’s most affordable, full-colour, ecofriendly 3D printers; the only 3D printers to
use ordinary business-A4/letter paper as the
build material. As part of Liminal’s ongoing
development for exhibition at the National Craft
Gallery in Kilkenny next year, we are issuing
a call to designers and creatives working
across the spectrum of design, research and
interdisciplinary sectors to explore the potential
of Mcor’s unique 3D printing technology.
The collaboration between innovative
design platform Love & Robots and costume
designer Niamh Lunny led to the creation
of ‘Plumage’, described as an exploration of
patterns in fabric such as knit and lace, as
well as of 3-dimensional structures, surfaces,
and natural phenomena. The ‘Plumage’ cape
extends those explorations to construct a piece
of clothing that is 3D printed in one piece,
without any assembly required, and includes
over 6,000 moving component parts.
Operating in the world of cutting edge
technology, Novaerus have developed the
first scientifically proven ‘airborne pathogen
control technology’, which will ensure that the
Coach House at Dublin Castle has the cleanest
air possible. Novaerus, who are working with
innovative Irish design consultancy Dolmen on
the development of their product range, will be
tracking and annihilating pathogens and viruses
in real time. Interpreting this complex piece of
groundbreaking technology is illustrator Sarah
Bowie, who uses narrative, humour and skill to
convey what Novaerus does and how it works.
Working in partnership and the maturation
of key relationships has been central to the
scope and extent of programmes delivered
during 2015. The development of the ‘Design
Island’ App in partnership with IBM has resulted
in an invaluable tool that highlights the extent
of design activity taking place on the island
of Ireland. Designed and developed by IBM
Studios Dublin working in conjunction with
ID2015 and Dublin design studios Atelier David
Smith and Conor & David, ‘Design Island’ leaves
a legacy to be built upon in future years.
Narrative and storytelling is deeply
embedded in Irish design, culture and psyche.
Over the past two decades the Irish animation
sector has grown in strength with companies
such as Brown Bag, Boulder Media, Kavaleer,
Jam Media and Cartoon Saloon, to name a
few, picking up a slew of Emmy and Oscar
nominations and awards. Most recently,
Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea received
a 2015 Oscar nomination. Meanwhile, the
explosion of CGI and VFX has led to the
expansion of Irish film production companies.
We go behind the scenes showing detailed
breakdowns of Irish designed CGI on some
of the biggest blockbuster movies around the
globe.
Moving from the digital world back to the
tangible, The Souvenir Project, commissioned
by ID2015 and DCCoI, showcases the
extraordinary creative talent and quality of
materials and making within Ireland. Souvenirs
are a symbolic reminder of experience, location
and culture, and this collection of authentic
Irish products, designed and made in Ireland,
provides visitors with a means of taking home
the very best of Irish design.
Ireland’s material heritage is also strongly
referenced in the work of Claire Anne O’Brien,
which draws on traditional techniques such as
weaving, knotting and basketry to make playful
investigations into structure and form using the
unique properties of knit. Her collaboration with
Ceadogán Rugs utilises the height and depth
of pile to create a relief pattern that mimics a
structured weave.
‘The History Chair’, by Peter Sheehan and
Cathal Loughnane is inspired by the striking
sense of self that older people acquire through
life experience, reflecting a history that is
imbued as something precise and enduring.
‘The History Chair’ is a fully resolved fusion
of function, emotion, technology, human
connection, mastery of materials and story.
Garrett O’Hagan has long been a champion
of high quality furniture that is imbued with a
sense of place and Irish cultural references. His
recently launched ‘Aodh’ collection includes the
‘Lann table’ series, designed by Knut Klimmek,
and the ‘Aran Armchair’, designed by Alex
Gufler. The collection represents pure, refined
reductive design with sleek linear profiles.
Throughout Liminal’s run in 2015 there
have been some heartwarming instances of
serendipity. In 1951, the ‘Mourne Milano Rug’,
designed by Mourne Textiles founder Gerd
Hay-Edie, was exhibited with furniture by Robin
Day as part of a room display at the Triennale di
Milano, where it won the silver medal. This same
rug, along with handwoven ‘Mourne Check’
and ‘Mourne Mist’ furnishing fabrics designed
by Hay-Edie in 1952, has been brought back
into production and returned to Milan in 2015
through a collaboration with Notion design
studio that creates a subtle, nuanced harmony
between furniture and furnishing.
Irish hospitality is renowned the world
over. Through a series of commissions during
the span of Liminal we took the opportunity to
fuse design with food, drink and with the heart
of our hospitality. Studio Aad, in collaboration
with John McLaughlin Architects, presents ‘The
Cabinet of Modern Irish Life’, a project inspired
by the traditional dresser, which has long been
the backdrop to Irish life. Taking pride of place
in the home, it facilitated a mixture of specific
and general functions. ‘The Cabinet of Modern
Irish Life’ provides a window into contemporary
Irish life and the design that binds it together.
The collaborations between Designgoat
and chef Katie Sanderson are playful
interventions that literally offer a taste of
Irish design. ‘Kelp’, a seaweed-cured trout
dish, was presented in specially designed
vessels in Milan. This was followed by an
asparagus-led taste sensation in New York
and a Caragheen-infused milk pudding in
Eindhoven. The centrality of food in Irish
hospitality has led to collaborations between
Think & Son (designer Annie Atkins and writer
Eoghan Nolan) and Seymours Irish Biscuits.
The biscuit offers something sweet while the
packaging narrates whimsical stories from Irish
culture and tells some tall tales from our nottoo-distant past. In Ireland an accompanying
cup of tea is a prerequisite, so Jamie Murphy
of The Salvage Press was commissioned to
collaborate with Solaris Tea to develop uniquely
designed packaging. The hospitality offering
was completed in Eindhoven by Amsterdambased The Stone Twins, who produced ‘Double
Dutch/Irish Blarney’, a tongue-in-cheek graphic
booklet illustrating the nuanced cultural and
attitudinal differences between the Irish and
the Dutch.
To reflect the diversity and breadth of work
being undertaken by Irish designers today, we
have included all of the studios and companies
represented in different versions of Liminal
in this iteration of the Liminal catalogue. It
includes speculative work by Patrick Stevenson
Keating of Studio PSK, who investigates
everyday subjects such as food, housing
and leisure, all of which may be radically
transformed through design-led technological
advancement. Work by emerging furniture
design studio Snug, the collaboration between
Designgoat and Garrett Pitcher, between
Design Partners and Calor, Le Creseut and
Cricut and the groundbreaking innovations of
Smarter Surfaces.
Liminal – Irish design at the threshold and
the work that is exhibited reflects an ongoing
transformative process. It is a collective
exploration of objects and systems made and
remade, revised and reiterated, reinterpreted
and re-imagined. Liminal is a laboratory to
reveal this evolutionary process, presenting,
archiving and transforming new design
processes and products at a series of public
events at design exhibitions around the globe.
As Liminal returns to Dublin to close out the
year of Irish Design 2015 we sincerely thank
all who have contributed to make this journey
happen.
“In Dublin,
Liminal presents
a synthesis of
design process,
product and
environment. ”
Louise Allen
Head of International Programmes,
Irish Design 2015
Liminal Co-curator
9
Interaction
Design Partners
X
Seed Labs
Diarmuid McMahon and Brian Stephens
Design Partners is a leading strategic product
design consultancy with a team of awardwinning designers, engineers and makers
working from studios in Dublin, San Francisco
and Eindhoven. The team leads with clarity of
intent and a relentless focus on execution and
delivery, fuelling clients’ ambitions through the
creation of exceptional new products. Design
Partners consults across sectors with global
brands and high potential start-ups including
Seed Labs, Honeywell, Corning, Calor, Ultimate
Ears, LG, Logitech and Panasonic.
designpartners.com
Featured Work:
Seed Labs Inc. – Silvair
In 2013 Seed Labs Inc. approached Design
Partners with pioneering new Bluetooth and
connected solutions through the development
of their own software, protocols and chip
technologies. From the first meeting, Design
Partners recognised that the Seed team were
ambitious and driven with a proven, deep
understanding of the technology. There was a
clear opportunity to enter and explore a new
territory of products and services together. With
their complementary capabilities they believed
that they could be at the forefront of shaping
the future of connected devices. Over the past
two years Design Partners have worked with
Seed Labs Inc. to explore the Smart Home
market and to uncover and deliver the potential
of their technology and brand. They have helped
in the development of their brand, experience,
product design language and in the design of
all of their reference products. Working closely
with Seed Labs Inc. They ensured that the first of
these products was delivered to market in April
2015, in the form of their first control device,
Silvair Control. Together they are committed to
developing their collaboration and are continuing
to explore strategic and future concepts
that will integrate hardware and software.
12
Causeway by
Design Partners
Cormac O’Conaire
Featured Work:
Causeway is an intersection of artefact
and experience led by Cormac
O’Conaire. It is a bespoke creation for
ID2015 representing a design island
connecting to the rest of the world.
Each corner of Causeway controls beautiful
sounds and animation that travel along the
faceted surface. Only by pressing combinations
of corners does Causeway really come to life,
encouraging interaction, play and discovery
between people across this landscape.
Animations:
Studio Piotr Juncewski.
Coding:
David Payne.
Technical concept:
Darren Conroy.
Electronics:
Designed in collaboration with Ian
Mellor, IMME Design Ltd.
Materials:
Projection mapping animations onto a
polyurethane foam body.
900mm x 900mm x 850mm, 40kg.
Interaction
IBM
X
ATELIER PROJECTS
x
ID2015
IBM Studios Dublin
A new space at IBM Technology Campus,
Damastown, IBM Studios Dublin is built for
creative collaboration between designers,
developers and product managers, who will
co-create software for Big Data, cloud, mobile,
social and cognitive computing solutions. It
is part of the worldwide IBM Studio network
of cross-discipline spaces to develop IBM’s
products, services and digital engagement
platforms for clients, with user experience at
the core.
Designers here apply the principles of
IBM Design Thinking, which takes a rapid
prototyping approach to user-centric product
development, as well as the IBM Design
Language, a framework to inspire bold and
engaging experiences.
ibm.com
Fred Raguillat
Fred, the Head of IBM Studios Dublin, is an
innovator and inventor with over 60 patents
filed and numerous publications. His strengths
are User Research and User Experience
with years of practice as a design thinker &
problem solver. His background is in software
engineering, he is PMP® certified, holds
a Master in Product Management, a BA in
Business Studies, along with other diplomas
in Management, Software Engineering &
Computer Science fields.
Lara Hanlon (UX/UI Designer of Design Island)
Focusing on user experience and user
interface design, Lara is currently working as a
Software Product Designer at IBM Design. She
graduated with a BA (Hons) in Design in Visual
Communications from IADT, Dun Laoghiare, in
2013, and her work to date has been exhibited
in Ireland; Italy: Milan Design Week 2015;
China: Shenzhen Design Awards for Young
Talents 2014.
Simon Finney (Front-end Designer of
Design Island)
Simon Finney is currently working as a frontend designer at IBM Design. He graduated
from IADT in 2013 with a BSc. (Honours)
in Computing Multimedia Systems/Web
Engineering, and is currently working towards
a MSc. In User Experience Design.
Atelier Projects
See full company bio on page 132
atelier.ie
ID2015 Design Island Project Team
Aileesh Carew, Rachel Donnelly,
Sybil Cope, Alex Calder
Many thanks to over 50 contributing curators.
Fred Raguillat
Lara Hanlon
Simon Finney
David Smith
15
Interaction
Featured Work:
Design Island is an app and directory that helps
users navigate and discover a myriad of design
delights across Ireland.
Materials
Mobile application available on Apple iOS and
Google Android.
Collaborative Process
Increasing awareness, engagement,
understanding and developing new audiences
are all central to the broad remit of Irish Design
2015 and were also central to this project: to
create an engaging experience for both tourists
and established audiences: and to increase
awareness of Ireland’s rich collection of design
and lifestyle offerings to locals and tourists
alike.
In celebration, and in the spirit of ID2015,
this project was a collaborative effort between
IBM Studios Dublin (ID2015 Technology
Partner) and Atelier David Smith (designers
of the ID2015 visual identity). Alongside
the ID2015 website, the app was one of
the first, and essential, digital experiences
commissioned by ID2015 to engage and inform
a broad audience of Ireland’s diverse range of
design treasures; from boutique restaurants
to historical sites, contemporary chic hotels,
events, exhibitions and more.
A multi-disciplinary effort, the project
presented the team with a chance to explore
the challenges, and potential of collaboration,
and deliver a solution that not only showcases
the visual identity on iOS and Android but also
integrates various skills and expertise of the
collaborators from design thinking and strategy,
branding, editorial direction, UI/UX design,
interaction design and product development.
The app itself ultimately provides users with a
source for discovering and experiencing the
rich design landscape of “Ireland, the Design
Island”.
To further embrace the collaborative aspect
of Design Island, the editorial and content
strategy for the app was curated by a diverse
group of Irish creatives including designers,
architects, journalists, craft makers. Each were
invited to curate and submit their most loved
locations throughout Ireland. These personal
recommendations and insights create an
authentic and uniquely intimate experience
when exploring design in Ireland.
Credits
Designer UX/UI:
Lara Hanlon
16
Design Director:
David Smith (Atelier Projects)
Lead Front-end Developer:
Simon Finney
Front-end Developers:
William McMorrow, Leigh Martindale, Sergio
Fraile Carmena, Carlos Manias
IBM Project Manager:
Fred Raguillat
API Implentation:
Damien Gahan, David Wall (Conor&David)
ID2015 Design Island Project Team:
Aileesh Carew, Rachel Donnelly,
Sybil Cope, Alex Calder
17
Interaction
Dolmen
Chris Murphy
Dolmen is a Dublin based creative design and
innovation consultancy that discovers, develops
and delivers new products by combining
innovation strategies with creative design
thinking. For the past 24 years they have
been developing award-winning, intellectual
property-rich new products and experiences
for a diverse range of industries, ranging from
medical devices and consumer products to
information and communication technology
and fast-moving consumer goods. Key clients
include Diageo, ASH, ACT, Hollister, Stryker,
Covidien, and Medtronic.
The core of Dolmen’s work is centred
around a proven strategic design thinking
process, which comprises a variety of tools and
methodologies that are adapted to customers’
requirements and result in uncovering unmet
and unarticulated needs in the end user. This is
followed by intensive work by a highly creative
design team, designing products from the
inside out, and delivering products to clients
that win in the marketplace.
www.dolmen.ie
18
Kevin Maguire
Mark Murray
James Carroll
Novaerus
Novaerus is the first plasma system for airborne
infection control. It uses a low-energy patented
plasma that is stable, reproducible, containable
and highly destructive to the microorganisms
that enter its field. Its plasma requires no
maintenance and works 24 hours a day to
eradicate airborne viruses, bacteria, mould,
allergens and odours, essentially cleaning the
air and creating a healthier environment. By
reducing the presence of these pathogens in
the air, healthcare facilities can significantly
lower the risk of infectious outbreaks.
novaerus.com
Interaction
Dolmen
X
Novaerus
Featured Work:
Handheld product for detecting environments
that are susceptible to viruses. This is
measured using temperature, humidity and
volatile organic compounds in the air.
Materials:
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene L (ABS-L).
115mm x 75mm x 20mm, approx. 300g.
Interviews
Featured in:
M
Milan
NY
New York
E
Eindhoven
D
Dublin
Dolmen
Great products work well because we think
about the users as we design for them.
Psychology and ergonomics play a large part.
During your education, you learn how colour
and form enhance what you’re making. Then
you go into a practical environment and you tie
that in with the experience you gain from the
products you design.
There is beauty in simplicity and that is a
trait in human behaviour. Whether a product is
being used by a doctor, nurse or site manager,
they’re all still people, who have a pre-wired
sense of what looks good and what works.
When you see a simple, uncluttered form,
there’s a reassurance about it, it ages well
and will be easy to use. This makes sense for
a developer such as Novaerus and was one of
the aesthetic drivers for Dolmen. But it’s not
all about aesthetics, we have to back it up with
ergonomics and engineering, this is key to
this sector. These three must exist in perfect
equilibrium. That’s our sweet spot for a product.
Collaboration happens naturally. We
incorporate clients as team members, so Felipe
became an essential part of the process – it’s
not about calling to the door and ordering
something! We’ve been working together for
just over a year. With Felipe, we’re looking to
make a product that has to sit and quietly do
its business in health care facilities, it has to
look reassuring, be smooth so it can be easily
cleaned, and it has to look very modern –
because it is a very smart piece of kit.
Interaction
Felipe
Soberon
Novaerus
“You can make
the technology,
but a collaboration
with the right
people makes
the product.”
Liminal
We have worked on many projects with Dolmen.
We make airborne infection control systems,
that kill any pathogens in the air destroying
viruses, yeasts, mould. We wanted to make
sensors to show what’s actually in the air, so
we developed the technologies, but then we
wanted to get a good enclosure around them.
We do a thorough testing of our products.
I have a college connection through DCU with
some of the scientists who work at NASA.
When we wanted to know what our systems are
actually doing to destroy the bacteria in the air,
they came on board. The first microorganism
they picked up was E-Coli, so they passed them
through our system. The rod-shaped E-Coli
cells come through completely deformed,
broken, so this shows the plasma charge is very
intense – even to such an aggressive pathogen.
We’re now looking at MRSA with them,
forensically right down to atomic level.
It was Laser Prototypes Europe Ltd. in
Belfast that recommended Dolmen to me, so
I ended up talking to Chris Murphy and Kevin
Maguire about the ideas and concepts. We want
products that work, but that look beautiful too.
Dolmen do this amazing research. There was
one product with a fairly simple LED display,
and they said that if we put a plastic piece in
the right tone of semi transparent black, we
can make it look really good, so Mark Murray
went off and bought lots of pairs of sunglasses
to experiment to get the right tone, and it
was perfect. This is the amount of creative
dedication they put into it.
You can make the technology, but a
collaboration with the right people makes the
product.
Irish design at the threshold
21
Interaction
Mcor
Technologies
Conor McCormack
Mcor Technologies Ltd is an innovative
manufacturer of the world’s most affordable,
full-colour and eco-friendly 3D printers,
based in Co. Louth. They are the only 3D
printers to use ordinary business A4 and letter
paper as the build material, a choice that
renders durable, stable and tactile models.
Established in 2004 with a talented team of
specialists in the area of 3D printing hardware
and software, Mcor’s vision is to make 3D
printing more accessible to everyone. The
company operates internationally from offices
in Ireland, the UK, America and Asia-Pacific.
Mcor’s product range includes the Mcor
Matrix 300+ (monochrome printer) and the
Mcor IRIS (full-colour printer). Mcor serves
many business sectors including education,
engineering, architecture, entertainment and
medical/dental. The company has over 60
retailers selling globally in Europe, the Middle
East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
Some of Mcor’s key clients include Adobe,
Autodesk, the Royal College of Art, the US Navy,
Siemens and Panasonic.
ID2015 and Mcor are initiating a
creative exploration that will bring skills
and ingenuity together with the unique
potential of Mcor’s technology.
mcortechnologies.com
22
Featured Work:
The 3D prints on display are the result of
collaborations with the National College
of Art and Design (NCAD), Dún Laoghaire
Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT),
Carlow IT, Dublin Institute of Technology
(DIT), Pinkkong Studios, Prof Keith Brown of
the University of Manchester, and Vanina.
Materials:
Paper.
Deirdre McCormack
Fintan McCormack
Interview
Deirdre
McCormack
Mcor Technologies
As long as I’ve known Conor and Fintan, they’ve
been inventing things. I’m married to Conor, and
as soon as they get into a room together they’re
dreaming up things on the back of envelopes.
If it wasn’t this, it would have been something
else. I’m the one with a marketing background,
but this technology thrills me. There’s a
certain awe to being able to produce a three
dimensional object from one of our machines.
When we started it was funny, people
would ask if they needed 3D glasses to see 3D
printing. People couldn’t get past the idea of the
virtual. 3D printing has actually been around for
more than 30 years, but it’s only in the last 5 to
6 years that we’ve seen the emergence of more
affordable printers. I think of it as democratising
creativity. What’s different about us is that we’ve
made the only paper-based 3D printer in the
world.
You can print almost anything from
regular sheets of A4 paper. This means it’s
more environmentally friendly, and you can
achieve full bit-map colours which are amazing.
The results are very robust. They’re solid and
tough, but you can also add finishes to make
them flexible. The number of applications is
increasing all the time. From a plastic surgeon
to a designer, it’s a piece of technology that
allows creativity and innovation to happen.
I think people underestimate paper, it’s a
very versatile material. In fact, when you’ve
seen some of the things that come out of our
machines, you wouldn’t look at paper in the
same way again!
We’re always travelling to trade shows.
We were at CES (Consumer Electronics Show)
in Las Vegas in January this year, hammering
nails into a piece of wood with a paper hammer
we’d printed ourselves. It takes people a
few minutes to get the message, but then
they’re amazed. From our base in Louth, we’re
completely export orientated, selling through a
network of resellers. Conor is a thought leader
in the industry, so he’s invited to speak at lots
of conferences. You can see the world of 3D
printing growing all the time, but we stand out
because we make the only paper-based printer.
We started out in 2005 with just the three
of us, but now we’ve opened offices in the UK
and USA. And yes, Conor and Fintan are still
inventing. When they get together, you can see
the sparks.
“What’s different about us is that
we’ve made the only paper-based
3D printer in the world.”
23
Interaction
Arckit
Damien Murtagh studied at the Hull School of
Architecture in the UK. Following graduation
he worked in Italy under Carlo Scarpa’s
protégé, Toni Follina for a period of two years.
He returned to Ireland to set up Damien
Murtagh, Architecture + Design. In 2012,
Damien moved to the UK where he began to
advance an idea for a new scaled architectural
model building system that would challenge
traditional ‘cut and glue’ model making.
Damien launched ‘Arckit’ in May 2014.
To date it has received major recognition,
winning several prestigious international
awards including The Red Dot Award.
arckit.com
24
Featured Work:
Arckit is a scaled freeform modelling system
that allows architects and budding architects
alike to physically explore designs and
bring their projects to life with speed and
precision, bridging the gap between 3D
and physical design. Arckit is an evolutional
product with limitless add-on components.
Damien Murtagh
Materials:
Plastic components.
Interview
Damien
Murtagh
Arckit
I’d been working as an architect in Ireland when
the recession hit. Then, suddenly I was working
at home. I was designing what I thought could
be a better modular building system, and at the
same time I was making scale models of all the
components that we would make the buildings
from. I realised that there was nothing like that
out there for architects to work with. There’s
Lego and Meccano, but nothing to compete
with foam board. I kept thinking I’d find it, but it
wasn’t there.
Maybe the digital era is why it didn’t
happen before, models were being made
less frequently, but at the end of the day, a
computer is still a flat screen. In my experience
with clients, a tangible model far outweighs
the impact any drawing or image could ever
have. There is no comparison to holding and
manouvering a physical model in order to
explore a building’s form and detail.
Now, with Arckit, you can also make
changes, move windows, doors etc and this
encourages client participation as never
before… As I was working on it, I thought, gosh,
if I can get this right, it’s not just going to make
life easier for architects, but everyone can work
with it.
At just eighteen months old, we’re crossing
all sectors: professionals, students, hobbyists,
and the education sector and in particular
schools with STEM initiatives, are embracing
Arckit as a new hands on tool for teaching.
Arckit is considered more as a precision design
tool rather than a toy, a form of graduation
from toy building blocks. It has been rolled out
throughout the US with Barnes and Noble.
Next up, we are developing the Arckit
infiniti 3D store on Shapeways which we hope
to launch within the year. Here you will be able
to purchase bespoke components that don’t
come with the standard kit, for example curved
walls and archways. We’ll be adding to the
store on a continual basis and getting advice
from our users as to what they’d like to see. The
possibilities are virtually limitless.
During the recession when many architects
lost their jobs, the Royal Institute of the
Architects of Ireland (RIAI), encouraged its
members to apply their skills to other areas. I
think the fruits of this are very evident now by
the real tangible buzz surrounding the whole
‘start up’ community in Dublin and all over the
country. It’s very positive to feel this atmosphere
once again in the country.
“There is no comparison to holding and
manouvering a physical model in order
to explore a building’s
form and detail.”
25
Interaction
Studio AAD
X
John
McLaughlin
Architects
Studio Aad is a Dublin design consultancy that works with clients
of all sizes and from a wide range of sectors, using design to
help them shape their projects. Building on a project’s core
strengths, Studio Aad works across disciplines to deliver ideas,
solve problems and build tools that help clients to explain, engage
and make an impact. The studio is founded on an entrepreneurial
spirit and for the first 5 years of business the team also had a
successful clothing brand that sold in stores across Europe
and Asia, from Urban Outfitters to Colette in Paris and Journal
Standard in Tokyo. This experience provided a unique and holistic
insight for the design practice. Passionate advocates of creativity
as a catalyst, the Studio Aad team invests time and money in
the development of studio and community projects such as the
charity site Grow and the social project Where We Are. Studio Aad
is also a founding member of the 100 Archive, a site dedicated to
mapping the quality and diversity of Irish communication design
with the aim of providing a strong context for its development.
studioaad.com
John McLaughlin Architects is a design focused studio based
in Dun Laoghaire. Their practice works at many different scales
and across a wide range of project types. They are particularly
interested in connections between architecture and the wider
landscape and built environment. They design masterplans,
landscapes, buildings, houses, public art and exhibitions. Prior to
establishing the practice in 2010, John was director of architecture
with the Dublin Docklands Authority where he was responsible for
the design of many of the public spaces in the docklands including
the Grand Canal Harbour District.
Taking their inspiration from Irish modern architects and
designers, their designs have been noted for their beauty,
understated elegance and playfulness. They have received many
awards and have participated in a number of exhibitions. John
curated the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012
titled Shifting Ground, and (with Gary A. Boyd) he curated and
designed the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale
2014 titled Infra Éireann.
johnmclaughlin.ie
26
Theme – Work
01 - M
cor 3D colour printed map
Mcor Technologies is an innovative Irish manufacturer of
the world’s most affordable, full-colour and eco-friendly
3D printers. They are the only 3D printers to use ordinary
business A4 and letter paper as the build material, a choice
that renders durable, stable and tactile models. Established
in 2004 with a talented team of specialists in the area of 3D
printing hardware and software, Mcor’s vision is to make 3D
printing more accessible to everyone. The company operates
internationally from offices in Ireland, the UK, America and APAC.
www.mcortechnologies.com
02 - TruCorp resuscitation dummy
TruCorp has been targeting the medical device, medical
simulation and medical education markets for the last 10
years offering a highly realistic training solution. The TruCorp
range of products developed in Belfast provide an invaluable
tool for training in the techniques of Laryngoscopy, nasal and
endo tracheal intubation, fibre optic examinations, double
lumen insertions, full use of supraglottic devices, both needle
and surgical cricothryoidotomy and ENT surgical skills.
www.trucorp.com
03 - MooCall, designed by Dolmen
Dolmen’s unique approach is to support their clients to discover
ideas and then design and develop them into customer
experiences that will leapfrog their competitors. This approach not
only generates intellectual property, it also delivers internationally
award winning service and product designs that customers
see significant value in. Dolmen applies a Lean Development
process to get their clients faster to market in a very competitive
global marketplace. Dolmen works with a range of clients,
from ambitious start-ups and SMEs who want to scale, right
through to multinationals who want to discover and develop
next generation services and products. In business for 24 years,
Dolmen has an expert team and international proven track record.
www.dolmen.ie
Theme - Play
04 - Tweed owl by Cleo
Cleo originally began in 1936 as a very small retail outlet in Dublin,
selling only handknit sweaters from the Aran Islands. Nowadays,
Cleo is a thriving and very colourful business, located in Dublin
City. They specialise in Irish clothing made from natural fibres.
They sell handknit sweaters in a variety of styles and colours for
men, women and children as well as coats, capes, linen blouses
and shirts, hats, bags, socks, tweed mice and a whole lot more.
www.cleo-ltd.com
05 - Willow Rattle by Makers & Brothers
Makers & Brothers is a project developed by two brothers,
Jonathan and Mark Legge. It is an online retail venture founded on
a belief in the simple things; the handmade, objects of integrity,
contemporary vernaculars, a curation of everyday design and
craft. They define craft as a process; a production by hand or
machine. Makers & Brothers are an international destination
with an Irish foundation and at all times endeavour to sell objects
of use; the simple, beautiful and sometimes nicely odd.
www.makersandbrothers.com
06 - F
ox by Saturday Workshop
Saturday Workshop is based in Dublin. They design and
manufacture timber products using traditional skills
and new technologies aided by a CNC router.
Edward O’Cleary is a structural engineer with
a background in boat-building and furniture
making. Iseult, his daughter is a designer.
www.saturdayworkshop.ie
Cabinet of Modern Irish Life
02
16
10
15
11
03
01
12
07
08
06
04
17
22
09
13
05
23
18
20
14
19
21
24
25
27
28
26
31
29
30
Theme - Life
07 - Science stamps, design by Detail
Dublin based studio Detail specialise in design
for print, screen and environment. They believe
in analysis, simplicity and original output.
Their process is based on an understanding
of communication and its role for business,
organisations and individuals. Their projects
are large and small, simple and complex.
www.detail.ie
08 - Animation Ireland stamps
Animation Ireland is a group of leading Irish
animation companies working together
to promote Ireland’s world class sector
internationally. With millions of children
every week watching animated programmes
produced here, Ireland is a recognised leader
with talented and technically sophisticated
2D and 3D studios creating and producing
content for TV, Film, Games, Mobile and Apps.
www.animationireland.com
09 - Literature stamp postcard,
design by The Stone Twins
The Stone Twins are Irish born Declan
and Garech Stone, a creative partnership
established in the last year of the 20th
Century. Since then, The Stone Twins have
built a reputation for devising concept-driven,
engaging and witty design solutions. The
work of The Stone Twins has been broadly
recognised, winning awards at ADCN,
D&AD, Dutch Design Awards, European
Design Awards, One Show, amongst others.
The work of The Stone Twins forms part of
the permanent collections of the CooperHewitt, New York, the Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam and their parents’ living room.
www.stonetwins.com
10 - I llustrators Ireland flyer, design by Unthink
Unthink is a Dublin-based studio with a passion
for creative design. Since 2006, they’ve been
creating innovative, fresh and unique print
and digital products, as well as complete
branding systems for a wide range of national
and international clients. As an agency, they
are inquisitive, open minded, and approach
every new project with a sense of fun.
www.unthink.ie
11 - K
eep Sketch notebook,
design by Dave Comiskey
Dave Comiskey is a graphic designer
and illustrator based in Dublin.
www.davecomiskey.com
27
Interaction
12 - Calendar by Project Twins
for Irish Design Shop
The Project Twins are James and Michael
Fitzgerald, an Irish based graphic art duo.
They work together in a range of disciplines
including art, design and illustration on both
personal and commercial projects. Their
illustration work has been commissioned by
various magazines and agencies in Ireland,
UK, Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
www.theprojecttwins.com
13 - Science Gallery Annual
Report, design by Detail
Detail have developed a number of reports
for the Science Gallery based in Dublin, an
innovative model of gallery now developing
new venues accross the globe.
www.detail.ie
14 - 3FE take away cup,
design by Conor & David
Conor & David is a Dublin based studio which
creates useful, beautiful graphic design,
founded by Conor Nolan and David Wall. They
believe in the importance of making things. They
think that the process and outcomes should be
both tangible and enlightening. They see design
as a way to create and define the connections
that shape our world. Their work connects
audiences to ideas, customers to products and
people to each other.
www.conoranddavid.com
Theme - Fix
15 – Sugru
FormFormForm Ltd is the registered UK
based company behind Sugru which was
jointly founded by Irish inventor Jane ní
Dhulchaointigh and entrepreneur Roger
Ashby, in October 2004. In response to an
overwhelmingly positive response from
North America, the company established a
US subsidiary in 2011 - Sugru, Inc. It now
fulfills all of its North American orders from
its distribution centre in Michigan. In autumn
2012 FormFormForm began distributing to
resellers in Germany and Scandinavia, and
the company is now embarking on exciting
expansion plans in other territories.
www.sugru.com
16 - OBEO food waste box
Established in Dublin by Kate Cronin, an
experienced packaging and product designer
and Liz Fingleton a chartered accountant, the
Obeo food waste box is the easiest, cleanest,
niftiest way to deal with food waste. Obeo
customers are part of something bigger.
Every pack of Obeo they use diverts 10kg of
waste from landfill, so they’re helping to save
the world, one little brown box at a time.
www.weareobeo.com
28
Theme – Eat
Theme – Inhabit
17 - Jameson St. Patricks Day 2015
edition, label by Steve Simpson
For 30 years Dublin based illustrator Steve
Simpson has been applying his multidisciplinary skills to creative projects for a
diverse range of clients right across the globe.
Steve’s innovative, award winning approach
to graphic design, typography and illustration
is built on fresh thinking, traditional skills and
a dose of fun. His bottle for Jameson’s Irish
whiskey captures the soul, warmth and wit of
the city where Jameson was first distilled in
1780, with images of Dublin landmarks, such
as O’Connell Bridge and Trinity College.
www. stevesimpson.prosite.com
22 - Q
uarry House by Clancy Moore
architects. Images by Alice Clancy
Established by Andrew Clancy and Colm Moore
in 2007, Clancy Moore Architects is a practice
dedicated to creating beautiful spaces and
objects through an open and collaborative
process with clients and craftspeople. The
Irish practice is involved in a wide range
of work from small and large domestic to
public and commercial projects, and has a
strong track record of delivering high quality,
sustainable architecture in all settings. The
quality of the resultant work has been borne
out by numerous awards and publications.
www.clancymoore.com
18 - Trivet by Superfolk
Superfolk is an independent design studio
based in Westport which focuses on the craft
of production, both handmade and industrial.
They create objects and furniture which refer
to Ireland’s heritage of making, playfully
referencing a way of life rooted in the land,
its animals and weather whilst also striving
to emulate the sensitivity and sustainability
of the vernacular approach. The studio works
with locally sourced Irish materials and strives
for innovation in its approach to natural
resources such as wool, wood and leather.
www.superfolk.com
20 - Cuttings grappa glass by
J.HILL’s Standard
See above
23 - Jeffry’s House by Emily Mannion and
Thomas O’Brien, Ards Forest Park, Co.
Donegal
Thomas O’Brien is an architect living and
working in Ireland. He studied architecture at
University College Dubin, and graduated with
honours in 2005. He obtained a Professional
Diploma (Architecture) through the Royal
Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and
University College Dublin in May 2011. He
is a registered architect and a member of
the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland.
Since graduation Thomas has been fortunate
to gain experience with diverse practices,
such as de Paor Architects, A2 Architects,
and Dorman Architects, and worked on a
range of projects from educational buildings,
interior fit outs, domestic extensions
and new builds. He has recently begun
practicing independently as totobArk.
Emily Mannion is an artist born in Donegal
in 1985. She graduated with a BA(hons)
degree in Fine Art from the University of
Huddersfield in 2007. She completed a Digital
Residency in Firestation Artist Studios in 2010
and subsequently undertook a residency
in Templebar Gallery and Studios with the
interdisciplinary group Terraform. Recent
shows include ‘We had an idea about the
future’, 2012, NCH, Earlsfort Terrace Dublin,
and ‘Constellations’, 2011, curated by Emma
Lucy O’Brien, Visual Centre for Contemporary
Art, Carlow; She currently lives in Dublin.
Images by Carla Killeen, Catalyst DNA. © IAF
www.totobark.com
21 - Cake Café napkins, design by Pony
Pony Ltd. is a graphic design studio founded
at the beginning of the 21st century. It is
the creative collaboration of Niall Sweeney
(Dublin) and Nigel Truswell (Sheffield). Based
in Whitechapel, London, they work in Britain,
Ireland and internationally. Output at the
studio ranges from popular culture to the
avant-garde, from high-brow to low-brow,
creating for print, screen, three dimensions,
sound and performance. Their work has been
published, exhibited, performed, collected
and screened around the world. Their designs
for the renowned Cake Café in Dublin
celebrate baking and Irish artisanal food, with
a heritage firmly rooted in a contemporary
world and the pleasures of modern Ireland,
through an aesthetic driven by the imprecise
geometries of baking to an electro-beat.
www.ponybox.co.uk
24 - H
ouse 1 by TAKA architects.
Images by Alice Clancy
TAKA is an architectural practice based in
Dublin, Ireland. Their practice is focused on
creating buildings, places and moments which
have a distinct character. They have a careful
and economic approach to materials and
construction, and a first-principles approach
to sustainability. They collaborate closely with
clients, professional consultants and expert
makers to ensure the ambitions of projects
are met and exceeded. A continuing level of
excellence in the built work of the practice is
recognised by multiple national and international
awards and worldwide publication. TAKA have
experience in a wide range of project types
ranging from domestic extensions to commercial
and public buildings. TAKA is led by partners
Alice Casey ARB(UK) and Cian Deegan MRIAI.
www.taka.ie
19 - Elements Low Glass by J.HILL’s
Standard
J.HILL’s Standard is a maker of contemporary
cut crystal objects, crafted by hand, using
centuries-old knowledge passed down through
generations of skilled craftsmen. J.HILL’s
Standard makes full use of the extraordinary
levels of skills in the Waterford region; handcut
crystal is a craft synomous with Ireland and, in
particular, with the area around Waterford. All
pieces of J.HILL’s Standard glass are handcut in Waterford by two master craftsmen,
who between them have over a century of
experience in the art of hand cutting crystal.
www.jhillsstandard.com
29
Interaction
Theme - Read
25 - Eoin McHugh - Augury book from
Douglas Hyde Gallery, design by Peter
Maybury
Peter Maybury works as an artist, graphic
designer, and musician. With formal training
in visual communications in Dublin and
London, his creative practice has expanded
to encompass design for print and screen,
wayfinding systems, artworks for exhibition,
sound, video and curation. Peter’s holistic
approach sees him work at the interstices
of several disciplines. With a track record
from nearly 20 years working to the highest
degree of excellence in visual communication
and design for print and screen, his broad
experience has developed into extensive
knowledge taking in all aspects of design,
editorial, pre-press and printing. Peter has
wide-ranging experience in working with
creative practitioners and institutions, editors
and curators, including over 80 individual artists
publications, and more than 40 group show
publications, for clients in Ireland, Belgium,
Luxembourg, UK, US, Italy and Canada.
www.petermaybury.com
26 - A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton
Chris Haughton is an Irish designer and
children’s book author. He has been a freelance
illustrator for 12 years. His interest in fair trade
drew him into working with a number of nonprofit projects and in 2007 he was listed in
Time Magazine’s DESIGN 100 for the design
work he undertook for People Tree. Since then
he has created a number of children’s books,
with his first book A Bit Lost being translated
into 20 languages and winning numerous
international awards including the Dutch
Picture Book of the Year. Oh No George! came
out in 2012 and won the Junior Magazine
Picturebook of the year award, and his most
recent book SHH! We have a plan won the
AOI award for children’s books in 2014.
www.chrishaughton.com
27 - The Dublin Review 58, design
by Atelier David Smith
Established in 2000, Atelier David Smith is an
independent design studio that works in the
public and cultural sector, creating awardwinning work for national and international
clients. David has lectured publicly on his
own practice and on wider issues concerning
graphic design and has contributed to
Eye – the International Review of Graphic
Design. International recognition includes
awards and commendations from the
Type Directors Club New York, Association
Typographique Internationale (AtypI) and
the International Society of Typographic
Designers. His work for the Asko Schönberg
Ensembles (designed and developed at UNA
[Amsterdam]) received the Nederlands Huisstijl
Prize and a Premier award for typography
from the ISTD. National awards include
numerous commendations from the Institute
of Designers in Ireland (IDI); and a number of
bronze, silver and gold awards from ICAD.
www.atelier.ie
30
28 - SET zine, design by Paul Guinan
Paul Guinan is a senior designer at Form, a
Dublin based branding and communications
practice founded in 2005. Their projects
are realised through a 4 stage process
of discovery, definition, development
and delivery. Driven by research and
strategically framed their outcomes are
implemented through print, digital, motion and
environmental touch-points, with dialogue
and the exchange of knowledge core to
their collaborative partnership approach.
www.form.ie
Theme – Wear
29 - Woven Lambswool childs hat by Elks
Elks design exquisite children’s clothes, made
exclusively by hand in Ireland. Using materials
like Donegal tweed, beautiful Irish linen,
alpaca wool and finest merino, Elks create
remarkably well-made clothes with a depth
of cultural history connected to Ireland’s past
and present. Their designs are an expression of
the urban and rural, the wild and constructed.
Founder Lucy Clarke is a musician and mother
of two. After playing in seminal all-girl rock
group Chicks (she played Glastonbury the day
she finished her Leaving Cert, and the girls
were known for their colourful handmade
image), Lucy went on to study Philosophy
and now has two children. Elks work with
local knitters, weavers and seamstresses to
produce their designs, and have developed
a sustainable, handmade children’s clothing
brand for children throughout the world.
www.elks.ie
30 - Bow tie by Brendan Joseph
Distilling precious moments and beautiful
places, Brendan Joseph makes each scarf,
shawl & bow-tie by hand in Ireland, the home
of his inspiration, working in silk, cashmere
and linen. The colours in each scarf are the
result of an innovative design methodology by
which Brendan draws his inspiration directly
from scenes and sources in the environment
around him – the vibrant city of Dublin and
the beautiful natural landscapes of Ireland.
Brendan’s passion for colour, pattern, quality
and craftsmanship is clear in his work as he
explores, distils and translates what he sees
in the world around him into his handmade
scarves. Although the colours in his designs
are drawn purely from nature, they bring out
the unusual and the unnoticed - the intensely
vibrant lichen on warm grey rocks by the softblue sea at Sandymount Strand, or the speckled
pink and blue of the Georgian and Victorian
architecture in the area around his studio.
www.brendanjoseph.com
31 - S
atchel by The Atlantic Equipment
Project
The harsh beauty of the Irish Atlantic coast
breeds a special kind of folk. A community
of individuals exploring the high roads and
byroads, the muddy fields and bogs, in search
of elusive perfection. The Atlantic Equipment
(AE) project, founded by Ashleigh Smith, is
about designing and building long-lasting,
quality equipment that will serve this community
of adventurers and explorers. AE packs are
designed with durability and function as primary
requirements, in order to support experience
and adventure amongst your wilderness. The
project is about the coastal communities
of the West of Ireland, where a new, quality
manufacture base can bring prosperity and
further potential. AE build quality packs, by
hand, in their workshop in the West of Ireland.
In prioritizing local resources and keeping
supply chains as small as possible, their
ambition is to maintain and grow a sustainable
business ethos - investing in people with
skills, keeping production small, and ensuring
attention to detail and craftsmanship.
www.atlanticequipmentproject.com
Interview
Scott Burnett
Studio AAD
It’s like a window on Ireland – I wanted to bring
breadth to how people understand Irish design.
I’m thinking of it as a glimpse of modern Ireland
through the lens of design. I imagined it like a
kitchen dresser, the eclectic backdrop to family
life; and that let me bring in quite disparate
things that nevertheless have a relationship
through how we use them, how they give us a
sense of who we are.
The cabinet is very broad, in a similar way to
Connections, the capsule exhibition we’ve made
for ID2015 to tour embassies around the world.
People who view it may not know much about
Ireland, or they may have a ‘diddley-eye’, more
folk based perception of what Irish design is, so
we wanted to create an honest collection that
shows modern Ireland as it is. It’s a little portal
that gives a wider sense.
It’s been curated like an insider’s guide,
so we’ve included ephemera: flyers and books;
and well-designed everyday items, rather than
just up-on-a-pedestal objects of desire. It’s
quite broad, covering many aspects of modern
life – design for work, play, life, to wear, to
inhabit. That’s what I like about design: the real
everyday stuff. I’m a big advocate of design as a
way to make things better, a lot of it is invisible
and those can be the very best things.
I studied Visual Communications in
Aberdeen in Scotland, then I worked in
photography in Glasgow and London before
coming to Dublin in 1998 to work in design
agencies. I started Angry, a clothing company
in 2000. We were selling in London, Paris
and Tokyo, and even though the brand was
successful, we knew nothing about the
business of fashion, so we weren’t making
money. We set up Studio Aad in 2004 to work
on branding, design and multidisciplinary
projects. I’m also involved in the 100Archive
(100Archive.com), mapping the landscape of
communication design in contemporary Ireland.
The project creates a context to show how
varied design can be.
Some of the things in the cabinet are
amazing. Like the award winning Moocall, by
Dolmen. Apparently one of the hardest things
in cow farming is getting the vet to the cow at
the right time to deliver the calf. It’s a dangerous
time for the animal and even experts could
miss the moment. So Dolmen created this
device that tracks the movement of the cow’s
tail, and sends a text message when calving is
about to begin. Moocall and Mcor’s 3D printing
technologies are these brilliantly unexpected
stories of ingenuity in an Irish context.
On the other hand, there’s a copy of the
Dublin Review. It’s a literature periodical
designed by Atelier David Smith, and it’s just
gorgeous. They’ve been doing that since
2000, and it’s elegantly laid out and beautifully
appropriate. Ireland has such a strong
reputation for literature, but not everyone would
put the effort into designing a periodical that
well, it’s a joy to see it.
We also have one of the Douglas Hyde
Gallery’s publications, an annual report from
the brilliant Science Gallery and a range of
other Irish designed books. There’s been a
renaissance in Irish children’s books over the
past few years, and Chris Haughton’s ‘A Bit Lost’
is beautiful.
I wanted to get away from the clichés of
traditional design, but we’ve also included
modern makers with a basis in craft, like
The Atlantic Equipment Project, who make
hardwearing gear for hikers and surfers
from their studios in Sligo, Elks who make
lovely clothes for kids, and Superfolk. There’s
napkins designed by Pony for the Cake Café,
and a crystal glass from Waterford’s J.HILL’S
Standard. There’s a richness to these pieces,
that pick up on a design heritage that had fallen
into abeyance for a time. A new vernacular has
been growing over the last six years that is
world class but also proud of its heritage and
tradition. These are the things that form the
backdrop to the Cabinet of Modern Irish Life.
Working in the industry today, I know so
many colleagues making brilliant things. That’s
what excites me. ID2015 has already sparked a
lot of conversations within the industry. The next
stage is for us to create the foundation to bring
those conversations to the wider public. That’s
the best legacy for when this year is over.
“A new vernacular has been growing over
the last six years that is world class but
also proud of its heritage and tradition.”
31
Interaction
Katie Sanderson X YOU
Milk caragheen with fennel cream and
salted unripe Dublin gooseberry
The trick with caragheen is to add lots of
texture.
Ingredients
25g of dried* or 80 g fresh caragheen moss
(seaweed) *if caragheen is dried soak for twenty
minutes.
200ml cream
50g caster sugar
200ml milk
Toasted fennel seeds
Fennel fronds
Salted gooseberries
Fennel cream
Bring 600ml of water to the boil, add caragheen
lower to gentle simmer and cook for 20
minutes. In another pot, heat your milk and
sugar then leave to cool.
Once the caragheen has changed colour and
become gloopy, strain the caragheen through
a muslin cloth, (wear gloves if you like although
the seaweed gives you silky smooth hands if
you don’t).
Discard the seaweed and add the gloopy
mixture to slightly whipped cream, then add the
milk and sugar, (it should thicken slightly). Pour
into small ramekins and leave in the fridge for at
least four hours or preferably overnight.
Fennel cream is made by mixing roasted fennel
with a little sugar syrup and blitzing in a blender.
Serve with the fennel cream, lots of seeds,
fronds and the gooseberries.
Rosemary and Connemara
sea salt fudge
Ingredients
400g dark chocolate
500g condensed milk
50g butter
90g icing sugar
Small handful of chopped rosemary
3 pinches of homemade sea salt
Break chocolate into a saucepan with
condensed milk, butter and half the rosemary.
Do not walk away from the pot, stay gently
stirring until it melts. Sieve in icing sugar and
some of the salt. Place into a tin lined with
greaseproof paper and add more chopped
rosemary and sea salt. Place in the fridge for a
few hours.
33
OBJECTS
Objects
Mourne Textiles
Irish heritage brand Mourne Textiles is a
family business started in the 1940s in a
workshop at the foot of the beautiful Mourne
mountains by Norwegian design pioneer Gerd
Hay-Edie, using traditional weaving techniques
on custom-made handlooms. Gerd’s name
became a staple in mid-century British design
through long collaborations with Robin Day for
Hille & Co. and Terence Conran. The Mourne
Milano Rug, originally commissioned by Robin
Day, won the silver award at La Triennale di
Milano in 1951 and is just one of the recently
re-issued pieces in the collection. Gerd’s
unique tweed fabrics were celebrated within
the fashion industry when they were shown as
part of Irish designer Sybil Connolly’s 1956
collections and were supplied to design and
retail emporiums such as Liberty of London,
Hardy Amies and House of Lachasse.
Gerd’s daughter Karen Hay-Edie
and grandson Mario Sierra are building
on the legacy of Mourne Textiles for the
21st century. They continue to design and
source much of their yarn from Donegal and
custom-dye to match the heritage pieces
and iconic designs that sprang from the
company’s Irish-Scandinavian roots. Gerd’s
designs are revived in vibrant tones and
rich textures in a lifestyle collection that
includes blankets, throws, shawls, cushions,
tableware, rugs and upholstery fabrics.
mournetextiles.com
Mario Sierra
Karen Hay-Edie
Notion
Marcel Twohig
Ian Walton
Notion was founded in 2009 by Marcel
Twohig and Ian Walton and in 2013 went on to
launch its own in-house product brand, NTN.
Marcel Twohig has a background designing
consumer electronics and digital devices
for leading global consumer brands. Having
worked both as an in-house designer and as
an external consultant, Marcel has gained a
deep understanding of the role of design and
the value that it brings. His work has received
numerous industry awards including iF, Red
Dot and Good Design. Ian Walton studied
Industrial Design in Dublin and Helsinki and
went on to work in diverse roles from freelance
interaction designer to a senior design position
in an international consultancy. During this
time he brought products to market for several
international consumer brands. Over the past
decade Ian’s work has featured in publications
and competitions including Time Magazine,
Red Dot, iF, Design Week UK, the Institute of
Designers in Ireland (IDI) and Royal Society of
Art (RSA), London.
designbynotion.com
Objects
Mourne Textiles
X
Notion
Featured Work:
Hang coffee table featuring a woven fabric shelf
and two variants of the Frame upright chair
upon which a fabric cushion is suspended on
wooden uprights. Both pieces are an evolution
of previous pieces in a collection for NTN, which
balanced classic furniture references with
industrial textiles and CNC machined wood.
The Mourne Milano Rug first exhibited at La
Triennale Di Milano in1951 as part of a room
display that also featured furniture by Robin
Day, etched panels by Geoffrey Clarke and
ceramics by Hans Coper and Lucie Rie. Mourne
Textiles won the silver medal for their design,
which was also shown at the Festival of Britain.
The Mourne Check and Mourne Mist furnishing
fabrics have been used by Notion in their Hang
table and Frame chair. Designed in 1952 by
Gerd Hay-Edie, these fabrics have been brought
back into production, staying true to the original
designs with custom spun yarns and colours
matched to the archive originals.
Tweed Emphasize, Mended Tweed and Shaggy
Dog tweed designs are presented as a range
of cushions and throws. These designs were
shown in Sybil Connolly’s 1956 fashion
collections and have been revived using custom
spun yarn to match the originals, woven on
traditional shuttle looms.
38
Collaborative Process:
At the core of the collaboration is the
relationship between hand and machine, the
combination of production techniques and the
qualities found in each yarn. The Mourne textile
designs play on the relationships between
the different fibres used and how they feel
and look when used together. The Mourne
and Notion teams discussed the different
characteristics of the textiles, deriving from
the looms on which they are woven, and the
benefits and limitations of each. Mourne
Texiles were pleased by the appreciation and
understanding of their work shown by Notion,
who in turn were fascinated and inspired
by the unique Scandinavian Irish heritage
of the Mourne fabrics. The introduction of
handwoven Mourne textiles brought a heritage
and tactility which directed the evolution of
the new furniture pieces. The geometry of the
seat pan and table top – fully CNC machined
from French ash – and the aluminium legs act
as contemporary counterpoints to the textiles.
Mourne and Notion discovered similarities in
their approach to design and potential ways
in which their collaboration can progress,
combining the industrial with the traditional and
developing this relationship into the future.
Materials:
Hang table and Frame chair: CNC Machined
Ash hardwood, anodized aluminium
legs, PET foam, Mourne textiles.
Mourne Milano Rug: hand woven on a linen
warp using wool and hand twisted fleece.
Mourne Check Furnishing Fabric:
50% wool, 25% cotton, 25% linen.
Mourne Mist Furnishing Fabric:
70% wool, 30% cotton.
Mourne Cushions: 50% wool
25% cotton, 25% linen.
Merino Cushions: 100% merino wool.
Throws: 100% merino wool.
39
Interview
I was looking through old newspaper clippings
about the workshop and I found a quote by my
grandmother from 1956. She’d said “out of the
past flows the future,” and it was almost as if she
was saying it to me today. We’re in a lovely part
of the world, right on the edge of the Mourne
Mountains, and although I grew up here, I don’t
take it for granted. I’d left to go to art college in
the UK and coming back, I appreciated it even
more.
I did a lot of travelling, and studied textiles
at college, but I had itchy feet, and the idea of
coming back to the Mournes permanently didn’t
immediately appeal. But that’s changed, and
even though I’m back and forth to London a lot,
it’s lovely to be here involved in weaving again.
Gerd Hay-Edie, my grandmother, was an
amazing woman she was very influential during
my childhood. At the age of six my mother built
a small house next to the workshop where I
spent my early years. While the house was being
built I slept in the workshop on a makeshift bed
between the looms. After school, the workshop
would be my playground, I’d build dens, make
spaceships out of the old cardboard yarn cones,
generally getting in the way of the weavers.
Gerd came from Norway, she worked in
Huddersfield before the war and lived and
travelled in Shanghai, Calcutta and Hong Kong
before settling in Ireland. The Milano Rug came
about when Robin Day asked her to create
a piece for his room display at the Triennale
di Milano in 1951. “Of all the rugs which I
have seen, only yours have got the character
enough as a background of my new designs of
furniture,” he wrote. It won a silver medal that
year.
My mother, master weaver Karen HayEdie, has been involved in the running of the
workshop from an early age, designing and
weaving rugs to commission. We recently
brought the Milano Rug back into production,
and now it returns to Milan for Liminal. There’s
something poetic about the way it has all
worked out.
My mother and I are working through the
archives, bringing designs back into production.
The fabric structure and textured yarns used
come from the archives, but the colours and
feel are evolving for today’s market. We’ve also
taken on new apprentices. The workshop is
really buzzing. The Mourne Textiles workshop
began with the Milano Rug, so it’s now come
full circle.
“After school the workshop
would be my playground.”
40
41
Objects
Aodh
Garrett O’Hagan
Aodh is a young Irish furniture brand with a
strong design ethos. It is the brainchild of
Garrett O’Hagan, an Irishman passionate
about design, architecture and the island on
which he lives. O’Hagan grew up surrounded
by modern furniture and has spent his adult
life sourcing and supplying the very best
international design for private and commercial
clients. Aodh marks a turning point for O’Hagan,
from that of a buyer, to that of a manufacturer
and editor. With Aodh, he seeks to create a
design-centred business, rooted in Ireland with
a strong international focus. Aodh’s products
are universal – suitable for use everywhere, at
home, at work and in public spaces. Above all
they bring atmosphere, spirit and character
to the spaces we use and love. O’Hagan
commissions independent designers, whose
sensibility, language and spirit he’s drawn to.
With Aodh, O’Hagan seeks to create a ‘family’
of products – objects of personality and
character that work together as a collage or
happily stand alone with presence. Aodh uses
the very best materials and processes and
where possible, seeks to produce at home
in Ireland. However, the pursuit of quality
and skill, rather than location, will always be
the overriding decider. Making furniture that
remains functional and aesthetically pleasing
for decades to come is Aodh’s raison d’être
and is also at the heart of ecological making.
In commissioning new pieces and seeking
inspiration for ‘lifetime’ furniture, O’Hagan
often refers to the materials, colours and
textures found in the Irish landscape. These
elemental references guide Aodh’s pursuit
of ‘longlife’ furniture pieces: heirlooms, filled
with love and memory that are made to be
passed down from one generation to the next.
aodh.eu
42
Featured Collaborative Work:
“The Lann table is a development for Aodh
Furniture of our solid timber “Companion”
table. Slightly taller and with an additional
twist in the shape, these tables are finished in
a dead matt lacquer and are designed to wrap
over a seat. They can be used as a temporary
work surface while sitting or just somewhere
to put down a drink, phone or book.”
Knut Klimmek
Materials:
Grey fibre board
H 60 cm x W 30 cm x L 60 cm
Alex
Gufler
Knut
Klimmek
Dublin based Knut Klimmek founded KlimmekHenderson Furniture in 1986, having graduated
from the world-renowned John Makepeace
School for Craftsmen in Wood. In 2015 the
company rebranded as Klimmek Furniture.
Knut is a driving force at Klimmek Furniture,
responsible for design, customer liaison,
production and quality assurance within the
company, while leading the team to ensure the
production of high quality, handcrafted pieces.
Featured Collaborative Work:
The stackable Aran Armchair designed by
Alexander Gufler is a chair for use everywhere
– at home, at work, and in public spaces. The
chair is made of solid wood, its production
combines traditional joinery methods
alongside advanced CNC techniques. Details
and techniques abound in its design and
construction. No surface, join or connection,
has escaped the designer’s attention.
klimmek-furniture.ie
Materials:
Beech, ash or oak
H: 795 mm X D: 565 mm X W: 525 mm
Garrett O’Hagan approached Italian Alex Gufler
to design the Aran chair for Aodh. O’Hagan feels
it is important to work with a range of designers
both within Ireland and internationally. This
approach enables the evolution of a fluency in
design aesthetic.
Born in 1979 in Merano, Italy, Alex started
his career as a goldsmith in his father’s shop.
Following his MFA degree in crafts at Pforzheim
in Germany, he went on to study Industrial
Design at the University of Applied Arts in
Vienna, where he graduated in 2009. It was
there that he cultivated his passion for furniture
and everyday objects.
In 2010 Gufler founded his studio in the
heart of Vienna, from where he collaborates
with national and international clients. He
creates design objects with a high attention
to detail, simplicity and a profound knowledge
of materials and production processes. His
work has been exhibited in multiple countries
and has been honoured with international
design awards, including the Red Dot Design
Award and the 2015 iF Design Award.
alexandergufler.com
43
Objects
Perch
Philip Hamilton
Perch was set up in Dublin in 2008 with the
aim of improving the quality of everyday living
through design. Specialists in research-led
design for applied human movement, the Perch
team works from a deep understanding of the
emotional and physiological requirements of the
active human. Their approach to critical thinking
and problem solving is truly interdisciplinary
and they always strive to find that perfect
balance between interactive simplicity,
scientific relevance and aesthetic beauty.
Perch has forged long, meaningful client
relationships and works in unison with
clients, right through the processes
of discovery, trials and international
commercialisation. This way of working
builds strong connections and enables true,
disruptive innovation. Perch also actively
participates in the post-commercialisation
phases, to continually improve standards
and gain a deeper understanding of
each sector in which they work.
perch.ie
44
Simon Dennehy
PERCH
X
LABOFA
Labofa A/S is a Danish manufacturer
specialising in the development and production
of chairs and furniture for educational
environments and public and private offices.
The company strategy is to develop a
conceptual collection of furniture and chairs
focused on quality, innovation, flexibility,
ergonomics and design and - not least - new
durable materials. Individual pieces of furniture
are perceived almost as elegant animations
in the actual arrangement and users perceive
a clear Labofa DNA. Labofa began producing
school furniture in 1947 and in recent years
this market segment has again become a focus
area. Labofa launched its first office chair
in 1950 and in 1995 introduced the worldrenowned series of EGO office seating, of
which more than one million have so far been
delivered. In the summer of 2014 the new office
chair series FOX was introduced.
Featured Work:
The Ray and Ray Junior family is a new
generation of ergonomic school furniture.
The patented ‘Flexible Seat’ design achieves
flexible sitting with effective height and angle
adjustments on both chair and desk with almost
no mechanisms, levers or complications. The
design and process has featured on FastCo,
Core77, NotCot and TEDx and been published
by The Irish Ergonomic Society, BINI and FIRA’s
“Furniture Design Toolkit”.
Materials
Ray: Backrest, base and undercarriage: glassfilled nylon. Seat: specialised thermo-plastic
elastomer by DuPont, called Bexloy.
Collaborative Process:
The Ray range is the outcome of nine years
of research including successive prototype
testing in Irish schools and clinical laboratory
trials, and a successful collaboration between
Perch and Hans Thyge & Co., for Labofa. The
range takes inspiration from the work done
by Dr. Gearóid Ó’Conchubhair and the body of
research on applied movement for task work
and is an example of a productive international
collaboration that has merged interdisciplinary
skills and processes to deliver a very disruptive
and health-positive educational furniture
solution.
Ray Junior: Stool: glass-filled Polypropylene
undercarriage with Bexloy seat. Tubular,
reverse cantilever, high-tensile steel legs.
labofa.com
45
Objects
Thomas
Montgomery
Thomas Montgomery Ltd is one of Ireland’s
leading contemporary soft seating and
upholstered furniture manufacturers.
Established in 1975, the company has built a
reputation for designing and manufacturing
high quality upholstered furniture for the
office and commercial interiors markets.
Quality through design is at the heart of the
company ethos and is encapsulated in every
product. Thomas Montgomery’s team of
skilled designers, craftsmen and upholsterers
understands what is needed to deliver the
highest quality product and service. They have
worked with architects and designers on a
number of prestigious projects throughout
Ireland and have the imagination, willingness
and skill to work on customer-specific projects
while continuing to grow the company’s
own range of design-led furniture. Thomas
Montgomery Ltd is now working to develop
and produce design-led office and commercial
furniture which reflects the evolution of the
modern working environment, supports the
technology driving these changes and fosters
interactions among workers of the 21st century.
thomasmontgomery.ie
46
Stuart Montgomery
Perch
X
Thomas
Montgomery
Featured Work:
Float is a soft seating solution for the modern
work environment. It consists of a central,
360-degree swivel seat and arm/back rest
that not only supports the user, but also acts
as a surface for working and collaborating.
Based around the idea of encouraging and
improving informal interactions for workers,
the concept grew from observation of
people working individually and in small
groups. The aesthetic is guided primarily
by the spatial requirements of the dynamic
human form and the subsequent angles of
interaction when engaged in collaboration.
Collaborative Process:
Float is a collaboration between Thomas
Montgomery and Perch, born from a shared
desire to partner Irish-based design and
manufacturing to develop products that are
internationally focused and offer truly modern,
thought-provoking solutions for workers in
the 21st century. The two companies are
developing several further collaborations with
the aim of a long-term strategic partnership.
Materials:
Steel tubing, wood, fabric.
Interview
Simon Dennehy
Perch
On the one hand I’m saying that the world
doesn’t exactly need another chair, but chairs
for educational furniture are so bad. There is
so much wrong with seating in schools, and so
little has been done because of the perceived
cost. Looking at how to solve this became
the subject of my Master’s degree at Dublin’s
NCAD [National College of Art and Design],
where I now also teach. I worked with Gearóid
O’Conchubhair, and in 2009 we got funding
from the EU’s FP7 programme to create TFE:
Task Furniture in Education, so now there’s a
team of designers on the project.
It’s revolutionary: if you look at marketing
brochures for school furniture, you’ll see the
perfect ‘right angled child’ sitting down. But
we don’t sit like that, and when the seat doesn’t
support us, we slouch. When you slouch in your
seat it’s because you’ve lost control of your
pelvis, and your spine collapses into a ‘C’ slump;
and that compromises your heart, lungs, blood
flow. Get the seat right, and you’re training
young kids how to sit for the rest of their lives.
We stopped taking on clients, and drove
our own research-led design, looking at
architectural space, psychology, acoustics,
physiology. We came up with a patented flexible
seat to make the Ray, and Ray Junior, which
we’re producing with Labofa in Denmark.
I’m also looking at designs for the soft
spaces, where we work away from our desks:
in coffee shops and hotels, and in breakout
spaces in offices. We sit on couches, lined up
in squares, with rectangular furniture – but we
don’t hold ourselves in square forms. When we
stand, we’re free to express ourselves through
body language, but when you hunch over on
a sofa, you’re less likely to be confident. You
should be able to move around and face people
at different angles. The physiological and the
psychological are linked, so we found a way to
bring that to a piece of furniture, Float, which
we’re making with Irish company Thomas
Montgomery.
Chairs aren’t new; we have to treat them
with respect and think of the aesthetics. Form
follows function, but people make emotional
connections through form, so our work has
to look beautiful as well. My hope for ID2015
is that it’s a catalyst for change. We want to
change the standards of educational furniture
across Europe – and the world.
“The physiological and the
psychological are linked,
so we found a way to bring
that to a piece of furniture.”
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Objects
Ceadogán Rugs create contemporary designer
rugs and wall hangings at their workshops in
south County Wexford.
Denis Kenny, owner and maker, leads the
team at Ceadogán. Over the past 25 years the
team has amassed a lifetime of experience
specialising in the creation of striking rugs and
wall hangings in wools and silks, designed for
specific spaces. The team is focused, highly
skilled, very experienced and dedicated to
pairing the traditional values of remarkable
craftsmanship with contemporary design.
Ceadogán have a tradition of collaborating
with leading Irish artists and textile designers.
The energy and dynamic created by the
collaboration of designer and maker has
distinguished this small niche company over
the years.
Visitors are very welcome to the Ceadogán
Rug workshop by appointment. Situated in an
eighteenth-century farmyard, the workshop
and studios overlook the saltwater marshes
of Bannow Bay Estuary and the medieval
monastic settlement of Clonmines.
ceadogan.ie
Denis Kenny
Andrew Ludick
Andrew Ludick is a ceramics artist based in
Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny. Born in the United
States, he majored in Illustration at the Columbus
College of Art and Design, Ohio before moving
to Ireland in 2003. Andrew’s work has slowly
evolved towards forms that illustrate the natural
properties of clay and the processes he uses
to create them. The building of these forms
involves coiling and pinching the clay to create
vases, bowls and various other shapes. This
slow and meditative process takes him into a
space that allows a natural, organic progression
to happen where the form seems to build itself.
The built form is often either seen as a blank
canvas to draw shapes on or an interesting form
to complement with patterns. The final pieces
are covered in a clear transparent glaze, which
serves to deepen the colours and seal the clay so
it can be used for functional purposes. Andrew’s
work is influenced by Native American and
African indigenous art and music, as well
as artists and musicians such as Paul Klee, John
ffrench, Peter Bruegel, Lester Young
and Thelonious Monk.
andrewludick.blogspot.ie
Objects
CeadogAn Rugs
X
Andrew Ludick
Featured Work:
Lime Sun (green, orange) measures:
1.65m diameter, weighs 11kgs
Solar Opposite (yellow) measures:
1.32m diameter, weighs 7.5kgs
Materials:
Both rugs are made from 100% New Zealand
wool with hessian backing; wool dyed at
Cushendale Woollen Mills, Kilkenny, Ireland.
Ceramic Material: white earthenware clay,
coloured slips, clear glaze.
Collaborative Process:
Ceadogán’s work with ceramicist Andrew
Ludick began in 2014 when Fiona Gilboy,
Creative Director of Ceadogán Rugs, saw the
potential to collaborate. Both rug designs
came directly from the hand-painted ceramic
work of Ludick, whose distinctive and intuitive
use of pattern and colour was seen by the
Ceadogán team to lend itself perfectly to their
textile medium. Together, they worked out the
translation of the ceramic designs to a much
larger scale, bearing in mind the impact a rug
can make on an interior space. It was decided
that for the rugs to have the impact of the
ceramic work, it was best not to use perfectly
square or perfectly round rug shapes.
The intricate nuances of the small-scale
ceramic pieces change dramatically when
blown up to the rug size. Each subtle, fine
distinction of the original designs evolves to
take on a boldness, confidence and delicate
playfulness in the larger scale of the rugs.
Objects
Claire Anne O Brien
Claire Anne O’Brien is a constructed textile
designer who creates three-dimensional
knitted fabrics for interiors. Originally from
County Cork, Claire Anne set up her studio in
East London after completing an MA in Textiles
at the Royal College of Art in 2010. She has
exhibited at London Design Festival, Milan
Furniture Fair, Wool Modern and Spinexpo
and received the Future Maker Award from the
Design & Crafts Council of Ireland in 2011 and
the Cockpit/Haberdashers’ Award from the
UK Crafts Council in 2015. Claire Anne’s work
is inspired by traditional techniques such as
weave, knotting and basketry to make playful
investigations into structure and form using the
unique properties of knit. The studio produces
a range of knitted wool furniture as well as
bespoke commissions and fabric development
for commercial and private clients.
claireanneobrien.com
54
Featured Work:
The Ciséan grey pouffe is part of the Olann
Collection, which is inspired by a traditional
Ireland where fishing and knitting were at the
heart of village life. Patterns and structures
found in hand-knitted Aran sweaters
and willow baskets are explored through
exaggerated scale and new applications.
Ciséan is hand-knitted and woven into 3D form
using a chunky, undyed Swalewick wool.
Materials:
100% Swalewick wool, upholstery
foam, ash wood.
Claire Anne O Brien
X
CeadogAn Rugs
Collaborative Process:
Claire Anne O’Brien is best known for her
structural approach to knit and her passion
for texture and surface pattern. Ceadogán are
well known for the quality and contemporary
design of their rugs. The collaboration allowed
both designers to explore new ways of working.
For Claire Anne the challenge was in how to
animate and bring her design aesthetic to a
two-dimensional surface. This was achieved
through the use of varying pile heights to create
a relief pattern on the surface of the rug. For
Ceadogán, the use of the pile to create form and
pattern represents a departure from their usual
rug-making and collaborative process.
Featured Work:
Téadra is an un-tufted rug made with 100%
felted, undyed wool in 18mm cut pile and 8mm
loop pile.
Materials:
100% wool, felted. Chunky 3/ply,
L: 2m x W: 1.29m,13.5kgs approx.
Objects
Love & Robots are a Dublin-based design studio
that works at the intersection of art, digital
design and technology. With a passion for both
design (love) and 3D printing (robots), they
push the boundaries of design and technology
to create beautifully crafted, customisable,
unique products for design lovers everywhere.
loveandrobots.com
Kate O’Daly
Emer O’Daly
Niamh Lunny
Niamh Lunny is Head of Costume at the
Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s national theatre.
She has designed costumes for The Abbey
Theatre, ANU, The Performance Corporation,
Fishamble Theatre Company and Rough
Magic along with many other film, TV and
theatre companies. She has also designed
sets and visual art for the Peacock, The
Abbey Theatre and The Big House Festival.
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Objects
Featured work:
Plumage is a 3D printed free-moving
customisable cape. This collaborative project
between Love & Robots and Niamh Lunny looks
at traditional costume and theatre design and
how it can be reinterpreted using new digital
design and 3D printing technologies. It is an
exploration of patterns in fabric such as knit and
lace, as well as three-dimensional structures and
surfaces, and natural phenomena. The Plumage
cape is designed as 3D printed chainmail with
ornamental attachments to create a wearable
garment. The ornaments are attached to the
chainmail and can move independently of each
other – creating movement, visual interest, and
fluidity within the material.
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Love & Robots have previously
experimented with 3D printing chainmail
structures, as well as complex organic patterns.
The Plumage cape extends those explorations
to construct a piece of clothing that can be 3D
printed all in one piece without any assembly
required. The exhibited piece has over 6,000
moving component parts.
Materials:
Nylon polyamide.
Plumage is the world’s first 3D printed, freemoving, customisable cape. We collaborated
with Niamh Lunny, Head of Costume Design
at the Abbey Theatre. We’d been working with
3D printed chain mail, and we were excited
about the idea of being able to push that
further. We both trained as architects, but we’d
been making jewellery and accessories, and
as Niamh is in costume, our collaboration was
obviously going to be something wearable.
Niamh understands how textiles work, and
how to lay out a pattern to create the overall
form. As she put it, chain mail behaves like a
fabric, so we’ve actually created a new kind
of textile. Each piece is a solid, rigid piece of
nylon, but because of the chain mail structure,
each “feather” moves independently. So, with
6,000 moving pieces, it’s fluid and free moving,
it rustles, it tinkles.
Interview
Objects
The cool thing about 3D printing is that now
we’ve created the file (it took weeks and weeks,
as each of the 6,000 parts has to be drawn in
space, not touching another), every feather can
be customised. Then, the printer makes it, all in
one go. You can’t see it, unfortunately, as it’s in a
vat of powder. Lasers are zapping it, and it takes
about a day, and then you pull it out fully formed
and shake it out. There is some post production,
but that’s more or less it.
Emer had done a Masters degree in Digital
Design in the United States, and realised 3D
printing was going to change everything. What
excites us is that you can make anything, and
each thing you make can be different, but all of a
really high quality. We teamed up with software
developers, so that each of our Love & Robots
products is unique, and customisable.
Iris van Herpen and Chanel have
experimented with 3D printing and you see
some on the catwalks, but our cape is the first
of its type, the world’s first, customisable 3D
cape. And yes, it will be for sale on our website.
We have just opened our first pop-up shop at
Fumbally Exchange on Dame Lane, Dublin.
There will be iPads, so you can come in and
customise, then take your own unique piece
away.
Objects
Emma Cahill
Dublin-born jewellery designer Emma Cahill
creates wearable objects with an innovative
approach to jewellery that focuses on
gardening tools. Her main source of inspiration
comes from her mother’s back garden and the
hard work that goes into it. Gardening is a tiring
process of hacking and cutting but the results
are beautiful and rewarding. Emma’s focus is on
the gardening tools that aid this process using
a range of materials from traditional metalwork
techniques, new technologies and hand
dying. The colour inspiration comes from the
graduating hues of tulips, hydrangeas and the
deep hues of beetroots. Emma aims to promote
jewellery that uses interdisciplinary techniques
and challenges current conceptions of nature.
Emma has just completed a BA in Metals and
Jewellery with History of Art at the National
College of Art & Design. She has received
recognition for a number of awards and was
the winner of the Mark Fenn Award from the
Association for Contemporary Jewellery. She
has also worked for a number of international
jewellery makers and companies. Since
September 2015, Emma has been attending
Central Saint Martins in London for an MA in
Design in Jewellery.
emmacahilldesign.com
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Featured Work:
Hand-dyed, 3D printed blue neckpiece
inspired by the twisted roots of trees and the
blue gradient colours of hydrangeas.
Materials:
Hand-dyed, 3D printed plastic, rubber tubing,
silver.
50cm x 20cm.
Genevieve
Howard
Genevieve is a designer/maker from Dublin
who has recently graduated with a BA
degree in Metals and Jewellery from the
National College of Art & Design. She is
also an accomplished musician interested
in combining her skills as a designer with
her passion and love for music. Her initial
collection fuses elements from both of these
areas into a series of innovative jewellery
designs. She is interested in translating
pieces of music into tactile and wearable
forms. She makes wearable musical
sculptures using new technologies such
as laser cutting combined with traditional
handmade and metalwork techniques.
Genevieve was recently featured
as an emerging maker in the RDS National
Craft and Art Awards exhibition in Dublin. Her
work was showcased at the New Designers
exhibition in London this year, where she
received invitations to exhibit at The Great
Northern Events Contemporary Craft Fair in
Manchester, The Kath Libbert Youth Movement
exhibition in Leeds and the Galarie Marzee
Annual Graduate Exhibition in Nijmegen,
Netherlands where her work is currently on
display. She was awarded the Galarie Marzee
International Graduate Award 2015.
Featured Work:
The Sonatine Bracelet. Laser cut grey and black
bracelet. Inspired by a three part sonatine
written for the piano by the romantic composer
Maurice Ravel. The graphic notation in the
neckpiece mirrors the sequence of the original
musical score.
Materials:
Japanese linen card, elastic cord.
genevievehowarddesign.com
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Objects
Designgoat
Designgoat is an industrial design studio
based in Dublin that creates experiences
through products, spaces, furniture and food.
Established in 2011, Designgoat has worked
on a broad range of projects including selfdirected products, commercial interiors and
exhibition designs. The aim is always to deliver
unique experiences for clients ranging from
small start-ups to large international brands.
Designgoat does much of the prototyping
and manufacture on its projects in-house and
has built close relationships with trusted local
fabricators to realise its work.
wearedesigngoat.com
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Cian Corcoran
Ahmed Fakhry
Katie Sanderson
For the last ten years Katie Sanderson has
been creating unique food experiences in
spaces that are out of the ordinary: disused
warehouses, galleries and a Wicklow rainforest.
The common theme is a playfulness with
location, with food and the way that it is served
and enjoyed. Vegetables are the main feature
and Katie likes to evolve recipes from the past
and use seaweeds and other sea vegetables
as an enhancing ingredient. In The Hare, a
collaboration with artist Fiona Hallinan, Katie
created a moving vegetarian café that was
structured to easily work within Temple Bar
Gallery in Dublin’s historic centre. The Hare
went on to be hosted in The Irish Museum of
Modern Art and the Centre Culturel Irlandais
in Paris. In the summer of 2014 Katie and her
partner Jasper O’Connor converted a boat shed
on the water’s edge in Aughrusbeg, Connemara
into a restaurant for the summer months,
making a journey out to the far west of Ireland
part of the experience of the meal.
katiejanesanderson.com
63
Objects
Designgoat
X
Katie Sanderson
Featured Work:
A collection of tableware with various
materials and finishes, all inspired by
the food to be served on them.
Collaborative Process:
The collaboration between Designgoat
and Katie Sanderson has come from their
discussions on process and experiences.
They have developed a collection of objects
that will be used to serve a collaborative
dinner inspired by Irish food, sea and
raw materials. The aim is to create an
experience that is built up throughout 2015,
growing with each show. The process of
preparing the food, the materials used
and the crafting of a unique experience all
influence the tableware for each dish.
Materials:
Spun, polished brass bowl.
55mm x160mm diameter, 360g.
Objects
Garrett Pitcher
Garrett Pitcher is Creative Director at Indigo &
Cloth, a Dublin based menswear boutique and
branding studio that works with a number of
local and international brands, conceiving and
producing creative ideas. Garrett has worked
with Designgoat on the development of a
chair and magazine rack that was exclusively
launched in Milan.
indigoandcloth.com
66
Designgoat
X
Garrett Pitcher
Featured Work:
The Dyflin chair and accompanying magazine
rack were born from an intriguing notion: what
if the Vikings had never left? What would Dublin
as a city be today?
Materials:
Both the chair and magazine rack work off the
same angles and ideology. The materials are
kept as simple as possible, using a steel frame
to accommodate the sling of high quality Irish
leather.
Collaborative Process:
The collaboration on Dyflin was devised
through numerous conversations and a shared
appreciation for simplicity, functionality and a
respect for Scandinavian lifestyle and traditions
and a desire to bring them into an Irish context,
using Irish manufacturing and materials. The
chair and magazine rack are designed to be
beautiful when they are not being used and
invisible when they are.
Objects
Design Partners
X
Calor
See company profile on page 12
Featured Work:
The Calor Mini BBQ is a neat, portable gas
barbeque that is practical and simple to use.
Designed to create a new experience around the
family, it can be carried in one hand and set up and
cleaned with ease. The Calor Mini BBQ has been
awarded iF, IDI and Good Design awards.
calorgas.ie
68
Design Partners
X
LE Creuset
Featured Work:
The Le Creuset Activ-Ball is a beautiful
corkscrew constructed in a durable metal alloy.
It has an innovative self-pulling mechanism that
pushes the cork from the screw after removal.
The Le Creuset Activ-Ball has won iF, IDI and
Good Design product awards.
lecreuset.ie
Objects
Derek Wilson
Belfast-based ceramicist Derek Wilson
graduated from the University of Ulster in
2007 with an MA in Applied Arts. He runs a
successful contemporary studio practice that
focuses on producing a range of hand-thrown
porcelain tableware as well as a selection of
sculptural objects. He has exhibited extensively
throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe and
his work has featured in Wallpaper magazine’s
‘Handmade’ Milan exhibition. His practice
as a ceramicist draws inspiration from a
diverse range of sources – from mid-century
British Constructivism to the history of the
ceramic industry in Europe and Asia, with an
aim to push the boundaries of a traditional
and diverse art form through playing with
its aesthetics, materiality and processes.
derekwilsonceramics.com
70
Featured work:
A curated collection of studio ceramic pieces
that reference functional elements yet retain
a sculptural aesthetic. The selective colour
palette and quality of finish and form reflect
local elements within the historical landscape
where the pieces are produced. Their colour,
shape and materiality reference the ideas
of restraint, containment and minimalism.
All pieces are hand thrown; some are made
in sections and then constructed when the
clay is leather-hard. Pieces with an engobe
finish are fired up to five times with layers of
the engobe painted on between each firing
until the required quality and depth of finish are
achieved.
Materials:
Porcelain and stoneware, high-fired with an
engobe finish and glazed interiors.
71
Objects
Victoria Rothschild is an Irish designer and a
graduate of the National College of Art and
Design. She moved to the UK in 1998 and
went on to study at the Royal College of Art
in London. Specialising in glass, much of her
work is a tactile response to the raw material,
retaining a close relationship between the
product and the process of making. She
has worked on a diverse range of critically
acclaimed projects with the Design & Crafts
Council of Ireland and her work has been
exhibited internationally. In 2007 Victoria
and business partner Mark Bickers set up
the Rothschild & Bickers studio in Hertford
to produce hand blown glass lighting. With a
known commitment to craft and a mission to
revive the industry, the brand is inspired by the
heritage of this unique material and the skills
used in its transformation. Today, Rothschild
& Bickers has a portfolio of over 20 products
and its lighting adorns hotels, restaurants, bars,
shops and homes around the world.
rothschildbickers.com
Featured Work:
The clear cylindrical lights of the Empire range
draw focus to elegant metal finishes featuring
braided metal flex paired with copper or zinc
fittings and eye-catching filament bulbs.
Materials:
Glass, metal, fabric flex, bulbs.
“Every piece that we create, whether it’s a
bespoke commission or something from one
of our signature collections, is an original.
Each one is free blown and comes with its own
tiny irregularities. It is impossible to imagine
the many steps and techniques which go into
producing each of our designs if you haven’t
seen the process for yourself. ”
Victoria Rothschild
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Victoria Rothschild
Snug
Conor Kelly
From their workshop in Snugboro, Co. Wicklow,
Conor Kelly and Nell Roddy run Snug, creating
well-crafted and designed furniture that will
sit comfortably in any home. Conor is a trained
cabinet-maker with over 15 years’ experience
working with crafted furniture in Ireland, Kenya
and New Zealand. Nell has a passion for design
and together they started Snug in April 2014
to demonstrate their belief that good design
can transform everyday living. Each piece is a
celebration of design that is playful, functional
and crafted. The structural simplicity of the
Snug range is the outcome of a considered
process of sketching, prototypes, wood
and colour changes until the final product is
realised. The aim is always to achieve a balance
between simplicity, function and beauty.
snug.ie
Featured work:
The Snug Bench injects a playful aesthetic and
modern design into traditional kitchen seating,
taking the lines of its constituent birch wood as
its primary visual focus.
Materials:
Ash and birch plywood.
Objects
Cathal Loughnane
Cathal Loughnane is Creative Director with
Design Partners, a leading Irish strategic
product design consultancy. He studied
Industrial Design at Carlow IT and the National
College of Art & Design, Dublin and has played a
core role in developing Design Partners’ unique
approach to industrial design, merging craft
techniques with advanced computer-aided
technology. His consulting work with a broad
spectrum of global brands has been recognised
internationally by Red Dot and Industrie Forum
in Germany and Good Design in the United
States and Japan. A sculptor at heart, Cathal
has a passion for storytelling and the study of
human motivations and strives in his creative
work to make meaningful connections that
resonate with people’s lives and to reflect the
balance between refined form and visceral
beauty.
designpartners.com
74
Peter Sheehan
Peter is a graduate of the National College
of Art & Design, Dublin and has worked for
over 25 years across the spectrum of design
consultancy for global brands, for much of that
time as Creative Director of strategic product
design consultancy Design Partners. He has
developed several iconic computer input
devices for key client Logitech, all of which
blend the signatures of Peter’s work: thoughtful
detailing, functionality, ergonomics and a
quiet, honed, sculptural aesthetic. His work
has been exhibited in MoMA San Francisco,
MoMA New York, the Chicago Athenaeum,
at the Red Dot and Industrie Forum awards,
Germany and in Good Design, Japan.
In 2011 he set up Peter Sheehan Studios to
take a wide-angle view of design, making, craft
and art while continuing to do a certain amount
of design consultancy and mentoring.
petersheehanstudio.com
Objects
Cathal Loughnane
X
Peter Sheehan
Featured Work:
The History Chair is the latest step in a longstanding design collaboration between two
designers that goes back to when they first
worked together at Design Partners over 20
years ago. Both are scribblers, and sketching is
at the heart of their process. Both are sculptors,
striving to capture beauty in form. Their work
together is underpinned by conversations more
than anything else.
Collaborative Process:
The collaboration between Peter and Cathal is
rooted in their history of working together, their
own experiences and observations, sharing
stories and conversations, a shared approach
to how they work and their complementary
yet different perspectives and strengths.
Identifying and understanding the essence of
an object is central to their work.
Following the crafted scupltural approach
of The History Chair, over a number of months
Loughnane and Sheehan worked with the
craftsman Ryan Connolly, paring back the
design language to realise a new sibling called
The Pilgrim Chair with a similar presence but
with the emphasis on a pared-down functional
silhouette and an austere simplicity.
Materials:
Oak.
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Objects
The Souvenir
Project
Ireland is home to a vibrant design
and craft sector which has its roots in
Ireland’s 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 is to
showcase the extraordinary creative talent
and quality of materials and making within
Ireland. Souvenirs are a symbolic reminder
of experience, location and culture, and
this collection of authentic Irish products,
designed and made in Ireland, provides
visitors a means of taking home the very best
of Irish design. These products reinvent,
reclaim and redeem the humble and often
stereotypical souvenir, making it beautiful,
meaningful and eminently collectible.
Irish Design 2015 marks a pivotal chapter
in Irish design, helping to inspire, promote
and develop Ireland’s design capacity and
culture. This commissioned project, through
a series of collaborations between designers,
makers and manufacturers, demonstrates
the power design has to create a future
where designers make opportunities, and
businesses have the opportunity to make it.
Taking elements of the island’s past, the
designers and makers featured in The
Souvenir Project have created a collection
of products that reflect Ireland’s design-led
future and celebrate Irish materials, culture and
heritage. Each tells a unique story of Ireland.
Alex Milton,
Programme Director, Irish Design 2015
78
The term souvenir may have an unfortunate
veil of commercialisation drawn over it due
to mass tourism but, at its root, it is literally
about memory and recollection. A souvenir is
so much more than useful or beautiful; it is a
loved object laced with emotional associations.
This collection of new Irish souvenirs carefully
explores this thinking, filtering it through the
local context, embracing the subtleties of
the land, weather, histories and people. It
is a gathering of objects with meaning and
depth that softly speak of a time and place.
Jonathan Legge,
The Souvenir Project
Curator & Creative Director,
makersandbrothers.com
“ 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.”
Souvenir 01 – The Rainbow Plate
Designed by Johnny Kelly
Made by Nicholas Mosse Pottery
This plate is the result of a collaboration
between Nicholas Mosse Pottery and animator
Johnny Kelly, commemorating the legalisation
of same-sex marriage in Ireland on the 22 May
2015.
Inspired by the pottery’s extensive back
catalogue of designs and colour, the resulting
rainbow pattern is reconstructed entirely from
this archive of motifs, including elements
dating back to the 1970s when Nicholas Mosse
Pottery was established. This souvenir is a small
celebration for a big moment in Ireland’s history,
a gently waving flag for equality.
Johnny Kelly
Johnny Kelly is a London based animator and
designer from Ireland. He moved to London to
work at a graphic design studio and somehow
found himself studying animation at the Royal
College of Art. He now works at Nexus, working
on interesting projects and commissions for
Adobe, Vitra, Google and the Victoria & Albert.
His short film Procrastination was broadcast by
the BBC, and won the Jerwood Moving Image
Award. The stop motion animation he directed
for Chipotle Back to the Start won the Film
Grand Prix at the Cannes Advertising Festival.
Johnny is an AGI member, and has judged for
AICP and D&AD. He is rubbish at cooking and
likes the countryside.
mickeyandjohnny.com
Nicholas Mosse
Nicholas Mosse established Nicholas Mosse
Pottery in 1976 after training in England
and Japan. His mission was to produce
beautiful, functional pottery in the style of Irish
spongeware – the traditional pottery of Ireland
used in the 18th century. His work derives
from his strong love of the country. His range
is based on generous hand thrown forms and
traditional sponge decorated patterns applied
directly onto his own locally made clay. All
patterns are designed by his wife, cut on site
and applied by local, in-house trained workers.
nicholasmosse.com
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Objects
Souvenir 02 – The Honey Pot
Designed and made by Stephen Pearce Pottery
Honey produced by Coolmore Bees
Packaging by Post Studio
Direction by Makers & Brothers
One field, the source of both the clay for the pot
and the raw honey that it holds. Good food is
very much related to the land and, as such, to
memory of place. This honey pot is about one
very specific place – a field in East Cork. The
pot contains raw honey created on the banks of
the Blackwater.
Clay was sourced next to the hives. That
same clay was formed and fired a few miles
down the road from this field and the raw
honey sealed inside with the wax created in
the production of that same honey. A vessel
containing all that one field in Cork has to offer.
Helena Newenham
Helena Newenham, who holds a BSc. in Food
Science from University College Cork and is
a third generation beekeeper at Coolmore
Bees, has been beekeeping with her father on
their family farm in Co. Cork for almost 8 years.
Coolmore Bees are now one of the largest
beekeepers in Ireland, supplying raw, Irish
multi-floral honey to many shops around Cork.
However, their main focus is on the breeding
and conservation of the native Irish honeybee.
By working closely with researchers in National
University of Ireland Galway and University of
Limerick, their aim is to overcome one of the
main causes of the decline of bees in Ireland,
the dreaded varroa mite, by developing a
varroa-tolerant bee.
coolmorebees.com
Stephen Pearce
Since throwing his first pot at the age of ten
by his father’s side in 1953, Stephen Pearce
has gone on to become a leading figure in Irish
design and pottery. His three distinctive ranges
of earthenware ship all around the world each
day. They are one of very few modern potteries
that continue to dig and process their own
clay which is sourced from the banks of the
Blackwater river. Each pot undergoes at least
eighteen individual hand processes on its
way through the workshop in Shanagarry, Co.
Cork.
stephenpearce.com
Post
Post is a Dublin-based graphic design studio
founded in 2015 by Robert Farrelly, Andrew
McNamee and Seán Mongey. They use
creativity, collaboration and clear ideas to
make work that serves many purposes and
use design as a catalyst to effect change and
growth for the businesses they work with.
Recent completed work includes an identity
and campaign for a physics festival; a book
with limited edition box for a photographer;
print and exhibition graphics for a fashion event
showcasing new designers; and an identity and
signage for a progressive steak house.
workbypost.com
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Souvenir 03 – Naming Rain
Patterns designed by Scott Burnett
Made by J. HILL’s Standard
In Ireland we have many names for rain. The
words ghost their original Irish form. They
describe the force, direction and potential
consequences of the rain. Most tellingly, they
lay bare our diverse feelings about this too
regular imposition. A soft day brings steel grey
cloud that wipes out the landscape and dulls all
feeling; “spitting” conveys a mild inconvenience
allowing the suffering to weave between the
drops. It’s absolutely lashing, rain bounces
off the ground and unleashes a torrent of
dialogue, aghast at the state of the weather.
Elements speak of nature and landscape and
our interpretation of them says a lot about us.
Rain can be symbolic of melancholy, passion,
wistfullness, creativity. It lends the Irish land its
verdant greenness and its water and fire colour
palette.
Scott Burnett
Scott Burnett is a Dublin based designer
and creative director of Aad. He works with
organisations of all sizes, and from a wide
range of sectors, shaping identities, objects,
ideas and experiences. He is an active advocate
of design and creativity helping establish
and develop projects such as 100archive.
com, a platform for Irish graphic design, and
makeshapechange.com, a film, website
and educational workshops programme
that illustrates the role and effect of design
on our lives.
J. HILL’s Standard
J. HILL’s Standard produces handmade
contemporary crystal in Waterford, Ireland, cut
with precision by craftsmen who use age-old
knowledge and skill. They found the physical
nature of rain is especially satisfying to interpret
in cuts on crystal. They have used a series of
different cutting techniques to achieve the
effect of imagery created for them by Graphic
Designer Scott Burnett.
jhillsstandard.com
studioaad.com
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Objects
Souvenir 04 - Brandub
Designed by dePaor
Board design collaboration by
Sphere One | Lucy Downes
An brandub is the boardgame mentioned
since the sixth century in Irish texts. The old
game of ground is presented here as a section
of peat, compressed and cut into thirteen
figures, played on a punctured wool felt mat. An
brandub, the raven, is perched at the centre of
the board, outnumbered and surrounded, and
plays for stalemate – an island game.
“The centre of the plain of Fal is Tara’s
castle, delightful hill; out in the exact centre
of the plain, like a mark on a brandub board.
Advance thither, it will be a profitable step: leap
up on that square, which is fitting for the branán,
the board is fittingly thine.”
Attributed to Maoil Eoin Mac Raith
de Paor
Tom de Paor was born in London in1967 and
graduated from the School of Architecture
at University College Dublin in 1991. He has
since taught at a variety of schools at home
and abroad and has lectured widely. He has
received various national and international
acknowledgements for his work, which includes
public buildings and interiors, exhibitions,
homes, furniture, books and film. He was
elected a member of Aosdána in 2015.
depaor.com
Sphere One
Sphere One is a collection of modern,
conceptual design from Ireland, under the
creative directorship of Lucy Downes, a native
of Dublin shaped by Wicklow and New York
City. A directional label of design integrity
with a strong focus on colour, a mastery
of construction and clean-lined, flattering
silhouettes, it is shown at Paris Fashion Week
and New York Fashion Week twice a year.
The individually hand-framed pieces, using
the world’s finest cashmere yarns, give rise
to exquisite knitwear identified by Lucy’s
trademark circle or ‘sphere’ of handstitches.
sphereone.ie
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Souvenir 05 - Stone Wall Patterns
Designed and made by Superfolk
Print assistance by Print Block
Stone Wall Patterns is a collection of prints
inspired by the dry stone walls of Ireland.
Seemingly haphazard yet structurally sound,
the dry stone wall holds its form without mortar.
The expressive character of the wall describes
the underlying geology of the area. Distinctive
patterns emerge as you journey through the
countryside. This collection of patterns (Aran,
Burren and Connemara) has been developed
by hand, through loose ink brush drawing and
relief block print methods before screenprinting
on natural Irish linen.
Superfolk
Based on the Atlantic coast of the west of
Ireland, Superfolk design and make simple,
beautiful home goods for people who love
the wild outdoors. With a passion for wildlife,
nature and wild food and a respect for material
heritage they celebrate the natural world and
share their passion for it through their products.
Craft is at the heart of what they do and their
products reflect the character and behaviour
of the raw materials from which they are made.
Superfolk design through making and take time
to create quality, durable objects that embrace
the patina of use and the passing of time.
superfolk.com
Print Block
Print Block is a studio collective and textile
printing facility in Dublin. It is run by a group of
textile artists and designers who are committed
to developing the Irish textile printing industry.
They offer workshops, masterclasses, open
access days and membership to a community of
printed textiles practitioners. The vision of Print
Block is to raise the profile of printed textiles in
Ireland and to make an important contribution
to the Irish cultural landscape and economy.
printblock.ie
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Souvenir 06 - Lumper
Designed by Makers & Brothers
Made by Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry
The hidden and humble root vegetable
introduced to Europe in the 16th century that
has since become uniquely associated with
Ireland. The hardy tuber has a deep and emotive
narrative. The Lumper, once the most prevalent
food source in Ireland, is now grown on only
one farm. An oddity in bronze, Lumper is a
memento with a wonderfully curious form and
is presented with an essay by celebrated Irish
chef Darina Allen.
Makers & Brothers
Makers & Brothers is a design-led multichannel
retail operation developed by Jonathan and
Mark Legge. They are a content-driven retail
venture founded on a belief in the simple
things; the handmade, objects of integrity,
contemporary vernaculars.
Alongside makersandbrothers.com, they
run an ever-evolving series of retail events at
home and abroad. Each event offers a new array
of products by designers and makers from all
over the world plus work by the M&B in-house
design team, who are actively working with
makers to produce new and exclusive objects of
use, the simple, beautiful and sometimes nicely
odd. They believe in a quiet, human approach
to retail.
makersandbrothers.com
Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry
Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry was established
in 1996 and has become a leader in fine art
bronze casting in Ireland. They produce bronze
castings to the highest standard that endure
for generations. They produce awards, plaques,
gallery works, monumental outdoor sculptures
as well as bronze castings for the film and TV
industry. They pride themselves on a close
working relationship with the individual artist or
commissioning body.
bronzeart.ie
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Souvenir 07 - ibi
Designed and produced by Cathal Loughnane &
Peter Sheehan
ibi is a precious and personal object – a
souvenir – that allows an individual, through a
simple gesture, to be immediately transported
back to a time, a place and a feeling. Special
memories are collected during a lifetime,
forming an intimate record of how we
experience the world. Objects, images and
sounds trigger them. Small things that are
completely meaningless to others have a
heightened resonance for the individual. Crafted
from native Irish hardwoods and Wexford linen,
each ibi contains a personal memory. Rotate
gently and listen.
Cathal Loughnane, see page 74
designpartners.com
Peter Sheehan, see page 75
petersheehanstudio.com
85
Objects
Souvenir 08 - Measc Muddle
Designed by WorkGroup
Made by Shane Holland
Cocktail by America Village Apothecary
Direction by Makers & Brothers
Measc Muddle is an Irish sycamore and brushed
brass cocktail muddle, inspired by the layered
landscape of west Galway. The muddle is the
result of a collaboration between design studio
WorkGroup, Shane Holland and America Village
Apothecary. It has been designed to work
beautifully for any drink where ingredients need
to be crushed, pounded or ground in the glass.
Measc Muddle is a specially created tool,
designed so that the markings on the shaft can
be used to make an Irish red clover, bog myrtle
and Irish whiskey cocktail: the Móin Bhuí.
Shane Holland
Shane Holland is a product designer and
sculptor trained at the National College of Art
and Design in Dublin and University of Limerick.
He is best known for his lighting, furniture
and awards work in mixed materials and is an
expert in metals. His work has been exhibited in
London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Dublin, Hanover,
Beijing and Tokyo. He is constant in his pursuit
of functional elegance and experimentation
with materials through the design and making
process. He set up his first studios in central
Dublin in 1991, before moving in 2006 to a
purpose built studio and workshops where all
his designs are now produced with a skilled
team in Duleek, County Meath. Holland’s
award winning studio is involved in custom
commissions in furniture, lighting and sculptural
projects and collaborates with design practices
and private and corporate clients worldwide.
shanehollanddesign.com
America Village Apothecary
America Village Apothecary aims to connect
old style medicas and botanicals with modern
world living. It is a small, artisan business,
developed in 2014, conceived and run by Claire
Davey. They are based in north Connemara
on the west coast of Ireland, where they are
surrounded by an abundance of native wild
herbs and botanicals. Their signature Syrups
are crafted in small batches using this local,
sustainably foraged, seasonal bounty. They
are passionate about working toward creating
greater harmony regarding the way nature and
community interact in our modern world.
americavillage.com
WorkGroup
WorkGroup is a graphic design studio founded
in 2006 by Conor Nolan and David Wall. The
focus of the studio’s work is to create useful
and beautiful graphic design for print and
screen, which they do for a wide variety of
clients. They have worked with 3FE, An Post,
Bewley’s, Brown Bag Films, David McWilliams,
Gill & Macmillan, ID2015, Irish Design Shop,
Oliver Jeffers, Open House Dublin, Pivot Dublin,
Project Arts Centre, Roads Group, Senator
Katherine Zappone and UCD, among others.
Their process is driven by a desire to create
useful design that becomes part of the daily
workflow of their clients. Their own interest in
the craft and processes of design means that
they challenge themselves to deliver these
useful solutions in a way that is beautiful,
elegant and engaging.
conoranddavid.com
Móin Bhuí
by America Village Apothecary
A cocktail representing season and place
Late summer/Connemara
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Ingredients per drink
50ml Jameson Black Barrel Whiskey
25ml America Village red clover & myrtle syrup
6 Fresh mint leaves
1 Fresh lime wedge
4 Dashes of aromatic bitters
3 Drops of bog myrtle tincture
Method
Build in glass
Muddle mint and lime wedge in glass
Add whiskey and syrup using muddler as your
measure
Add aromatic bitters
Add ice & stir well
Garnish with a few drop of bog myrtle tincture,
clover & mint
Souvenir 09 – The Sally
Designed and made by The Tweed Project
Packaging by Post Studio
A wool pom pom ring with a refined heritage
style. The Sally is a modern accessory inspired
by The Tweed Project’s friend who wears and
makes endless pom poms. The Sally is made
from 100% Irish wool and created from the
offcuts of The Tweed Project’s Blanket Coats,
produced in collaboration with Molloy & Sons
in Donegal. It continues The Tweed Project’s
dialogue with the slow fashion movement,
where time and craft take priority.
The Tweed Project
The Tweed Project is a modern Irish heritage
brand using Irish fabrics in a contemporary
way. The collection is fully made and produced
in Ireland, for the world. It is the collective
work of Triona Lillis, a designer and stylist, and
Aoibheann Mac Namara of Ard Bia in Galway,
who care about slow fashion and the future of
the Irish textile market
thetweedproject.com
Post studio
See page 80 for description
87
Essay
Souvenirs: Memory Rebooted
Sentiment, authenticity and identity
in contemporary object culture
by Laura Houseley
The meaning of what a souvenir is and what it
does has slowly evolved over time, just as the
Souvenirs have been around for as long as
humans have travelled. The 17th century grand
As a rule, souvenirs need not even be
something purchased. A found object has just
way we travel and experience places and even
how we access our memories has changed.
Today’s souvenir is ripe for reinterpretation.
Forget about products reflecting clumsy
stereotypes, mass-produced somewhere far,
far away from the place they depict and imagine
instead objects with a genuine connection
to the land from which they came: things that
gently echo the people, history, geography or
nature of a place. Today’s souvenir can be, if
we allow it, an extra-ordinary object, rare in its
bridging of experiential and object cultures
and fascinating in its shape-shifting nature and
sentimentality.
Consider how concerned we all are with
‘locally made’ produce, with provenance and
with integrity. Think of our infatuation with
and taste for craft and craft production. Then
there is our love of ‘experience’; all of these
modern day pursuits hint at the possibility for
a renaissance of the souvenir, reborn as an
authentic object making use of local materials
and speaking directly, and strongly, of place.
tour phenomenon established the popular
tradition of souvenir collecting (miniature
coliseums and pantheons were essential
purchases, along with the odd renaissance
painting), fashions such as Japonism fetishized
objects from far away (and the cultures they
represented) and the Victorians cemented
our need to discover (conquer?), collect and
display, a passion that permeated from museum
to mantelpiece. For many people the idea of a
souvenir will be stuck in the seventies with the
jovial, kitschy mass-market type of objects that
were popular by-products of package tourism.
In the recent past the souvenir has been a
collective thing: homogenous and unindividual.
The way we experience places and share
those experiences is still changing. We no
longer look to a stuffed donkey to remember
a holiday; increasingly we revisit our travels in
digital spaces and share those experiences,
widely, with others. That doesn’t mean that the
souvenir’s purpose is extinct, just that its value
has shifted slightly. The souvenir has become a
more personal artefact; it is less about sharing
common or familiar experiences as it once
was – we have Facebook for that – and more
about preserving rare and intimate memories.
Whereas we would once rejoice in the shared
experience of a place and, in turn, the object
that represented it (consider the classics here;
Spanish doll, Eiffel tower, snow globe) we
now search for something authentic and less
expected, because that is also the way we travel
and that is also how we place value on objects.
as much right (and perhaps more charm) to
be called a souvenir as something bought at a
local market or gift shop. But in the past there
has been a heavy leaning towards cultural
mementos; architectural monuments in
miniature are a (personal) favourite, reproduced
art works and even political figures (Mao, Lenin
etc.) are common haul. This is commodification
of course and it is interesting to consider the
process of manufacture of these memoriesmade-physical: who has made them and
why? And, importantly, whose memories are
they in fact? Souvenirs use archetypes and
iconography, they are by their nature reductive
– a souvenir need only offer us a glimpse of a
place, a tiny fragment of it, from which a whole
experience can be accessed. This is where their
power lies.
We live in an increasingly efficient and
detached world and it is very usual, now, to hear
designers and manufacturers talk about the
importance of ingraining objects and products
with ‘narrative’ and ‘emotional connection’.
A souvenir is predisposed to contain these
things. And it is this ultimately, the inherent
sentimentality of souvenirs, which ensures their
survival.
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89
Environment
GRAFTON
ARCHITECTS
Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara
Grafton Architects was formed in 1978 and
has won many international plaudits for its
work, including the World Building of the Year
Award 2008 for the Bocconi University project
in Milan; the British Civic Trust award and AAI
Special Award in 2009, both for the Department
of Finance building in Dublin; the Silver Lion
Award at the Venice Biennale Common Ground
exhibition 2012; and a shortlisting for the
2013 Stirling Prize for Medical School and
Student Accommodation at the University of
Limerick. Current projects include the School
of Economics for the University of Toulouse and
92
the new university campus for UTEC in Lima
(both now under construction); Institut MinesTélécom university building, Paris Saclay; Town
House building, Kingston University London;
and Dublin City Library – all won by international
competition.
Co-Founders Yvonne Farrell and Shelley
McNamara are Fellows of the RIAI, International
Honorary Fellows of RIBA and elected members
of Aosdána, the eminent Irish Arts organisation.
They were appointed adjunct Professors at their
alma mater University College Dublin in 2015
and have been visiting professors at EPFL,
Lausanne and at Accademia di Archittettura,
Mendrisio where they were appointed full
professors in 2013. They held the Kenzo Tange
chair at GSD Harvard in 2010 and the Louis
Kahn chair at Yale in the Fall of 2011 and were
joint winners of the Jane Drew Award 2015.
graftonarchitects.ie
Graphic
Relief
Eric Barrett
Designer Eric Barrett and engineer Mark
Dale joined forces in 2010 to form Graphic
Relief, located in both Dublin and London.
Mark had worked as both an engineer and
manufacturing advisor, while Eric brought
over 20 years’ experience working with a
range of materials, especially concrete. They
were joined in 2012 by Giancarlo Lovino,
former managing director of Permasteelisa,
who has extensive knowledge of the
construction industry from experience on
many prestigious projects.
Graphic Relief has developed the capability to
produce extremely fine detail moulds that can
be used to cast a variety of different materials.
Ideas and designs can be transformed into a
wide range of architectural finishes, for both
internal and external applications. Graphic
Relief was created with innovation at its heart
and has collaborated with many different
designers, architects and artists over the past
few years. Constantly involved in research and
development programs, the Graphic Relief team
is always trying to push the limits of materials.
graphicrelief.co.uk
93
Environment
Grafton
Architects
x
Graphic
Relief
Collaborative Process:
The collaboration between Graphic Relief
and Grafton Architects aims to push the
boundaries of what can be achieved when two
companies are willing to take risks. Grafton
bring their wealth of experience to bear in the
design of large scale iconic buildings while
Graphic Relief bring their expertise in working
on highly detailed architectural concrete
panels. The fusion of scale, experimentation
and the opportunity to test how diverse
materials react when combined with glass
reinforced concrete will result in a mixture of
unexpected outcomes and happy accidents
that could lead in multiple directions.
For Liminal, their collaboration has evolved from
a series of small-scale samples to 23 nine foot
high concrete fins, each representing the bark
of a native Irish tree, first shown at the Victoria
& Albert Museum as a landmark project during
London Design Festival. This installation was
viewed by over 109,000 visitors during the
festival.
Materials:
Cast concrete and steel.
94
95
96
97
98
Milan
April 14-19
Liminal – Irish design at the threshold
was exhibited at Milan Design Week, marking
Ireland’s inaugural presence at the
leading international event. The exhibition
located in Zona Tortona, drew over
40,000 visitors.
99
Environment
Smarter
Surfaces
Derek Allen
Smarter Surfaces (previously known as Smart
Wall Paint) was founded by Wicklow born Ronan
Clarke in 2011. Their first product was Smart Wall
Paint, an award-winning, one-coat whiteboard
paint available in White and Clear (which
accommodates any colour) finish. Smart Wall
Paint enables the creation of unlimited whiteboard
areas in any space – offices, schools, communal
spaces, homes. In 2014 the company launched
Smart Magnetic Primer, which can be combined
with Smart Wall Paint to create a surface that is
both whiteboard and magnetic. Smarter Surfaces
invests continually in R&D and innovation and in
2015, added more new products to the range:
Smart Projector Paint, Smart Magnetic Wallpaper
and Smart Whiteboard Sheets.
Smarter Surfaces trades globally through
distributors and e-commerce sites and is a market
leader in developing and delivering functional
surfaces to customers worldwide. The paints are
very popular with architects and designers as
well as for planning and collaboration purposes
in major multinationals involved in research,
manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and planning.
Corporate customers include LinkedIn, Nike, NBC
Universal, MasterCard, Web Summit and many
small businesses, while in the education sector
Smarter Surfaces paints are used by The Juilliard
School for the Performing Arts, the Royal College
of Surgeons, the London School of Music and
many more.
Smarter Surfaces plans further new products
and global expansion and has been the recipient
of several awards including an EOPA Product of
the Year 2014 Award (FM Category), an Export
Industry Award 2014, the 2013 David Manley
Business Category Award and the 2013 PwC
Docklands Innovation Award.
Featured Work:
Smart Wall Paint was used to create an interactive
zone at Liminal Milan.
smartersurfaces.com
100
NEW YORK
May 15-18
Irish design was represented for the first
time at WantedDesign, Manhattan during
NYCxDESIGN. The exhibition was attended
by over 16,000 visitors.
101
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EINDHOVEN
October 17-25
An evolution of Liminal – Irish design at the
threshold focusing on the design &
technology interface was presented at
Dutch Design Week. The exhibition at the
iconic Klokgebouw building was attended
by over 70,000 visitors.
103
COMMUNICATION
Communication
Sarah
Bowie
Sarah Bowie is a freelance illustrator and
cartoonist. She is a founding member of The
Comics Lab, a monthly comics salon, which
aims to develop a vibrant alternative comics
scene in Ireland. Based in Dublin, she is also a
founding member of OFFSKETCH, an urban
sketch event with pop-up exhibition, which aims
to encourage active visual engagement with the
city. Her most recent illustration work includes a
chapter book published by Little Island in 2015,
and she is currently working on a picture book
for The O’Brien Press, due to be published in
Spring 2016.
sarahbowie.com
106
Sarah Bowie
Communication
Sarah
Bowie
x
DOLMEN
x
NOVAERUS
Featured Work
Sarah Bowie has collaborated with Dolmen and
Novaerus to create a playful yet informative
illustrated poster helping explain the project
featured on page 20.
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109
Communication
VFX
Association
of Ireland
VFXAI showcases Ireland as a centre of
excellence and a destination with significant
VFX talent. Representing Ireland’s leading
VFX companies such as Egg, Piranha Bar,
Screen Scene and Windmill Lane, the work of
its member companies has been recognised
at international award ceremonies including
the VES Awards, the Emmy’s and the BAFTA’s,
acknowledging the superb creative talent and
production expertise available in Ireland.
vfxai.com
Egg Post Production
110
Egg Post Production, located in the heart of
Georgian Dublin, is a dynamic and innovative
company with a proven track record in
all areas of post production and VFX.
It was founded in 2004 by Gareth Young
and Gary Shortall, realising their vision of using
cutting-edge technology and workflows with
a focus on creativity to deliver high-quality
finishing and VFX to the Irish media industry.
Following highly successful careers as
editors, their vast knowledge of the industry
and post production processes ensures
the best possible service to their clients.
Their facilities include two 4K grading
suites with cinema calibrated projection, a
finishing suite, 2 sound dubbing studios,
40 VFX seats and 8 offline rooms.
At the heart of the facility is an Isilon
storage system that allows seamless
workflows across the entire facility.
Their work is consistently nominated
for awards with credits including Emmy,
BAFTA and IFTA winning shows.
egg.ie
Piranha Bar
Piranha Bar is a creative production studio built
around a full service post facility. Their roster of
directors and studio of animators, 3D experts,
flame artists and production specialists all
share a passion for effective storytelling.
From live-action to animation and high-end
VFX, every executional technique supports
‘The Story’ resulting in engaging, beautifully
crafted work that speaks, sometimes whispers
and occasionally screams. From inception
to execution, Piranha Bar encourages a
collaborative approach to the creative process
and looks to workshop concepts, techniques
and media options with clients. In addition to
the traditional production company workflow,
Piranha Bar offers a collective approach,
where every solution is explored and delivered
in-house. As the world rapidly shifts focus from
one medium to another and people engage
across multiple communication platforms,
Piranha Bar seeks to explore the concepts and
techniques that result in true originality.
piranhabar.ie
111
Communication
Screen Scene
112
Established 30 years ago, Screen Scene VFX
and post production facilities is a cornerstone
of the Irish film and television industry. It has
grown over time to become an award winning
team of 60 people, with 50 post production
suites and a VFX facility with 40 seats. Screen
Scene has established Ireland as a VFX and
post production centre of excellence with the
capacity to deliver on the international stage.
The company is one of the most
experienced suppliers of TV dramas and
feature film VFX and post production in the
UK and Ireland. They are currently working on
TV shows ‘The Frankenstein Chronicles’ for
ITV and ‘Ripper Street’ Season 4 for Amazon
Prime, and the feature film ‘I.T.’ directed by
John Moore, and starring Pierce Brosnan.
Earlier this year, Screen Scene’s work
on ‘Ripper Street’ Season 3 received both
BAFTA and VES nominations for best VFX.
In 2014 Screen Scene VFX received a
VES nomination for best VFX for the Sky One
drama ‘Moonfleet’. In 2011 Screen Scene’s
VFX work on Series 1 of ‘Game of Thrones’ was
Emmy-nominated and picked up a VES award.
Recent credits include ‘Room’, ‘Game
Of Thrones’ Season 5, ‘Sing Street’,
‘A Dangerous Fortune’, ‘Die Hard 5’,
‘Last Days On Mars’, ‘Life Of Crime’, ‘Ice
Cream Girls’ and ‘Loving Miss Hatto’.
screenscene.ie
Windmill Lane
Windmill Lane VFX specialises in creating
high-end visual effects for feature film and
television. Established in 2010, Windmill
Lane collaborates with directors and
producers to realise their vision and produce
computer imagery of the highest standard.
A wealth of talent and experience in all
aspects of the industry allows the company
to work efficiently in an environment that is
both relaxed and creatively stimulating.
Windmill have worked on feature films
such as ‘Lockout’, produced by Luc Besson’s
EuropaCorp, and Jake Paltrow’s ‘Young
Ones’, as well as the TV dramas ‘Titanic:
Blood & Steel’, ‘Vikings’, ‘Penny Dreadful’,
and ‘Dracula Untold’ for Universal Pictures.
Current projects include ‘Jadotville’,
starring Jamie Dornan, and ‘The Secret
Scripture’ directed by Jim Sheridan and
starring Rooney Mara and Vanessa Redgrave.
windmilllanevfx.com
113
Communication
James Morris
Windmill Lane
I was involved in the student drama society,
‘Players’, in Trinity College, and in a band too,
with the composer Shaun Davey. I’d studied
history, and even though that was a good thing
– it teaches you to marshal your thoughts –
there were no jobs when I graduated in 1970.
So I went over to London, and found my way to a
cutting room in Soho. As soon as I got sight of a
film editor at work, I thought ‘That’s for me!’.
I became a trainee, working my way up to a
job at Roger Cherill’s, which was the top editing
company at the time. I loved film, but didn’t want
to spend the rest of my working life in London,
so I turned down two job offers to come back
to Dublin and set up my own editing company.
Then Russ Russell, another college friend,
joined me and after a short while we built a
music recording studio. The timing was perfect.
Back then, if bands in the UK had a hit,
they’d be told to make another record, but also
to leave the country for tax reasons. Meanwhile,
Paul McGuinness, who’d also been in college
with us, said, “I manage a band”, and he brought
in U2. MTV started up and suddenly every band
needed a video. We were the only people who
had a film studio alongside a recording studio.
By the late 1980s, we couldn’t grow any
more in Ireland, so I was travelling to London
each week, and with the help of Paul and U2 we
then set up a post production facility in Soho
and called it The Mill. The Mill was a dedicated
commercials facility but digital technologies
came along and made it feasible to work
digitally on film. The Mill approached Ridley
and Tony Scott, and set up Mill Film in 1998. It
went well and led to winning the VFX Oscar for
Gladiator. I left The Mill around 2005 and the
company has gone on to great success in New
York, LA and Chicago.
114
Throughout all this, Windmill has always
been my base and a few years ago two talented
Irish film makers, Stephen St. Leger and
James Mather, persuaded Luc Besson to make
Lockout with them, and they asked me to set up
a VFX studio in Dublin. We rented a warehouse
in Sandyford, took on a team from our contacts,
and delivered the film.
Now we’re building a viable, sustainable
VFX base in Ireland. It’s a tough market; the
competition isn’t with other companies here,
it’s with competitors abroad, so we’ve reached
out to Screen Scene, Egg and Piranha Bar to
form a collective, The Visual Effects Association
of Ireland (VFXAI). Geography isn’t an issue
any more, and we’re working together to put
ourselves on the map, getting the message out
that we can team up to handle scale if a suitable
project comes along.
Digital production is leading content
creation around the world. We have really
great talent in Ireland - we’re writing our own
software, coming up with our own angles. In
the past, the majority of Irish creative talent was
picked up by big companies working elsewhere,
but there are many who’d love to come back. We
all want to work on something challenging and
good – now we can give them a chance.
“Now we’re
building a viable,
sustainable VFX
base in Ireland.”
115
Communication
In the
Company
of Huskies
Niamh Clohosey
In the Company of Huskies is a creative agency
based in the heart of Dublin’s docklands.
With a team of more than 50, they combine
a deep knowledge of digital with big brand
thinking and creative firepower. In 2016,
digital technologies will become the primary
platform for the consumption of media
and communications in the Irish marketplace,
and Huskies is at the forefront of helping
brands navigate this new environment.
Their clients include Fáilte Ireland, Tullamore
D.E.W., Guinness Storehouse, Britain’s Open
University, Doyle hotels, Saint Vincent de Paul,
eFlow and many others.
inthecompanyofhuskies.com
116
Featured Work:
Design is everywhere but we don’t always see
it. The Vitrine Project is an ambient advertising
campaign designed to make the public more
aware of the prominence of design. By placing
glass display cases, akin to those found in a
museum, around everyday items and street
furniture, we make design more accessible
by showing its ubiquity. It forces the public
to re-examine what design means. There is
something enthralling about seeing an object
that is usually overlooked, elevated to a higher
status using just a display box. It proves that
great design is all around us but can often
become invisible. It is the intention that this
project be extended beyond Dublin to continue
the conversation on the crucial role that design
can play in enhancing our environments.
Jude Healy
Edel Quinn
117
Communication
STUDIO
PSK
Patrick Stevenson-Keating
Studio PSK is a collaborative design studio
based in London, founded by Patrick
Stevenson-Keating who is from Lisburn.
Patrick has a background in digital technology
and product design. He is also a product design
module leader at Middlesex University and
a regular lecturer at universities and events
internationally.
With a passion for detail and aesthetics,
Patrick has produced work that has been
exhibited internationally in arenas such as
the Design Museum, MU Gallery Eindhoven,
Selfridges, TATE Modern, NID India, Macau
Tower and the V&A. Studio PSK’s work spans
physical, digital and print media, often focusing
on complex contemporary issues and the use of
design as a way to communicate or challenge
these. In 2014, Studio PSK was nominated in
the Best Emerging Design Studio category in
the Icon Magazine awards.
studiopsk.com
Featured Work:
The work explores a range of potential futures
awaiting Ireland, each represented by a short
narrative and illustrated by an accompanying
object.
Collaborative Process:
The narratives shaping the work have been
created in conversation with Fintan O’Toole,
whose writing has examined how objects of
the past can be used to tell the stories of their
time. This project extrapolates this idea into the
future, using fictional objects – grouped around
the four themes of Living, Moving, Working and
Searching – to offer compelling glimpses into
fictional futures for Ireland. Inspiration is taken
from theorists such as Roland Barthes and
Adrian Forty who have written on the concept
of objects as mediators of social, political
and economic ideas, from designers such
as Dunne and Raby, who pioneered the role
of products as tools for questioning both the
present and the future, and Noam Toran who
further explored the balance between object
and narrative.
Materials:
3D printed paper and resin.
118
The ‘Keep Ireland Emerald’ Campaign
As Ireland becomes increasingly worried about
the impact global warming will have on its
landscape, a national government campaign
is launched called ‘Keep Ireland Emerald’.
This is a social and technological campaign
to maintain Ireland’s green characteristics,
both physically and culturally.
ReGreen Spray System
Pharming in Ireland
An Ireland that merges its agricultural
farming culture with medical ‘pharming’.
Rural agricultural villages are transformed
into biotechnology cottage industries,
catering for growing niche markets and
rare diseases.
Toy Pharming Set
New Irish Time (NIT)
In a bid to catalyse a new era of economic
growth in Ireland, a radical idea is implemented.
To capitalise on both Central American markets
to the west, and Central Asian markets to
the east, Ireland creates two new time zones
splitting the country down its longitude.
‘Tullamore Two Timers’ GAA Supporter Badge
119
Communication
The
STONE
TWINS
Declan & Garech Stone
The Stone Twins are twin brothers Declan and
Garech Stone (born 1970, Dublin). The work
of their Amsterdam-based design agency
is noted for its unconventional, engaging
and witty qualities and has been recognised
by industry awards such as D&AD, Dutch
Design Awards and European Design.
Passionate and assertive about design,
The Stone Twins are the authors of Logo
R.I.P., a book that commemorates 50 defunct
logos. Declan and Garech regularly contribute
to design publications and blogs such as
Eye Magazine, the International Review of
Graphic Design, DesignWeek, and for 10
years had a monthly column in the Dutch
magazine Communicatie. In addition, the duo
was Head of the ‘Man and Communication’
department at Design Academy Eindhoven from
2008–2013. They currently provide lectures
and workshops on visual communication
at several international design schools.
The Stone Twins work is included in
the permanent collections of the CooperHewitt New York, the Stedelijk Museum in
Amsterdam and their parents’ living room.
stonetwins.com
120
Featured Work:
ID2015 commissioned The Stone Twins to
develop a concept that reflects their perception
and unique perspective of Irish and Dutch
culture. The resulting booklet, Double Dutch
– Irish Blarney is an object to covet. It offers
humorous observations on the nuances and
idiosyncrasies of Dutch and Irish life.
Materials:
Linen cover with fluorescent inks and silver
thread stitching.
Booklet size is 80mm x 120mm.
121
Communication
ANIMATION
IRELAND
Here To Fall by Blacknorth Studio
Animation Ireland is a group of leading Irish
animation companies working together to
promote Ireland’s world class animation sector
internationally. With millions of children around
the world watching Irish produced animations
each week, Ireland is a recognised leader with
talented and technically sophisticated 2D and
3D studios creating and producing content
for TV, film, games, mobile and apps. The Irish
animation industry has experienced substantial
growth over the past five years emerging as
a central component of Ireland’s digital and
creative economy. Award winning Irish studios
employ 1,000+ technical and creative staff.
animationireland.com
A Man & Ink
Barley Films
Blacknorth Studio
A Man & Ink have been working hard for the
past ten years producing animation both
independently and in collaboration with other
companies across shorts, TV series and
features. For themselves, they have made the
shorts Scarecrow, Miss Remarkable & Her
Career (with Lisbet Gabrielsson AB (Sweden)
and Bullitt Film (Denmark), winner of the
Fipresci Award at the Annecy International
Animation Festival), The Neighbours a –
co-production with ithinkasia (Cambodia) that
is currently touring festivals, and the mini-series
The Variety Show. And with others: the series
Ish’hafan (Freakish Kid, Hungary) and Joe & Jack
(Dancing Girl Productions, Ireland); and the
feature films The Secret of Kells and Song of the
Sea (both with Cartoon Saloon, Ireland).
They are also currently working on a short
called A Stitch in Time.
Barley Films are passionate about diversity.
The company has produced nine animated
shorts since 2002 using CGI, cut-out, digital
and hand-drawn techniques. Their work has
screened at over 300 festivals in 39 countries.
The Barley Films crew has always had an
international flavour, with artists from Ireland,
Canada, the UK, France, Sweden, South Korea,
Lithuania and Italy all working at their Dublin
studio. They are also proud that four of their
films have been directed by talented women.
The company plans to produce a trilogy of
animated features in Ireland over the next
five years. The first of these is their principal
development project from the last few years,
Little Caribou.
Blacknorth Studio was incorporated in
2009 and started strong with its first BBC
commission, Living with Alcohol, winning
BAFTA: Best Factual Programme (Winner,
2010). Blacknorth was quick to realise
its creative strength within the animation
industry. They provide an animation service
to producers working with serious
content, stories with sensitive subject
matter that can reach specific audiences.
In 2012, My Autism and Me won an
Emmy, an RTS in the Craft and Design
category, and Blacknorth were nominated
for a BAFTA for this and Hardtimes.
Blacknorth has shaped itself into Northern
Ireland’s finest and most stimulating digital
media company by maintaining a mature and
robust pipeline, providing a reliable and highend service in both animation and VFX whilst
generating in-house intellectual property.
barleyfilms.net
amanandink.com
blacknorth.tv
122
Boulder Media
Brown Bag Films
Caboom
Boulder Media have been making high-end
2D and 3D animation for international markets
at their Dublin studio since 2000, producing
shows like the Emmy award-winning Foster’s
Home for Imaginary Friends, El Tigre, and the
BAFTA, Annie and Emmy award-winning The
Amazing World of Gumball for Cartoon Network.
They have already completed season one of
Disney XDs flagship show Randy Cunningham:
9th Grade Ninja and also produced the
first feature-length Lalaloopsy DVD for toy
manufacturers MGA. Other high-profile clients
include Nickelodeon and ABC.
Brown Bag Films is one of Europe’s most
successful creative-led animation studios.
Celebrating twenty years in business, their
Dublin-based headquarters have produced
cutting-edge animation for the international
market since 1994, bagging numerous
awards along the way. These include Oscar
nominations for Give Up Yer Aul Sins (2002)
and Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (2010),
three Emmy® awards for Peter Rabbit (2014),
and a host of BAFTA, Emmy, IFTA and Annie
nominations for their hit shows Octonauts,
Doc McStuffins and Henry Hugglemonster.
Brown Bag Films are committed to producing
the highest quality cross-platform animation
with strong stories and engaging characters.
Founded and managed by animators Cathal
Gaffney and Darragh O’Connell, Brown Bag
Films is one of Ireland’s business success
stories, now employing over 160 full-time staff.
Caboom is a multi-disciplinary production
company based in Dublin and LA. Working
in live-action, puppetry and animation, the
company draws on more than 20 years’
experience to produce award-winning content
for creatively ambitious clients. Caboom’s work
is broad and varied, from animation series for
the web to live-action commercials; animated
content for apps and games to live-action
comedy series. Clients include Disney, TBS,
RTÉ, CBBC, BBC, Fox, Warners, American
Greetings, Mattel and the Jim Henson Company.
The company is best known for its puppet series
Special 1 TV, which has aired internationally
on TV and online and has earned the company
a YouTube partnership for its unique use of
social media to build and engage an audience.
bouldermedia.tv
caboom.ie
brownbagfilms.com
123
Communication
Song of the Sea by Cartoon Saloon
Cartoon Saloon
Dancing Girl Productions
Double Z Enterprises
The Academy Award nominated animation
studio Cartoon Saloon was set up in 1999 by
Tomm Moore, Paul Young and Nora Twomey.
With award-winning short films such as
From Darkness, Cúilín Dualach/Backwards
Boy, Old Fangs and The Ledge End of Phil
(from accounting) to TV series like Skunk
Fu! (broadcast in over 120 territories) and
Puffin Rock (due for broadcast with Nick Jr
UK in 2015), Cartoon Saloon has carved a
special place in the international animation
industry. In 2015 the studio received an
Oscar nomination for the animated feature
Song of the Sea following on from The Secret
of Kells which was nominated for an award
in 2010. Cartoon Saloon has also created an
animated segment for The Prophet, a feature
produced by Salma Hayek, released in 2014.
Dancing Girl Productions was established by
veteran animation and live-action producers
Maeve McAdam and Villi Ragnarsson and has
offices in the Republic of Ireland and Northern
Ireland. Because of this, the company is in a
unique position to source funding. Dancing
Girl Productions is focused on developing
and producing long-running animation series
and live-action projects for the domestic
and international film and TV markets.
Double Z Enterprises is a multi-award winning
television production company established
in 1987. Double Z has provided both UK
and Irish television with much-loved comedy
shows and puppet characters for adult and
children’s programming, including Zig &
Zag, Dustin the Turkey and Podge & Rodge.
Double Z Enterprises has produced original
comedy-based programming for all the major
broadcasters in Britain and Ireland, including
RTÉ, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and MTV. Along
with television production, Double Z have
extensive experience in licensing. For over
twenty years the company has produced
merchandising and marketing campaigns for
their characters in Ireland, the UK and Europe.
cartoonsaloon.ie
124
animationireland.com/dancinggirl.htm
dze.ie
Geronimo Productions
Giant Animation Studios
Ink and Light
Geronimo Productions was awarded Producer
of the Year at Cartoon Forum 2011. The studio
offers a full range of animation services from
development and across full production. In
co-production scenarios, they can raise finance
and invest 50 per cent of the budget, depending
on work split. The following are recently
completed projects: Roobarb & Custard Too,
Fluffy Gardens, Fluffy Gardens Xmas Special,
Ballybraddan, Punky and Planet Cosmo.
Giant Animation Studios is an innovative
Dublin-based company that is dedicated to
the development and production of premium
animated content for all platforms. The studio’s
focus is on creating its own properties for the
entertainment industry, as well as providing
animation and design solutions for some of
the leading production houses and agencies in
Europe. The company has been nominated for
an Irish Film and Television Award, selected for
competition in Annecy 2012 and has also won
two consecutive Digital Media Awards for Best
Animation, in 2012 and 2013.
Ink and Light develops and produces original
television series and feature films. Established
in 2011 by Tamsin Lyons and Leevi Lemmetty,
the company has bases in Dublin and Helsinki.
They work predominantly with CG animation
but love exploring whatever form fits to tell a
great story. Ink and Light’s previous work has
been screened by RTÉ, MTV, Channel 4 and
YLE, and at festivals such as Annecy, Sundance
and Toronto. Alongside developing their own
material, they are also interested in coproducing feature films and animation series for
domestic and international distribution.
giant.ie
ink-and-light.com
geronimoproductions.tumblr.com
125
Deadly by Kavaleer
126
JAM Media
Kavaleer Productions
Keg Kartoonz
Since JAM Media’s inception in 2002, founders
John Rice, Alan Shannon and Mark Cumberton
have developed and created a number of
award-winning TV series. They continually strive
for immersive stories, engaging characters and
quality animations in all of their productions.
The company opened a new office in Belfast
in April 2013. Their CBBC series Roy won the
BAFTA for Best Children’s Drama in 2012,
adding to its BAFTA nominations for Best Drama
and Best Writer in 2010. Roy has also won a
Royal Television Society Award and the Trickfilm
Festival (Stuttgart) award for best animated
TV series for kids. JAM Media won Producer of
the Year at the Cartoon Forum in Toulouse in
2012, and in April 2014 their series Tilly and
Friends picked up an IFTA for best animation.
Kavaleer Productions is one of Ireland’s
foremost animation studios, producing
high-end television series and commercials,
as well as digital and interactive content for
e-learning platforms, games and online media.
The studio won Best Animation and the
Grand Prix at the 2010 Digital Media Awards for
their acclaimed short film Hasan Everywhere,
which was also nominated for an Irish Film and
Television Award. They have also produced
more than 200 episodes of television including
Lifeboat Luke, Garth and Bev, Abadas and their
recently completed IP Wildernuts. They are
currently in production on Boj, which will air on
CBeebies, RTÉ Jr. and PBS Sprout later this year.
Kavaleer have several projects in
development including Tipto, which was
presented at Cartoon Forum in Toulouse and
Kira Khan Do!, their latest entry in the world of
preschool animation.
Keg Kartoonz is a Dublin-based animation
studio run by Michael Algar (producer) and
Noel Kelly (creative director). Both Michael and
Noel have worked in the animation business
since the time when studios used pencils and
paper. Over their careers they’ve each worked
for many different studios around the world,
but nowadays they concentrate on developing
and producing Keg’s own projects. The most
recent project to be completed at Keg Kartoonz
is a 90-minute animation/live action special of
comedian Brendan Grace’s character, Bottler.
jammedia.com
kegkartoonz.com
kavaleer.com
Lovely Productions
Magpie 6 Media
Moetion Films
Lovely Productions was formed in 2004
and is run and owned by Lorcan Finnegan and
Brunella Cocchiglia. They have made
a number of highly acclaimed shorts, music
videos and films as well as having won
numerous awards. Lorcan is represented
for commercials by Butter in Ireland and
Independent Talent in London for films.
They are currently in post-production on
their first live action feature film Without Name,
funded under the Irish Film Board Catalyst
scheme.
Magpie 6 Media is a Dublin-based studio set
up in 2008 by husband-and-wife team Clifford
Parrott and Christina O’Shea. Both worked in
animation in Los Angeles for many years before
coming to Ireland. Cliff is an award-winning
animator, having produced animation for
notable clients such as Adam Sandler. Magpie
6 Media has worked on animation projects for
Disney and ESPN, among others, and creates
its own in-house animated and live-action
properties. In 2013 the studio’s international
co-production, The Travels of the Young Marco
Polo, was broadcast in Ireland, Germany and
Canada. The studio is currently wrapping
production on the animated preschool series
Inis Spraoi, for broadcast on RTÉ this year.
Moetion Films is a newly formed production
company producing and developing animated
feature films and TV series for international
distribution. Working with a highly creative
network of writers, animators, actors and
directors, the team is a long-time co-producer
with companies such as A. Film Productions,
Anima Vitae and Ulysses Filmproduktion.
Producer and owner Moe Honan recently coproduced the animated feature films Legends
of Valhalla – Thor, Niko 2 – Little Brother Big
Trouble and previously Niko and the Way to
the Stars. Other TV credits include: The Ugly
Duckling and Me, Lilly the Witch, The Fairytaler,
The World of Tosh and Norman Normal.
lovelyproductions.com
moetionfilms.com
magpie6media.com
127
Communication
Monster Entertainment
Paper Dreams
Monster Entertainment is a brand management
company with activities encompassing
distribution, finance and production of TV
programmes. In business for over fifteen years,
Monster has a wide and varied catalogue,
sourcing award-winning programming from all
over the world and selling into more than 200
countries. Its catalogue includes animation
series from preschool up to teens and adults
including Oscar-winning, Oscar-nominated and
Emmy winning animation programming. The
company now has an in-house animation studio
and is currently co-producing the animated
series Inis Spraoi/Rockabye Island. It has also
completed a four-country co-production of The
Travels of the Young Marco Polo with Magpie
6 Media, having recently produced preschool
series I’m a Monster and I’m a Creepy Crawly.
Paper Dreams is an award-winning Irish
production company run by Michael Lennon
and Heidi Karin Madsen that develops and
produces feature films and animated television
series. Paper Dreams’s most recent production
was Earthbound, a sci-fi rom-com feature film
written and directed by Alan Brennan. Currently,
Paper Dreams is producing an animated
Christmas special called The Overcoat, based
on the short story by Nikolai Gogol and adapted
by Hugh O’Conor. The Overcoat will be a coproduction with Slugger Film (Sweden) and A
Film (Estonia). Paper Dreams is also developing
a number of children’s animated television
series for both the international and domestic
markets, and is actively seeking co-production
opportunities.
paperdreamsproductions.com
monsterentertainment.tv
Pink Kong Studios
Prickly Pear Productions
Pink Kong Studios is Ireland’s first all female
led animation studio, co-founded in 2014 by
creative director Aoife Doyle and producer
Niamh Herrity. Since its inception, Pink Kong
has championed the idea that there is room
in the market for female action-adventure
properties. As such, Pink Kong looks to
generate engaging content for girls.
An award winning animation studio based out
of Dublin who “bring stories to life”, Pink Kong
stories and characters are developed in a
unique manner, with multiplatform interactivity
in mind, developing stories where the end
user becomes part of the story evolution. Pink
Kong Studios creates branded entertainment
for TV, film and interactive platforms.
The studio is currently in development
with their property “Rova-Novas: An
Elite Team who are the protectors of
earth’s puppies”, and have hit market
places and international conferences
with the trailer and proof of concept.
Prickly Pear Productions is an award-winning
creative studio founded in 2009 in Ireland by
Richard Kelly. The studio has offered a wide
range of high-end animation services to the
advertising, e-learning and music sectors and
won multiple awards. This work has grown
the talent base of the studio, enabling it to
produce original short films that have received
recognition and awards at many international
festivals. The studio is now ready to produce
its first full-length feature, Paperboy, and is
assembling first rate international production
and voice talent to realise this ambitious and
exciting project.
pinkkongstudios.ie
128
pricklypearproductions.ie
Fear of Flying by Lovely Productions
129
Communication
Still Films
Studio POWWOW
Telegael
Founded in 2007 by Maya Derrington,
Nicky Gogan and Paul Rowley, Still Films
is a production company based in Dublin
and New York that makes feature films,
animations, documentaries, TV, trans-media
productions and artist films. Still Films has a
collective ethos; the team produce and edit
one another’s work as well as supporting a
wide group of associated filmmakers. Still
Films was given the Michael Dwyer Discovery
Award for new talent by the Dublin Film
Critics Circle. Still Films projects featuring
animation include the experimental film The
Rooms; feature documentary Build Something
Modern; hybrid feature documentary
Last Hijack; and short films Learning to
Fish, Trolley Boy and We, The Masses.
Studio POWWOW creates and delivers
entertainment brands with engaging stories
and characters that are knitted seamlessly
back together on multiple media platforms,
by bringing their skill, knowledge and
vast experience of award winning TVquality animation, design and storytelling
to interactive content and games.
Telegael is one of Europe’s leading animation
and television production houses. Established
in 1988, the multi Emmy and IFTA awardwinning studio works with international
producers, distributors and broadcasters to
develop, co-produce and finance animation
and live-action content for the global market.
Telegael’s client list includes some of the
biggest names in global broadcasting including
Disney, Cartoon Network, France Television,
Super-RTL, KIKA, BBC, Nickelodeon, PBS
Sprout, ITV, ZDF and Discovery Kids. Telegael
has co-produced more than 700 hours of
television. Its productions have been distributed
to over 140 territories throughout the world
and translated into more than 40 languages.
studiopowwow.com
telegael.com
stillfilms.org
130
Treehouse Republic
Wiggleywoo
Zink Films
Treehouse Republic is where danger and fun
collide to make outrageously awesome content.
They create dangerously funny brands for
everyone to realise their positive potential for
mayhem!
Voted one of the top 25 up and coming
animation studios worldwide, Treehouse
Republic is an animation studio based in
Ireland. Established in 2010, Treehouse
Republic also offers development, preproduction and production services for a
number of clients.
Wiggleywoo is a Dublin-based animation
company set up in 2012 by Gilly (Creative
Director), Susan Broe (Producer) and Alan
Foley (CEO). Wiggleywoo’s objective is to build
a portfolio of highly commercial animated
projects that have the potential to work
crossplatform and to generate licensing,
merchandising and other ancillary income.
They have a number of animated projects in
development, including preschool projects, a
feature film, an animated documentary drama
series and numerous apps, and they have just
completed production on an adult animated
documentary drama series, Tea with the Dead.
Zink Films are one of the top suppliers of
quality animation and CGI content in the
country, having created ads for companies
such as Flahavan’s, Yoplait and Gateaux
and collaborated on CG/live-action mix
commercials for such clients as Tayto and
Berocca. Zink also specialise in animation
for the web and have created online content
for major brands like Coca-Cola, Guinness,
Carlsberg and Vodafone. They are the top
supplier of pre-viz and concept art, with
in-depth knowledge of CGI, animation,
character design/creation and the web.
treehouserepublic.com
zinkfilms.com
wiggleywoo.com
131
Communication
ATELIER
PROJECTS
David Smith
Atelier Projects is the studio practice of
designers David Smith, Oran Day and their
associates. An independent design practice
that distinguishes itself from many commercial
practices by working almost exclusively — as
designers and consultants — with public and
cultural sector organisations, and within design
education, on a project by project basis.
Since its inception the practice has
established an enviable reputation for the
quality of its design work. The success of the
studio’s work is the result of collaboration with
diverse and ambitious clients and the valued
input of national and international associates.
Despite a diverse creative output the studio
advocates a clear and simple approach for all
projects, one which is grounded in analysis and
objectivity. From such pragmatism emerges
original and distinctive solutions.
atelier.ie
132
Featured Work
Atelier were responsible for the development
of the ID2015 brand identity, and worked with
type designer Tom Foley to create the bespoke
ID2015 display font. David Smith lectures on
the IADT Visual Communication course, and as
the design director for the project he worked
with former students based in the IBM design
team to help create the Design Island ID2015
tourism app described on page 14.
133
Communication
The
Salvage
PRESS
Jamie Murphy
Jamie Murphy is a typographic designer
and letterpress printer based in Dublin.
His interests lie where contemporary graphic
design meets traditional production techniques.
Since 2012 he has produced his books
and broadsides under the imprint of The
Salvage Press. Jamie has served as designer
in residence at Distiller’s Press, NCAD since
2013 where he works with students of Visual
Communication. His letterpress printed work is
held in many of the world’s most distinguished
private, institutional and academic collections.
thesalvagepress.com
134
Featured Work
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of
tea in Irish culture. Tea is simultaneously a
beverage, a medicine, and a social ritual. The
Irish drink on average four cups of tea a day,
amounting to 7 pounds of dried tea leaves over
the course of a year, easily the highest rate of
tea consumption in the world. No respectable
Irish household would be found without tea,
and its importance is such that even pubs are
legally required to provide it!
Jamie Murphy in partnership with the
Distiller’s Press have explored this love of a cup
of tea through the design of letterpress printed
packaging for a bespoke blend of Irish tea
created by Solaris Tea.
Solaris Tea
Solaris Botanicals is an internationally awardwinning tea blending company from Galway,
Ireland. Founded by Master Teablender
and Medical Herbalist Joerg Mueller, they
have combined their extensive knowledge
of healing plants and their properties,
with the blending of 1st Flush Whole-leaf
Organic Teas, which contain 95% more
antioxidants compared to ordinary tea bags.
Their teas contain no artificial aromas or
flavours and their focus on using the highest
quality ingredients with biodegradeable
materials has made Solaris Botanicals one
of Ireland’s leading high-end tea suppliers.
solarisbotanicals.com
Distiller’s Press
Distiller’s Press is the letterpress print
workshop at The National College of Art
& Design, Dublin. As Ireland’s only
working letterpress facility in third level
education, Seán and Jamie work primarily
with students of Visual Communications
teaching the fundamentals of typography
and facilitating research. With several
operational presses and access to
over 400 cases of metal and wooden
type, Distiller’s Press is at the forefront
of letterpress design in Ireland.
distillerspress.com
135
Communication
With degrees in Visual Communication and
Film Production, Annie Atkins cut her teeth in
filmmaking on the crew of historical drama The
Tudors, making vintage-style graphic props
for use on set. She went on to specialise in the
creation of artefacts, signage and documents
on a wide range of period productions. After
working on Oscar-nominated animation The
Boxtrolls, Annie was called in by Wes Anderson
as Lead Graphic Designer on The Grand
Budapest Hotel, which went on to win the
Academy Award for Production Design. Annie
spent most of 2014 working on Spielberg’s
historical thriller Bridge of Spies, set in 1960s
New York and Berlin and scripted by the Coen
brothers. She is now back home working
from her studio in Dublin, where she is also a
photographer and film poster designer.
Eoghan Nolan is an award-winning copywriter
and former Creative Director of McCannErickson, Irish International BBDO and Leo
Burnett. In 2011, he founded Brand Artillery.
The campaign created by Brand Artillery for
Glasnevin Cemetery won the only Gold Bell
given for Irish advertising at the prestigious
Institute of Creative Advertising & Design
(ICAD) Awards 2014, also taking Silver &
Bronze. Those top honours marked 26 years
since Eoghan’s work was first recognised
at ICAD. The enormously popular Glasnevin
posters have become collectors’ items and
were featured in the documentary One Million
Dubliners which took its name from the
campaign.
Annie and Eoghan now work together
under the name Think & Son.
thinkandson.squarespace.com
136
Annie Atkins
Eoghan Nolan
Seymours
Irish Biscuits
Philip O’Connor
Seymours Irish Biscuits is a family-owned
specialist bakery producing individually handcut biscuits made in small batches. The bakery
in Bandon, West Cork is about 8km west of the
family dairy farm that supplies the fresh milk
and creamery butter for the biscuits, giving a
superlative taste that no other biscuit bakery
can match. The bakery was set up in Bandon
in 2008 and today the small team of bakers
supplies Seymours’ sweet and savoury biscuits
to Ireland’s finest food stores.
seymours.com
137
Communication
Featured Work:
Packaged biscuits, baked by Philip O’Connor
of Seymours Irish Biscuits in West Cork.
The biscuits are wrapped in sheets of a
fictional local newspaper and packaged in
wooden French poplar boxes, to be given
away at Liminal as keepsakes. The biscuit
labels were designed to illustrate three
parts of Ireland: coastal (Skibbereen), urban
(Stoneybatter), and Northern (Cushendall).
Food packaging from around the world features
all kinds of Chinese whispers and legendary
animals such as the iconic lion on the tin of
Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Think & Son’s biscuit
packaging features illustrations of missing
cats, tugs of war, and slain fish that all hail
from local tall stories told around Ireland.
138
Collaborative Process:
Specialising in designing graphic props for
period filmmaking, Annie Atkins steps into
the shoes of the character she’s designing
for rather than designing as a contemporary
graphic designer. If she were a local baker, what
stories would she commemorate on her biscuit
packaging? She called in master storyteller
Eoghan Nolan and together they came up with
three slices of local Irish legend and urban
myth, which were then sent to scenic artist
Alan Lambert to be interpreted as full-colour
illustrations.
Materials:
Paint, paper, printing, round French poplar
boxes, biscuits.
139
Communication
Ciarán Ó Gaora
Zero-G is a Dublin-based design practice
engaged in research, strategy and design.
Founded in 2004 by Ciarán Ó Gaora, Zero-G
has earned a reputation as a creative partner
for businesses who want to leverage design
to build their brand, facilitate innovation
and inspire meaningful change in their
organisations. This has been achieved by
creating stories that focus purpose and
meaning, creating tools that empower
employees to look at opportunities with fresh
eyes, and demonstrating the power of design
to make things better for the user, be they
customer, employee, audience or citizen.
Current projects include a primary
healthcare development in Nebraska, retail
innovation in Maryland, brand repositioning
with a national retail group in Ireland, and
global brand strategy and management
tools with a Washington DC-based NGO.
Clients include: Amnesty International;
Áras an Úachtaráin; Bord Gáis Energy;
Bord Bia; Barry’s Tea; Concern Worldwide
(IRL/US/UK); Culture Ireland; Design & Crafts
Council of Ireland; Elevation Partners (USA);
Fáilte Ireland; Forfás; Irish Museum of Modern
Art; Mumbai International Airport (INDIA);
Musgraves Marketplace; National Digital
Research Centre; Science Gallery (IRL);
Special Olympics International (USA);
Smurfit Kappa; SSP (UK); Storyful; TCC;
The Wills Group (USA); Think Whole Person
Healthcare (USA); Tourism Ireland; UDG
Healthcare; Vodafone.
zero-g.ie
140
JP O’Malley
Featured Work:
The Map of The State is a graphic work that
took Ireland’s 1937 constitution as its starting
point. The map outlines the legislative, judicial,
executive and local governmental structures
of state. Just as these state structures have
evolved over the intervening decades to
become complex, layered and intertwined, so
too did the map as available information was
layered on. The shape and structure of the map
was informed by the available information and
the challenges of displaying this information in
a single view.
Over the duration of the project the
map evolved to include greater detail on the
departments, agencies and bodies that make
up the Irish state in 2015.
There is currently no single diagram of Irish
state institutions and associated bodies making
it difficult, if not impossible, to identify roles,
responsibilities and relationships. The project
was inspired by the role that the Government
Digital Services (GDS) played in increasing
access to, and understanding of, government
services in the United Kingdom. GDS continues
to demonstrate how the design process can be
used to affect change at a fundamental level
from policy and structure to citizen engagement
and cross-departmental collaboration.
gds.blog.gov.uk
A key information reference point is the
Irish State Administration Database (ISAD),
a project developed as part of the ‘Mapping
the Irish State’ project located at the Geary
Institute, University College Dublin.
isad.ie
Stephen Ledwidge
Collaborative Process:
The core Zero-G project team has collaborated
with a range of partners as the project has
unfolded. These partners have helped to
access and gather information, parse it
out and structure it, and ultimately present
it in an engaging and accessible form.
Collaborators include Emer Coleman, former
Deputy Director for Digital Engagement at
Government Digital Services in the UK.
Materials:
Digital print
“ A country or a nationstate is the ultimate
collaborative venture.
Understanding the
roles, responsibilities
and relationships at
play is the first step
towards making
collaboration better.”
Ciarán Ó Gaora
141
142
143
144
Liminal
Irish design at the threshold
DESIGN MATTERS
Liminal
A selection of the “Design Matters” columns
published in The Irish Times Magazine each
week in association with Irish Design 2015.
Irish design at the threshold
145
Design Matters
‘I’d been working with a
Dutch anarchist group and
they got a copy from JeanPaul Sartre for me. Cloakand-dagger stuff’
‘It might sound like a
strange one for NCAD:
medical device design;
but they’re complicated
things’
Jim FitzPatrick, Graphic Designer.
Enda O’Dowd, Lecturer at NCAD.
Artist and graphic designer Jim FitzPatrick’s iconic red-andblack 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.”
Did you know Ireland is a world leader in the design of
medical devices? At the National College of Art and Design
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.”
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
146
NCAD MSc Medical Devices programme was featured in
the Irish Design + Medical Technology exhibition created
by Dolmen for ID2015
ncad.ie
‘The Brewbot concept
marries smartphone
technology, cool design...
service design’
‘I went to one factory that
makes 100,000 pairs of
jeans every day’
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 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.”
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 ghost-hunting 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, Structural Engineer, Arup.
Jonny Campbell, Brewbot co-founder.
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
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
147
Design Matters
‘There has been a history
of design and medicine
connecting’
Lorna Ross,
Design Director, Mayo Clinic.
‘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.
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 back-ground 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.
medinireland.ie
148
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
‘I work on ‘Game of
Thrones’ from May until
Christmas. Then, in my
own studio in Derry,
I make my collections’
‘The products must be easy
to use and look well’
Muiris Flynn, Technical Director
Glen Dimplex.
Oliver Doherty Duncan, Designer.
Oliver Doherty Duncan’s work was exhibited in In the Fold
at London Fashion Week as part of ID2015.
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.”
oliverdohertyduncan.com
glendimplex.com
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
hundred 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.”
149
Design Matters
‘Design is a team
sport. We work across
engineering, product
management, financial
and business functions’
‘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.
Ré Dubhthaigh, Citi’s Innovation Lab.
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.”
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 physiquebased 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.”
citigroup.com
glanbia.com
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‘What makes UX design
different is the need to get
inside the user’s head, to
understand what they want
and why’
‘To challenge things you
need to unwind the current
approach to their design’
Martin Ryan, Designer & Lecturer.
Frank Long, Director of Frontend.
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, 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.”
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 meantime 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, he says. 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
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
151
SHOWREELS
A number of films will be screened as part of
the exhibition including:
Liminal – Irish Design at the Threshold
Dezeen
Animation Ireland
Showreel
And Maps and Plans
Belly Creative
Blacknorth Studio
Boulder Media
Brown Bag Films
Cartoon Saloon
Dancing Girl
Productions
David O’ Reilly
Double Z Enterprises
Geronimo
Giant Animation
Igloo Films
JAM Media
Kavaleer Productions
Keg Kartoonz
Lovely Productions
Magpie & Media
Mayfly Films
Moetion Films
Prickly Pear
Productions
Still Films
Telegael
Tidal Films
Treehouse Republic
Wiggleywoo
Zanita Films
Ogham Wall Timelapse
Glasshopper – Nik Eagland
Animation Ireland Short Films
Coda — And Maps and Plans
After You — Brown Bag Films
Somewhere Down the Line & The Ledge End of
Phil (from accounting) — Cartoon Saloon
The Missing Scarf — Eoin Duffy
Deadly — Kavaleer Productions
Fear of Flying — Lovely Productions
VFX Showreel
Windmill Lane VFX
Egg
Piranha Bar
Screen Scene VFX
152
Liminal
Irish design at the threshold
LIBRARY
The library includes seminal Irish design and designed
publications including:
Kilkenny Design: Twenty-One Years of Design in Ireland
by Nick Marchant
RIAI Annual Review, Irish Architecture, Vol 5 (2014/15)
published by RIAI
Art and Architecture of Ireland
various Eds. Yale University Press
House Projects, published by Atelier Project and House Projects
Speculative Everything by Dunne and Raby, MIT Press
Eileen Gray: Her Work and Her World
by Jennifer Goff, Irish Academic Press
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
A Bit Lost/Shhhhh by Chris Haughton, Candlewick
Once Upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All the Letters
by Oliver Jeffers, Philomel Books
Enignum and Other Stories, Joseph Walsh
Second edition published by Atelier Projects and JW Studio
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 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
Liminal
Irish design at the threshold
153
CREDITS
Curators
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 ICFF New York, 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.
Louise Allen
Louise Allen is the Head of International
Programmes for Irish Design 2015 and
Head of Innovation and Development at
the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland. Her
experience ranges across design, enterprise,
contemporary arts, education, curation and
innovation. In her various roles she has led on
the strategic development for the design and
craft sector, forged relationships nationally
and internationally and has delivered several
EU funded programmes. Louise most recently
curated ‘Second Skin’ which is touring as
part of the Irish Design 2015 exhibitions
programme. She is currently on the board
of the World Crafts Council Europe.
154
Liminal
Angela O’Kelly
Angela O’Kelly is the Head of Design for Body
and Environment at the National College of
Art and Design, Ireland. She has worked as a
curator of contemporary design and craft since
2004 and has also worked as a consultant,
educator, facilitator and practitioner. She holds
a degree and postgraduate diploma in Design
and Applied Art from Edinburgh College of Art
and an MA in Arts Management and Cultural
Policy from University College Dublin.
Irish design at the threshold
Exhibition Design
John McLaughlin Architects
Photo Credits
All images by Peter Rowen with the
exception of images on:
John McLaughlin is a graduate of UCD School
of Architecture. He worked in Paris and
London for over a decade on major civic and
cultural projects before returning to Dublin
where he was Director of Architecture with
the Dublin Docklands Authority where he was
responsible for the design of public spaces,
notably the Grand Canal Harbour area. He
was a member of the group who drafted
the Irish Government Policy on Architecture
2009 to 2015, and started private practice in
2010. Often collaborating with practitioners
from different disciplines, he leads a studio
of six people based in Dún Laoghaire. Their
work is inspired by modern Irish architects
and designers and has been noted for its
elegance, understatement and playfulness.
They have received many awards and have
been published internationally. In 2014 he
co-curated and designed the Irish pavilion
at the Fourteenth Venice international
Architecture Biennale with Dr. Gary A. Boyd.
Titled Infra-Eireann, the pavilion looked at how,
since independence, the Irish state has used
infrastructures to make Ireland modern.
Page 6, 7, 8, 13, 33 and 102 courtesy of Nick Bookelaar
Thanks to
The Irish design sector and community for their
invaluable support and advice in helping develop
the exhibition content and approach.
Page 12, 68 and 69 courtesy of Design Partners
Page 15 and 17 courtesy of IBM and Atelier Projects
Page 18 and 20 courtesy of Dolmen
Page 19 courtesy of Novaerus
Page 22 and 23 courtesy of Mcor
The Irish Design 2015 team, and our colleagues
at the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland for
helping to make the exhibition and catalogue
happen.
Page 24 and 25 courtesy of Arckit
Page 29, 73, 98 and 138 courtesy of Fabio Diena
Page 32 courtesy of Shantanu Starick
The Irish Film Board, Animation Ireland
and VFXAI.
Page 36 courtesy of Mourne Textiles
Page 42 and 43 courtesy of Aodh
Page 44 and 45 courtesy of Perch
Page 46 courtesy of Thomas Montgomery
The OPW and in particular Mary Heffernan and
her team for allowing Dublin Castle to host the
Dublin iteration of the exhibition.
Page 47 and 49 courtesy of Pauline Rowen
Page 54 courtesy of Claire Anne O’Brien
Page 56, 58, and 59 courtesy of Love & Robots
Page 57 courtesy of the Abbey Theatre
Page 60 courtesy of Emma Cahill
The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for
their continued support of Irish Design 2015.
Page 61 courtesy of Genevieve Howard
Page 63 courtesy of Katie Sanderson
Page 66 courtesy of Garrett Pitcher
Page 72 courtesy of Rothschild & Bickers
Page 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 89 courtesy
of Makers & Brothers
Page 92 courtesy of Grafton Architects
Exhibition Communication by
Susan Brindley, Alex Calder, Sandford PR (Milan,
New York, Eindhoven) and Elevate PR (Dublin).
Exhibition coordination by Dobrawa BrachKaluzna, Leslie Ryan and Frances McDonald.
Education coordination by Susan Holland.
Page 95 and 96 courtesy of ID2015
johnmclaughlin.ie
Page 101 courtesy of Rich Gilligan
Page 106, 107 and 108 courtesy of Sarah Bowie
Catalogue edited by
Alex Milton & Louise Allen
Page 110 courtesy of Egg Post Production
Graphic Design
New Graphic
Page 111 courtesy of Screen Scene
Page 114 courtesy of Windmill Lane
Page 116 and 117 courtesy of In the Company of Huskies
New Graphic are a design agency based
in Dublin. They think good graphic design
combines clarity and beauty. Their work is idea
driven. They look to communicate their client’s
message clearly using the best medium for
the job. Recently they’ve worked with John
McLaughlin Architects on the Architecture
Biennale in 2012 and 2014, the Liminal
exhibition being their latest collaboration.
Page 118 and 119 courtesy of Studio PSK
Page 120 courtesy of The Stone Twins
dccoi.ie
Page 122, 125, 128 and 130 courtesy of Animation Ireland
Page 132 and 133 courtesy of Atelier Projects
Page 134 courtesy of The Salvage Press
Page 135 courtesy of Distiller’s Press
Page 135 courtesy of Solaris Tea
Page 136, 137 and 139 courtesy of Annie Atkins
Page 140 and 142 courtesy of Zero-G
Page 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 and 151 courtesy of
newgraphic.ie
Published by
Design & Crafts Council of Ireland
Castle Yard, Kilkenny, Ireland
The Irish Times
Exhibition Fabrication
Oikos Ltd Dublin, Ireland
© Irish Design 2015
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 Irish Design 2015.
Printed by Plus Print
Printed on Cyclus Offset
Made from 100% recycled fibres
ISBN 978-1-906691-49-3
Liminal
Irish design at the threshold
155
An exhibition of furniture,
paintings, sculpture and
precious objects from the
Chapel’s History
24 September 2015 –
6 March 2016
156
Liminal
Opening Hours
Mon–Sat: 09.45–16.45
Sun & Bank Holidays: 12.00–16.45
State Apartments,
Dublin Castle
Irish design at the threshold
HOSPITALITY
PARTNERS
157
Irish Design 2015 is the start of a job creation
journey exploring, promoting and celebrating Irish
design and designers through events and activities
on the island of Ireland and internationally.
Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, is Patron
of Irish Design 2015 and the initiative has been
included in the Irish Government’s Action Plan
for Jobs.
ID2015 is being convened by the Design & Crafts
Council of Ireland, in collaboration with partner
organisations on behalf of the Department of Jobs,
Enterprise & Innovation, the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade and Enterprise Ireland.
irishdesign2015.ie
Liminal – Irish design at the threshold
will be exhibited at:
Design Hub, The Coach House, Dublin Castle
20th November – December 30th, 2015
National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny,
opening 8th April, 2016
@Irishdesign2015 #ID2015Liminal
irishdesign2015.ie/liminal
For futher information and high
resolution images (via Dropbox link),
please contact:
Aoife Smith,
Elevate PR – aoife@elevate.ie
+353 (1) 6625652
elevate.ie