IDI Board and Council
The IDI is led by a Board of Directors who represent a cross-section of the Design Industry, ensuring the strategy of the IDI is always relevant and fit for purpose. The board works closely with IDI Councils, which represent the strategic pillars of the IDI and shape and inform the focus of IDI activities.
The Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) is a fully incorporated company limited by guarantee, a non-profit entity, led by an executive board of directors, monitored and steered by a guardianship council, directed by its members.
The board of directors provide strategic guidance to the day to day activities of the IDI. This is currently made up of Mary Doherty, President; Dominic Southgate, President Emeritus; David Wall, Danielle Townsend, Dr Kevin Dowd and John Lynch.
IDI Board 2022 - Present
Mary Doherty - IDI President (2022 - Present)
Mary Doherty is the elected president of the IDI, appointed in November 2022 after 2 years as an IDI board Director.
She is the founder of leading brand design agency, Red Dog.
She set up Red Dog in 1993, the morning after she graduated from college, nurturing the company and maintaining its position as one of Ireland’s leading creative agencies. Her vision and steadfast demand for excellent design has helped drive the creative team forward to becoming an internationally recognised, award-winning creative agency. It lives by it’s mantra of ‘We are only good at what we do because good is never good enough’. Mary holds a BDes (Hons) in Visual Communications from NCAD, is a Fellow of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and a Board Member of the Merrion Fertility Clinic.
Dominic Southgate - IDI President Emeritus
Dominic is the IDI President Emeritus, having held the position of president from 2020-2022. He is the acting Treasurer and has been a member of IDI's council for a number of years.
He is the founder and Director of award winning industrial design business, Boxclever.
president@idi-design.ie
David Wall - IDI Board Director
David is an IDI Board Director and Head of Design at Tines.
He co-founded the 100 Archive and is an ICAD member. Previously, David was Head of Design in McCann, and co-founder/director of WorkGroup, an independent design studio.
David has spoken and contributed at conferences, events and discussions, including keynote presentations at Birmingham Design Festival 2019, Offset 2019 (Dublin), Glug Dublin 2018, The Future 2017 (Dublin), ICAD Socialise 2016 (Dublin), Sligo Design Week 2016, Defuse IxDA (Dublin) 2015, Creative Mornings (Dublin) 2014, Offset 2012 (Dublin). He has lectured and taught in in graphic design courses and in other design disciplines in Ireland and the UK.
Danielle Townsend - IDI Board Director
Danielle is an IDI Board Director and Director of Programmes at Dublin Design Institute.
Danielle leads the strategic direction and sets the academic agenda at Dublin Design Institute. She also teaches across the Institute on a number of design programmes. She is an assessor and member of the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD), and assessor at 100 Archive. She has taught on visual communications programmes across Ireland, is an external examiner and secretary of Design Educators Ireland (DEI). She has a Masters in Professional Design Practice, Degrees in Graphic Design & Digital Media, Marketing, Advertising, Sales Management and PR and a Postgraduate in Teaching & Education. She heads up the Education and Events Councils at IDI and is a co-creator of Graduate platform, The New Now with former IDI president Kim Mackenzie-Doyle.
Dr. Kevin Dowd - IDI Board Director
Kevin is an IDI Board Director and currently leads the global design function at TransferGo, a FinTech specialising in international payments and transfers.
He completed his doctorate in design at Kingston University in 2015, focusing on the development of practice-based visual methods, and has presented at numerous conferences, including ATypI and the International Visual Methods Conference. In 2021, he completed an Executive MBA with distinction at Warwick Business School, with a focus on creative leadership and innovation in business.
Kevin is particularly passionate about the value in-house creative functions can create for business, as well as the impact of inclusive design practices for under-represented communities.
John Lynch - IDI Board Director
John Lynch is an IDI Board Director and founder of Context Studio, a service design practice based in Dublin. He is also co-chair of Service Design Network, Ireland Chapter.
John started his career in software development, as part of various design practices. He went on to study on the Interaction Design Programme at Copenhagen Institute for Interaction Design (CIID) in 2011 and has since focussed on the application of service design and user centred design, particularly as it relates to public services.
John brings a service design lens to the activities of the IDI, supporting our work with government bodies to further amplify the voice of design in Ireland.