This success is a testament to the energy, expertise, and dedication of our members, whose contributions are deeply appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout the year, your efforts have been invaluable.

Sincere thanks to our partners, sponsors, and grant funders for their invaluable support throughout 2024. We look forward to strengthening these collaborations and achieving even greater success together in 2025.

Together, we look ahead to the coming year as we strive to elevate the standard of Irish design even further!

 

Funding Success:

• The biggest fundamental change for designers that has happened in 2024 has been the approval of the Roadmap for Digital Creative Industries, which was passed through cabinet at the start of this year. 
• This kicked off a 3 year programme of work for which IDI has been able to secure core funding from Creative Ireland to implement a range of activity in support of the strategy outlined in the roadmap. There are 3 key areas of focus under the roadmap - Skills development, Enterprise Development, and Data. 

 

Regional Development:

• Our programme of work on regional development has continued to unlock some new opportunities and partnerships, such as that with the Galway Culture Company.
• We continue to build support and community thanks to the efforts of our Regional Development officer, Deirdra Mc Beth, who has held online forums and meet ups for designers living and working in the West. Sign up to the Living West newsletter to find out more and get involved! 
• We’ve also had the chance to spotlight some of these talents, which has been picked up by regional development agencies such as the Western Development Commission.
• Under the Roadmap for Digital Creative Industries, a new working group for regional development is to be established, led by Udaras Na Gaeltachta and which we will remain part of. The focus for this will be on improving access to the Local Enterprise Offices and the range of supports available, in collaboration with CREW in Galway.
• We also continue to strategically build design into the Regional Enterprise Plans to ensure Design is recognised as a key player in regional economic development.

 

Design Declares Sustainability Programme:

• Expanded toolkit - Irish Focused
• 100 Archive Articles Series: Sustainability by Design & Prelude
• Wove article on Digital Waste
• Enterprise Ireland Grants
• First Irish Case Study: NCAD
• Events this year have included Workshops with Accenture and Deloitte Digital in-house teams, and Stamp - Cork with Enterprise Ireland.
• Designers, students, and design educators gathered in Belfast School of Art in November, with a keynote presentation by Oliver Jeffers. The event signalled movement on Act 6: Educate, Accelerate to encourage knowledge sharing between educational institutions, against the backdrop of Oliver's perspective on global citizenship. 
• This year the community grew to 177 Signatories. To Declare, go to designdeclares.ie.

 

Government Engagement:

• This year the IDI has been working closely with government departments to identify where there might be opportunities to better support the design sector. We now sit at the table 4 times a year with other representative bodies across advertising, gaming, and immersive tech to identify common challenges and where government intervention can help business growth.
• In 2025, we will continue to work closely with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to support the implementation of the Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services.
• We hosted a briefing session with Conor Stewart, Senior Development Advisor for Enterprise Ireland, to find out more about what EI and the Local Enterprise Offices might be able to do to support you and your business growth.
• New European legislation on accessibility comes into effect in June 2025, and designers are fundamental to ensuring products and services are designed so that they can be accessed, understood and used regardless of a person's age, size, ability, or disability. We will continue to work with CEUD to promote this important area of design.

 

Member Opportunities:

• We introduced exclusive opportunities for members, including the Designer in Residence Program 2024 and continued participation in Ideal Home Shows. 
• Our online forum series continues on, with each forum held quarterly and hosted by a different member. We have had fantastic discussions about the issues that matter most, providing a safe environment for peer discussion and collective problem solving.
• We had the opportunity to spotlight many of our members this year through media or speaking opportunities, and will continue to do so into 2025. 

 

The New Now

• This year we ran a Designer in Residence programme with the Galway Culture Company, giving new and emerging designers a chance to build their experience of working with clients and enhancing their portfolio. Thanks to the Galway Enterprise Office, businesses in Galway were able to benefit from working closely with a designer, some of whom might not have previously thought to do so. 
• On the success of this, we also ran a competition to design the 2025 VHI Women’s mini marathon medal, which was won by Sean Cotter. Follow The New Now to hear of future opportunities like these! 
• We also managed to get along to a number of graduate shows this year, a great chance to support the next generation of designers. 

 

Events and Initiatives:

• In March we marked International Women’s Day as part of Why Design, with an event themed around designing for sustainability.
• The DesignOpp team have continued to hold drink and draw sessions, as well as working hard to spotlight and uplift people of colour in the design sector through social media and the DesignOpp Directory.
• As part of DCCI's Irish Design Week 2024, we collaborated with NCAD on a fashion event which saw IDI member Natalie B Coleman in conversation with Kidsuper’s Colm Dillane. Watch the video here to see highlights from the event. 

 

Awards Success:

• The Graduate Design Awards were once again held in the Belfast School of Art. The evening saw a superb turnout of recent graduates, their parents, plus lecturers and heads of school, who travelled to Belfast from across the island of Ireland to celebrate the achievements of the next generation of designers. The Grand Prix this year was won by Leah Clarke from TU Dublin, see all winners here.
• The IDI Awards returned to the RDS to see almost 400 designers celebrating the success for the shortlisted entrants and winners. This year featured intense competition, with some categories having exceptionally close scores, making the task particularly challenging for our international and local judges. We have once again ensured we have sustainability as part of the scoring criteria for the awards across every category, helping to drive change and ensure we are reflective of the needs of today’s design world. View all of the commended and winning projects here.  

 

New IDI President:

• In November we said goodbye and thank you to Mary Doherty for all of her exceptional work as IDI President. 
• We also welcomed new President David Wall, who takes the baton and is a passionate advocate of design in Ireland. You can learn more about David and our IDI board members here. 

 

Community Engagement:

• We continue to support The Big Idea through partnership with the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, a fantastic educational programme challenging change through creativity. Founded by former IDI director Kim McKenzie Doyle, The Big Idea is an important opportunity to embed and promote universal design early in education.