As it currently stands, Irish Design has no form of unified representation. Irish Design practice is growing at an expeditious rate and with this we should take every measure to establish ourselves as major contributors to the international scene. I am a final year Visual Communications student at The National College of Art & Design. As part of my degree show I am planning to gather and develop an Irish Design Database. I hope that with the cooperation of Ireland’s design community together we can make this vision a reality. The database will include images of submitted work as well as related information involved in the creation of said piece. This is not a portfolio site but rather an online annual of top quality Irish Design work.
Link: http://www.irishdesigndatabase.com
Some cards I’d like to spread around.
If you’re based in Ireland and you work in the creative industry by sure to register your interest so that you are notified once the database is open to submissions. Please note that there is no cost or fee for this service. It is a non-profit/non-commercial project.
I imagine not all the work submitted will be good. Managing what calibre of work is showcased could be a substantial hurdle. I think this is why most countries have award schemes. The ICADs & IDI awards do it here every year. The fact that there’s something in it for designers gives them an incentive to contribute too. I imagine you might find it difficult to get contributions.
You are quite possibly correct, it would be a large enough job to get solid participation. Perhaps it is something for the pipeline.