Design in Ireland

A new interactive platform charts Ireland’s relationship with design

From improving everyday lives to transforming the cultural sector, Map Irish Design brings to life findings on projects by Irish designers

Map Irish Design is based on over 2,300 projects included in the 100 Archive over the last ten years, which collects details on leading communication design projects by Irish designers both at home and overseas.

The archive charts the designers behind these projects, where they are, the context, and the aspect of design concerned, including print and editorial design, motion design, digital projects, wayfinding, packaging, branding and beyond.

Design in Ireland
Top image: Science Stamps for An Post, designed by Detail Design Studio in 2014. Here: The Handmaid’s Tale interactive public display in NYC, designed by Rory Simms at Pentagram in 2017

Map Irish Designs only draws on projects submitted to the 100 Archive rather than statistics reflecting the full breadth of the industry. However, it paints an easy to digest picture of Ireland’s positive trajectory in the design world, with a year-on-year increase in the number of designers and studios that submit their work suggesting growth in the wider Irish design sector.

The work of a collaborative team of researchers, developers and creatives, the findings reveal the growing prevalence of design for the cultural sector as well as social and political movements. It also shows an increase in design projects being carried out by creatives around Ireland, rather than Dublin or overseas – rising from 8% in 2010 to 19% in 2018 – indicating a sense of momentum for regional designers around the country.

This may seem a somewhat geeky exercise, but with design so often undervalued by governments and wider business, this kind of documentation is a worthwhile way of explaining its importance to society. Plus it’s all displayed in a beautifully designed website too (natch).

Design in Ireland
It Stops Now campaign against sexual harrasment and assault by National Women’s Council of Ireland, designed by Piquant Media in 2018
We Wear More mental health campaign by the Gaelic Players Association, designed by Atomic in 2014

map.100archive.com