Design in Ireland

When I think of Irish culture and history, I always think of the creativity of the Irish people. From a nation of less than 5 million, some of the worlds greatest artists, in music, in art and even in design come straight out of Ireland. I believe a big part of this is something Muireann touched on in one class, as Irish people we are natural storytellers. We're just born with that creative streak within us that has been routed in our DNA for generations. We are famous as inventors and musicians and artists for years, and especially coming from such a small nation, this is an incredible feat. I'm not sure what it is, maybe the fresh air helps us think or there's something in the pints, but I've always thought of the Irish people are free thinkers, which are always he people at the forefront of design.

This is evident all over in today's society, multi-billion dollar companies have their bases here, possibly because of tax but we'll ignore all that. Research and development is an industry that is booming in Ireland. In secondary school, we took a trip to Accenture and the ideas that they had were incredible. At the time, they were working on a system that tracks your phone to open doors for you and knows when you clock-in and such. It was such an inspiration for me to see things like this are happening right at my door, and that trip was one of the main reasons I got into design.

For me I find that having such a huge industry in my desired field right on my doorstep is a huge motivation. We've got world renowned college's and companies across the country and that's a huge advantage when you're studying, knowing that thousands in similar positions to you have gone on to become leaders in the design field. I feel its a huge advantage in design just being Irish and studying in Ireland. The countless multi-national companies and endless stream of incredibly talented artist gives me a sense of pride to be Irish. As an Irish person as well, I think we're in the perfect spot of understanding the European culture and their thoughts, but have gotten enough influence from American media and companies that we can understand them just as well. Ireland for me is the perfect place to be for design at the moment and it is a massive encouragement for me to see this.