Theme 4

Expanding our Horizons

Technology and globalisation make the world smaller every day, while at the same time enabling Irish designers and businesses to ever expand their horizons.

204

corporate projects

35

studios producing work for tech

191

interactive projects

You can’t talk about the Irish economy without talking about tech start ups and multinationals, and you can’t talk about Irish anything without talking about the diaspora. ‘Expanding our Horizons’ explores the 100 Archive’s materials from a number of perspectives. One is Ireland’s increasingly important role in global business: we are home to a seemingly ever-growing number of EMEA headquarters for multinational corporations, while we foster an environment for the development of goods and services, increasingly technological in nature, which are leveraged worldwide. Technology as both tool and output is another; and Irish designers at home and abroad are using and shaping it in a myriad of ways.

At the same time, Irish designers themselves are expanding their horizons, in terms of working with international and global clients, making careers and lives for themselves across the globe, regardless of the economic circumstances we experience here in Ireland. Meanwhile, designers from other countries are making Ireland their home. As borders blur, the 100 Archive makes room for a more open definition of ‘Irish design’.

Interview with designer Rory Simms.

Analytics

Apps

Irish Designers in the US

Dublin Docklands

Irish Designers in Europe

Multinationals

London Irish

Scientific Research

New to our Shores

Growth of tech

Communication design plays a role in the development or sale of tech products and services but also in our changing consumption of media, for example. Technology is also changing business, finance and how we connect to industries, and these changes are reflected in projects submitted to the 100 Archive.

Projects relating to technology year on year

STE(A)M

A term first coined in the early 1990s, STEM — an acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths — is an education movement looking to encourage an interdisciplinary and applied approach to the aforementioned disciplines. The movement took hold and an A for Arts was added in the mid 2000s, encouraging the integration of creative thinking. Its most notable manifestation in Ireland is the founding of Science Gallery Dublin in 2008, now a global network of universities dedicated to public engagement with science and art, as well as the main commissioner of STE(A)M work in the 100 Archive.

STE(A)M: who has commissioned what

Ireland’s design diaspora

The 100 Archive is open to graphic designers working on the island of Ireland as well as Irish designers working overseas, and as such a proportion of work submitted every year comes to us from around the world. While Ireland has longstanding ties to the UK, US and Australia, our design community has a historic connection to the Netherlands, and these deep-rooted connections are visible. Other locations are represented too, however, either through Irish designers located overseas or collaborating with suppliers and producers around the world.

Submitting designers by overseas location

In discussion

Interview with Rory Simms

Enjoyed the video above? Read the full interview with Rory about moving to NYC and working in Pentagram, the world's largest independent design agency.

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Connectivity

Connectivity has become particularly topical during Covid19 events. As we physically distance, we connect more in other ways.

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Mise Éire

Crossing over between largely cultural and International projects is the question of how Ireland is endorsed and represented abroad. In particular, how do government funded initiatives go about promoting Irish culture and enterprise on an international stage?

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Interview with Evan McGuinness

Interested in working in a country with a different design culture than his own, Evan made his way to Oslo, where he has been working with Bielke&Yang since 2014.

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Interview with Ruza Leko

Originally from Croatia, Ruza Leko studied in IADT, worked as lead designer in Science Gallery Dublin, and is now running her own practice, Studio Suss.

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