IDI Awards

I recently attended the IDI Awards in the Sugar Club on the 27th of October. Myself and a few classmates were up for awards under different categories. In the graduate fashion category, Mona Atkinson won an IDI Award, Ben Millett won out of the product design category, Honor Scanlon won out of the textile category. I was lucky to win out of the craft product category and The grand prix award for Best Graduate Design. 

Honor Scanlon                                    Mona Atkinson

                               

Ben Millett                                         Miriam Wade

Future Makers exhibition 2011

I went to Cork Thursday 3rd November, to attend the Future Makers seminar and gallery exhibition. The seminar began at 10.00 a.m with an opening talk from Daniel Charny about "The power of making' exhibition in the V&A in London. Many of the talks were from some of the exhibitors and how the award they received has helped them in continuing and setting up their practice. It was very inspiring hearing their stories and advice on setting up to make a living from their craft. A lot of the re-accuring advice was to get professional photos taken, apply for every grant, award and exhibition out there in Ireland and abroad and to get your work on the internet either as a simple blog or website. At lunch I got a chance to see the exhibition, which was great as I had two of my pieces on exhibit as part of future makers. They seemed to draw a bit of attention on the day which was great to see. The exhibition closed on the 4th of November and received great feedback from many visitors.

These are simple pierced out gun earrings I made for a friend. They are made from sterling silver and have a scratch finish. I had thought of oxidising them but decided the silver finished suited them better.

This neckpiece was inspired by bells and the sound they make when jingled. Each bell was formed from flat 1mm copper and domed into shape. They all contain a little ball inside that causes the sound when moved. Both the copper bells and chain have been oxidised.

Best of Graduate Design 2011 Exhibition 16th September-5th November

Last Thursday night was the opening of the Best of Graduate Design 2011 exhibition in the NCAD gallery in Dublin. It is running until the 5th of November and shows work for twenty-two 3rd level design courses in Ireland. It was a great turn out with representatives from the Institute of Designers in Ireland, Professor Declan McGonagle (director of NCAD) and the exhibition was opened by the Chairman of the Board of NCAD, Dr Joe Mulholland. 

The work on show ranged from Fashion and textiles to Craft and Industrial design, depicting a diverse example of new designers in Ireland. A lot of exhibitors are up for different awards with the Institute of Designers in Ireland. These exhibitors will also have their work featured in the IDI Best of Irish Design Handbook. Below are some of the work that can be seen at the exhibition.

Ben Millett

For more information on the IDI Awards check out http://www.ididesign.ie/designawards/.

Best of Graduate Design 2011

Just came across two webpages that has featured images of my work from the Best of Graduate Design 2011 exhibition that opened last night in the NCAD gallery in Dublin.



Craftinireland.com
http://www.craftinireland.com/events/details/institute-of-designers-in-ireland-best-of-graduate-design-exhibition-2011/ 

DesignDublin.ie http://designerdublin.ie/events/institute-of-designers-in-ireland-best-of-graduate-design-exhibition-2011/

Final display in Ronan Campbell Jewellers

Today I visited Ronan Campbell jewellers in City West Shopping centre. The purpose of this visit was to    deliver the poster that I had designed as a backdrop to the sculptural pieces I have for sale in the shop. It was great to see the display finally finished and I must say it looked very well.

New Range of earrings

I've been sitting on this idea for a while, quite simple really. For it was a chance to produce quick, colourful and affordable pieces. When I started making jewellery (age 15) I made simple beaded earrings that sold out at craft fairs. I wanted to develop these earrings into more sophisticated and decorative pieces of jewellery. I wanted to design pieces using the idea of positive and negative space with the incorporation of colour. They have been designed on Rhino (a 3d modeling programme) and printed using a rapid prototyper.

 

This pair consists of two layers, white and indigo, that were printed separately 

and then riveted together. The earring hooks are sterling silver.

 

    This pair of earrings again has two different printed layers that are attached

              by the sterling silver hooks. The white layer is semi-translucent and shows 

off the black silhouette.