Bienvenido Cruz makes moving images.

His award-winning career started at the age of fifteen and has spanned the worlds of architecture, art, education, advertising, publishing, and film from Hong Kong to Stockholm. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, and International Designer’s Network. His range extends across a wide variety of media including film, interactive, and experiential installation.

Now based in New York, Bienvenido’s focus is in designing systems for both the creative and logistic aspects of motion graphics and filmmaking.

From 2011 to 2018, he led the practice of film and motion graphic design at AKQA’s trailblazing New York studio. Bienvenido built and oversaw the creative and production workflows and infrastructure to service clients such as Verizon, Olympus, Maserati, Nike, and Calvin Klein.

A rare hybrid, Bienvenido is a master of concept, storytelling, and design who leads with purpose and tenacity.

Lucia Orlandi is a multi-disciplinary Creative Director & Designer, currently at Squarespace. Originally from Ireland and presently in Los Angeles, her career has taken her to Dublin, Toronto, NYC, San Francisco, and back to NYC again.

Taking a hybrid approach, the work she is most passionate about is strong in strategic insight and adaptive in form. Be that, building a brand from the ground up, uncovering a strategic insight that changes a product offering for the better, or defining a campaign that seamlessly breaks through in culture.

Previously, Lucia was Director, Head of Design at I&CO, where she ran the creative department focusing on new products and brands that create impact, for clients such as Audible and Theory. Prior to that, Lucia was a Creative Director at R/GA in New York, leading work for Mailchimp, LEGO, Google and ESPN.

In 2017 Lucia was named a One Club and 3% Movement Next Creative Leader, and she was named one of The Dots’ 200 Women Redefining the Creative Industry in 2018. Her work has been recognized through top industry awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD & The Art Directors Club, and featured in publications such as Creativity, AdAge, It’s Nice That, and The Association of Illustrators.

Niall is part of the global experience design leadership for Adidas Group (adidas & Reebok brands), helping to scale the practice and leading product design for the upper funnel on the .com platforms, working with his teams to create a world-class experience for all athletes & artists, wherever they are.

His background and passions are rooted in design. Originally from Limerick, he has worked in Dublin, New York, and now Amsterdam in agencies, his own design studio, and now at adidas. Niall is a strong advocate for the power of consumer- and design-based thinking to shape an organisation, help drive the business, and create the future of digital experiences. He also mentors designers both within adidas & externally through ADPList to help people with both their career development and finding their purpose & joy through design!

Sarah Kennelly leads the Service Design and Customer Insights team in the Department of Justice, most recently working to establish and grow the new service design team and leading on innovation and customer service initiatives.⁠ ⁠

Previously, Sarah worked across the private and public sector, working as an analyst in a fintech start-up, a software developer in the Department of Education, and leading communications and analysis teams for the immigration service. Sarah is also a chapter team member for the Service Design Network in Ireland.

Conor is a co-founder and director at Digital Beast. Digital Beast is a boutique animation and illustration studio based in Dublin. Their work includes directing TV commercials and producing illustration campaigns for the advertising industry. In 2020 they completed producing and directing their second season of Your One Nikita for the RTE Player.

Simon has worked in Branding, Design and Advertising with some of the biggest companies in the world before founding SomeOne in 2005. Since then, SomeOne has worked with Disney, London Olympics, Accenture, Tesco, Three and Cancer Research UK, earning extensive recognition for strategically launching and relaunching brands. SomeOne is Creativepool’s most awarded firm of all time, most recently claiming the title of its No/ 1 Design Company of 2021.

A global speaker on business, branding and design, Simon is a Visiting Assessor of Central St. Martins School of Art, Honorary Professor at The Cass School of Art, a Trustee member & Executive Committee for D&AD and, we’re delighted to say, the latest addition to the judging panel for the IDI Awards 2021.

Having worked within some of the UK’s most exciting, innovative and respected design and branding agencies, he enjoys the constant challenge required of any industry expert; to think differently to enable creative solutions.

Through a multidisciplinary and integrated approach, Matthew is proficient at bringing brands to life, engaging workforces, delivering strategic change and encompassing business strategies.

His ability to create innovative solutions through a different perspective, means that Matthew has instrumented change for some of the worlds’ largest organisations, such as BMW, General Electric, J Sainsbury, Skoda, Vodaphone, World Economic Forum, ENOC — whilst his impact has been felt by an array of individuals that interact with them.

A stoic proponent of mentorship within the creative environment, Matthew has had the chance to showcase the importance of synergy and innovation — through talks, live briefs and internships for industry and design firms. And with a veritable tapestry of industry knowledge behind him, Matthew has inspired and he believes that collaboration of young minds creates the most evolutionary ideas, approaches and ideals that can be shared and debated.

For Matthew, harnessing untapped potential is a chance to work and collaborate with interesting briefs and clients; a chance to work with future creative talent.

Having worked between London, Dubai, Mumbai and Sydney as well as a plethora of other locations in which Brands do business, Matthew is adept at understanding cross-country relations and differences in their respective markets enabling him to be insightful and innovative when working in the UK or around the World.

Rene Toneman is Creative Director and co-founder of creative agency Silo. Working at the intersection of brand, digital and spatial environments, his agency specialises in strategy, branding & identity design. Silo combines creativity, craft and technology with the aim to enhance the human experience.

Before founding Silo, Rene worked as a creative director at branding agencies such as Studio Dumbar and Fabrique, where he managed one of the creative teams. In addition, Rene supports the creative industry as a board member of the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO), and regularly performs jury services for international design organisations.

His expertise in developing successful brand experiences has given Rene the opportunity to lead projects for Unilever, Nationale Nederlanden, MoMA, The Dutch Parliament, Zaans Medical Center and Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, among others. As creative director, Rene has received global recognition for design excellence and was named European Design Agency of the Year in 2012 and 2017. His team’s work has received multiple international accolades from ADC New York, D&AD, The One Club, Dutch Design Awards, European Design Awards, Red Dot, Frame, Tokyo TDC, Architizer A+, Azure and IF.

Anusia works across research, strategy and design, in both education and practice. She is a graduate of IADT Dún Laoghaire, where she now teaches design and research methods on a number of programmes, including the Design For Change MA in collaboration with the Institute Without Boundaries / George Brown College, Canada. She has authored and commissioned writing on design culture and practice for Oonagh Young Gallery and 100 Archive, and recently completed a Masters by Research on the work of Dutch designer Jan van Toorn.

Rachel Joy is a lettering artist based between London + Paris. She works across a variety of media, from traditional sign painting for commissions as art pieces, to large scale outdoor murals, crafting scripts & 3D lettering for brands worldwide, working on advertising, packaging, identity, books covers and prints. She aims to bring letters to life, giving them 3D form, using modern, eye-catching and joyful colour combinations. In recent months she has been commissioned to do this more in public spaces for brands and companies, painting big positive messages around London.

Ken is an Irish designer based in New York, he is a multi-faceted designer whose work encompasses identity, print design, strategy, and technology. He has worked for design studios in Dublin, London and New York. He has worked with notable clients such as Nike, Samsung, American Museum of Natural History, NYC DDC, Codecademy, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian, AIG, SCAD, Google, FdMarch, New York Stock Exchange, IMF Grace Farms, JWT, NYU, and Abrams.

Ruth O’Connor is an independent media professional with over 14 years’ experience writing about fashion, design, craft and business for many of Ireland’s leading publications. Ruth holds two First Class Honours Degrees – a BA in English from UCD and a MA in Journalism from DCU. Ruth has provided insight as a panel host for events such as The Festival of Curiosity, as a contributor to radio and as a member of selection panels including those for Irish Country Magazine’s Irish Made Awards, the IDI Irish Design Awards and DCCI’s Design Ireland shortlist. She is currently a member of DCCI’s Mentor Panel. A nostalgic, yet forward-thinking, child of the 80s, Ruth is a passionate advocate for sustainability, heritage skills, innovation and Irish design.

Having graduated in fashion and textiles from NCAD, Helen Cody has worked extensively in London, Paris and New York, developing her skills as a leading stylist for fashion magazines and in music videos and TV Commercials.⁠ ⁠ Since returning to Ireland in 2013, Helen has re-established her fashion label, launched her unique bridal collection and, in January 2015, she was selected for the DCCI Critical selection Portfolio Project – the first fashion designer to be included.⁠ ⁠

Helen’s work has been exhibited in the royal college of Art London, the Centre Culturel In Paris, the Solomon Galleries and Dublin Castle as part of the PORTFOLIO exhibition. She has dressed many Irish and international celebrities on the red carpet at the Oscars, the Tonys, the Cannes film festival and numerous Irish and international premieres.⁠ ⁠

Paula’s background in Product Design spans 25 years.
She studied apparel design and technical and creative color application in London England. Her creative career has specialized in outdoor apparel, lifestyle and fashion brands amongst companies such as Westbeach, Aritzia and Lululemon. Currently residing in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, Paula has a passion for the outdoor lifestyle and modern sustainable design.

Paula is currently part of the Global Concept Colour Design team at Lululemon where she works elevating the Lululemon product with a focus on the art and science of colour to create a compelling consumer experience, to drive colour excellence through the connection of design, development and manufacturing.

Karen is Strategy & Creative Director of Path, a Dublin based studio she established in 2006 specialising in web and interaction design. She is passionate about sustainability and accessibility in design and is focused on working with organisations that make a positive impact on the world. An advocate for design industry for many years, she been an external examiner, served on IDI Council, and is currently a steering group member of Design Skillnet and a committee member of Design Leaders Conference. Over 20 years, Karen’s work has been recognised at many industry awards including the IDI Awards, the Net Visionary Awards and selected for the 100 Archives.

A Fellow of the IDI, Alex Milton has taught and managed at a diverse range of institutions – including Edinburgh College of Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing and more. He is the Chair of Design Educators Ireland, was the Director of the Year of Design 2015 and co-authored the bid for the new €10m Creative Futures Academy, due to be launched later this year. ⁠ ⁠

Alex has authored eight books, and his work has been exhibited at international venues and events, including IMMA, Designers Block Milan, ICFF New York, 100% Design London, London Architecture Festival, MUDAC Lausanne and INDEX Copenhagen.⁠ ⁠

Justin is Professor of Design at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University and the Interim Associate Dean for Research & Impact (AHSS). Previously he was Research Director for Art & Design, receiving several awards for Research Impact from the University and has over 22 years of HE teaching & learning experience. Since 1995 he has worked as a practicing Product Designer, on over 80 projects with companies including LEGO Systems, Smart, Mercedes, Porsche and GE Plastics as well many regional SME’s and entrepreneurs. He has secured over £7.6M in collaborative research funding, mostly with industry, for instance the award winning Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with Axial3D and CDE Global Ltd. He and his team were finalists at the THELMA’s Knowledge Exchange Initiative of the year, 2018.

Áine Higgins Ní Chinnéide represents a panel of judges for the IDI Universal Design category on behalf of the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design. When not reviewing competition entries, she manages the development of standards and guidance, engaging with public and private sector organisations, to promote Universal Design. To find out more about Universal Design, go to universaldesign.ie.

Shane is an advocate for collaborative design through research, craft and curation. He is a graduate of Central St. Martins, London, with an MA in Industrial Design, specialising in creating learning environments for early education. His interest in human-centered design and design education led to a lecturing and consulting post at the School of Architecture and Design in Bangkok, Thailand and to him joining the nationwide rollout for MIT’s OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative.

Closer to home, Shane has developed free educational exhibitions for Design Week Ireland, Marsh’s Library and the Irish Surf Film Festival. He has experience in service design for IKEA Systems B.V. and is currently Deputy Design Editor at News Ireland.

Alastair Kean has spent most of his career with Dalziel & Pow, following graduation from the Glasgow School of Art. His design skills focus on retail design, where he has been involved on projects from Lead Designer to Design Director.

Promoted in 2001 to the position of Director and following on to become Development Director, Alastair’s work is intrinsically international with department stores; Arnotts in Dublin, Illum and Magasin Du Nord in Copenhagen, and Plaisio Computers in Greece. Here at home working with Primark, the RBS group to develop their NatWest branch of the future. His travels have taken him to many countries – Russia, Scandinavia, North and South America, UAE, KSA, Thailand, Greece & Turkey, to name a few – all of which have increased his knowledge of working within new territories, languages and at a distance from the client, important skills in these covid restricted times, rising to the challenges of market understanding and cultural diversity. Alastair believes that the “skills of an experienced retail designer are translatable to every retail market, no matter the cultural or language differences.” Indeed, these differences should be seen as an opportunity for Dalziel & Pow to apply their creativity and innovation to create a point of difference.

Alastair was also responsible for the initial development of our Digital offer, helping grow the department in both reach and reputation.

Alastair has also been responsible for the continuing growth and exposure of the company through keynote speaking at events across the globe including; London, Helsinki, Sao Paulo and Istanbul to name a few, in the past few years. communicating our retail knowledge to our clients and spreading the D&P word around the globe. Alastair has also overseen the development of our latest insights piece containing our first internally commissioned consumer research, broadening our reputation as experts in consumer centric retail experience design.

He continues to meet new clients as a key area of responsibility is been involved in client relationship management for a number of new projects developing close working relationships with the world’s retailers. More recently working alongside the Marketing & New Business department developing new opportunities and continuing to evangelize about how D&P can help clients innovate to stay ahead, in this new challenging and exciting retail brand era.

Having studied Architecture at the University of Westminster, Kenmare born Interior Designer Bryan O’Sullivan established his studio in London in 2013. His wealth of experience prior to starting @bosstudio included working with industry leaders such as Annabelle Selldorf, David Collins, Martin Brudnizki and Luis Laplace. ⁠ ⁠

The studio comes to each project with fresh eyes, leading to original work that reflects its setting and is compelling, elegant and timeless – and tailor-made for every project. ⁠

Fiona Lynch launched her eponymous practice in Melbourne in 2004 and has since received numerous industry awards and accolades, including the 2016 IDEA award for Design of the Year. In 2019, Architectural Digest Germany recognised her as one of their ‘True Design Influencers in the World.’

Fiona’s approach to creative direction stems from a masterful sense of colour and materiality informed by her fine art practice, underpinned by a restrained palette and refined aesthetic. She explores multiple design approaches, considering client needs before delivering a unique solution to form, function, and materiality that delivers focused and original projects for her clients.

In addition to her own practice, she has launched Workshop, a curatorial platform of experimental design, fine art and objects from leading Australian and international artists and designers. As well as Future Archive, an open, environmentally responsible resource of sustainable materials, products, processes and ideas, which can be accessed at fionalynch.com.au/futurearchive.

Niamh Barry was born and raised in Dublin. Since graduating from the National College of Art and Design in 1991 she has made her native city the home of her studio practice.

Barry transitioned from ceramics to metalwork soon after graduating, drawn by the control bronze afforded her, saying of the material, “what I have in front of me at any moment is what I have—definite and immediate, enduring and strong.”

She first gained international recognition in 2011 when she was chosen by London’s Luxcraft as one of just eight artists to showcase their lighting designs. She has risen to great prominence in the intervening years. A pioneering force in the use of LED, she has become one of the most sought-after figures producing light sculptures today. In fact, Barry credits much of her success to developments in this medium, which, like bronze, has afforded her the capacity for unhindered expression, an ability to reproduce forms that spring from her imagination three-dimensionally.

Barry’s work transcends utility. She strives, above all else, to achieve striking visual balance, movement, and proportion. Her process is visceral, and allows her instinct to speak. Her work is thus experienced similarly—which is to say with emotion rather than contemplation alone. It is inspired by natural beauty—the patterns and textures of ploughed and planted fields, walls, and hedges; cloud formations; the delicacy of flowers; low winter light penetrating the branches of bare trees; the light and heat of fire, which she finds both exhilarating and comforting; and the perfection of birds—their long necks, their grace in flight, the markings of their feathers, and the seeming impossibility of their heavy torsos supported by fragile, delicate legs.

Perhaps her greatest source of inspiration is the human form—its movement in embrace and dance, or even its composure in a still moment. This is visible in many of her sculptures.

Barry’s process begins with a series of rapid line drawings. She transcribes these sketches directly to maquettes, from which she creates her sculptures. She often says that her sculptures are drawings in bronze and light.

Barry has been profiled in Architectural Digest, The Financial Times, Modern Magazine, and Galerie Magazine. In 2017 Barry was the recipient of the 2017 Award for Best Lighting in Image Interiors and Living Magazine. Later that same year she executed a monumental light sculpture in the headquarters of the Central Bank of Ireland. In 2019 a solo exhibition of her work was mounted at the National Museum of Ireland.

Iain is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Design Innovation at Maynooth University, and a Member of the Chartered Society of Designers. Previously, he has held posts as Head of Design, Photography & Advertising at Edinburgh Napier University and Associate Dean of Design at London College of Communication. He has over 25 years of creative industry experience as an award winning television graphic designer at BBC Television, and as a film and commercials director at The Moving Picture Company.

A graduate of NCAD, Niamh Barry first gained international recognition in 2011 when London’s Luxcraft chose her as one of just eight artists to showcase their lighting designs. A pioneering force in the use of LED, she has since become one of the most sought-after figures producing light sculptures today.⁠ ⁠ 

Niamh has been profiled in Architectural Digest, The Financial Times, Modern Magazine, and Galerie Magazine and received the 2017 Award for Best Lighting in Image Interiors and Living Magazine. Later that same year, she executed a monumental light sculpture in the headquarters of the Central Bank of Ireland. In 2019 a solo exhibition of her work was mounted at the National Museum of Ireland.⁠ ⁠ 

Stephen is an accomplished leader who believes in the transformative power of design and storytelling. For over twenty years, he has designed for global brands including Sony, Nokia, Ford, Virgin Atlantic and Nike, working both in-house and for agencies in London, Los Angeles, Munich, and Dublin. As Head of Design for Global Beverages at PepsiCo, he is currently responsible for the visual identities of billion-dollar brands such as Pepsi, 7UP, Gatorade and Rockstar.

Throughout his career, Stephen has made specialism out of being a generalist. His broad body of work is rooted in curiosity, craft and collaboration, and manifests in a multidisciplinary approach encompassing strategy, product, branding, digital, packaging and experience design.

Kenneth Young is a multidisciplinary designer and creative lead. As Design Director at Box Clever, he is responsible for the craft of Industrial Design at the San Francisco based design studio. He ensures the work meets the clients needs, while also telling a larger, more meaningful story.

Hailing from Wellington, NZ, Kenneth has a Masters degree in Industrial Design; his passion for the discipline rose out of its balance of the technical and abstract. As the child of a seamstress and engineer, he grew up loving painting, sculpture and stone carving, and found Industrial Design to be the perfect melding of his gifts. He has worked in studios around the world, from Sydney, to Dublin, and finally the Bay Area. He believes design can make a large impact on not only how we live our lives, but how we treat the planet, and his work at Box Clever reflects this.

Keith Tritschler is creative director and co-founder of the baby brand Smilo.

An industrial design graduate from NCAD, Keith learnt his trade over eleven years in Design Partners, a studio renowned for creativity and craftsmanship.

Keith found his niche designing baby care products – an industry with the unusual combination of simplicity, necessity and joy. Working in the San Francisco Bay Area Keith created and licensed products to brands such as Boon, OXO and Target. The natural next step was to develop an independent range of feeding and soothing products. The Smilo start-up raised $3.3m, engaged NY brand gurus Red Antler, and did whatever it took to launch the direct-to-consumer brand in 2017.

Rory O’Callaghan is the CTO and co-founder of Tympany Medical, a design-led medical device company developing Panoramic Endoscopes for ENT, with an additional focus on sustainability and the circular economy. Technically minded, he approaches every problem from a human centred perspective.

Rory studied design at the NCAD Dublin, the Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel and at the Umeå Institute of Design. Subsequently he completed the Bioinnovate fellowship in NUI Galway, in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN.

Rory started his career at Multihog in Dundalk and was awarded by the IDI for the MH Tractor in 2010. In 2014 he founded Real Motives Design, predominantly working with Cook Medical, winning a Red Dot award for an EUS FNA endoscopy needle, while developing many patents along the way.

Eugene Canavan is a Partner and head of healthcare design at Design Partners. With over 28 years of product development experience in consumer, professional and healthcare product design. He’s a champion of user-centric design and human factors lead processes and heads a team of designers and engineers solving highly complex usability and design for manufacture challenges in surgical devices, connected health, wearables and patient experience design.

His work has been recognised by many international design awards.