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JUDGES 2021

We are delighted to welcome an incredible panel of international and local judges, who will be selecting the best projects of 2021.

Our Judges

Bienvenido Cruz

New York

Lucia Orlandi

Squarespace, LA

Simon Manchipp

SomeOne, London

Ruth O'Connor

Journalist, Dublin

Matthew Shannon

Sampson May, London

Karen Hanratty

Path

Rene Toneman

Silo, The Hague

Nikita Chong

Proton Technologies AG

Alastair Kean

Dalziel & Pow, London

Anusia Grennell

Jump! Innovation, Dublin

Dr Iain Macdonald

Maynooth University

Niall O'Kelly

Adidas, Amsterdam

Niamh Barry

Niamh Barry Studio

Bryan O’Sullivan

Bryan O'Sullivan Studio

Sarah Kennelly

Department of Justice

Alex Milton

NCAD

Helen Cody

Fiona Lynch

Rachel Joy

Lettering Artist

Stephen White

Head of Design at PepsiCo

Bienvenido Cruz

New York

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.

View Bienvenido Cruz's Work

Lucia Orlandi

Squarespace, LA

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.

Simon Manchipp

SomeOne, London

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.

Ruth O'Connor

Journalist, Dublin

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.

Matthew Shannon

Sampson May, London

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.

Karen Hanratty

Path

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.

Rene Toneman

Silo, The Hague

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.

View Rene Toneman's Work

Nikita Chong

Proton Technologies AG

Nikita is an Engineering Manager at Proton Technologies AG, with a mission to provide privacy-focused tools and services to defend freedom and democracy. She has built and led co-located and globally distributed cross-functional teams. Her prior experience includes delivering products in business intelligence, UXaaS, eCommerce, enterprise software, and search, at global companies such as SAP and Shutterstock – with high-quality UX and empathy at the forefront of the customer experience.
She is an advocate for diversity and inclusion, having led and co-founded global employee resource groups and chapters relating to women in the workplace, LGTBQ+ inclusion, and sustainability initiatives. She also is amember of Rural Ireland Tech Advocates, representing Co. Wicklow as a fully remote worker.

Alastair Kean

Dalziel & Pow, London

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.

Anusia Grennell

Jump! Innovation, Dublin

Anusia works across research, strategy and design, in both education and practice. She is a graduate of IADT DĂșn 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.

Dr Iain Macdonald

Maynooth University

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.

Niall O'Kelly

Adidas, Amsterdam

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!

Niamh Barry

Niamh Barry Studio

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.⁠ ⁠ 

View Niamh Barry's Work

Bryan O’Sullivan

Bryan O'Sullivan Studio

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. ⁠

View Bryan O’Sullivan's Work

Sarah Kennelly

Department of Justice

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.

Alex Milton

NCAD

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.⁠ ⁠

Helen Cody

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.⁠ ⁠

View Helen Cody 's Work

Fiona Lynch

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.

View Fiona Lynch 's Work

Rachel Joy

Lettering Artist

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.

Stephen White

Head of Design at PepsiCo

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.

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