So Long...

Seven years, six European cities and over 350 posts about design, architecture and creativity. I Like Local has provided an amazing opportunity for me to deepen my understanding of the designed world and its importance and to share my thoughts with a small but perfectly formed audience of readers all over the world. But now it's time to move on, and so this is the last post on I Like Local.

If you've visited before, many thanks for stopping by and reading, sharing, commenting and emailing. If this is your first time here, enjoy the 350+ thoughts, lists, interviews, reviews, arguments, reflections and snapshots of design in certain times and certain places. Head over to my website to find out what I'm up to now and sign up to the mailing list for an occasional update on current and upcoming projects in Ireland and elsewhere.

All the best
Aideen

Best of Year #7

Another year, another move, another one planned (last one, I swear) and a host of posts on I Like Local! I left the busyness of London behind in September to come and spend some time in design-savvy Denmark, and in that time I have been sharing my Copenhagen discoveries here, in the Irish Times and in other publications. I've also launched a brand new design festival that will hit Copenhagen in a couple of weeks, made great friends, eaten fancy food and ridden on almost everything in Tivoli. And while it's been AMAZING to live here in Copenhagen, it's finally time to go home to Ireland, so once the festival's done I'll be packing my bags and heading back to Dublin. There will be a few final things to discover and share here in DK, so stay tuned, and take a look below for some of the highlights since I got here.

Design in Dublin #4: The Lifeline

Here we are! The fourth and final part of my Design in Dublin series, published in full in Iterations issue 3. Enjoy the last of the series, which looks at Kaethe Burt-O'Dea's work on the Lifeline and other projects as examples of citizen design, and read back on parts #1, #2 and #3 if you haven't already.

Design in Dublin #3: DCC Beta

Welcome to part #3 of my Design in Dublin series, looking at the work of Dublin City Council Beta as civic design. This follows on from parts #1 and #2, and stay tuned for the fourth and final part. Design in Dublin is published in full in Iterations issue 3, an Irish design journal available from the IDI.

Design in Dublin #2: Framework

Following on from part #1, which looked at the Dublin Honey Project as an example of agile design in Dublin, here is part #2 of my series of posts on Design in Dublin, this time looking at some of the work being done by Dublin City Council which I class as being responsive design. Design in Dublin is also published in full in Iterations issue 3, available from the IDI.

Design in Dublin #1: Dublin Honey Project

To round off my studies in Curating Contemporary Design last year I undertook some research into (surprise, surprise) contemporary Irish design. More specifically, I looked at design in urban settings in Ireland, as I was getting a little frustrated at just how often Irish design was presented as being rural in exhibitions at home and abroad (you can read some of that research in a three-part series here on I Like Local called Design, Exhibitions and Irish Identity). As my research into contemporary Irish design in urban settings progressed, I honed in on Dublin, and began to see some patterns emerge. I documented these in an essay which I'm sharing here now, in four parts. You can also read this essay - in full - in the third edition of Irish design journal Iterations, which is available to buy through the Institute of Designers in Ireland. Without further ado...

Irish Degree Shows 2016

Here we go, I Like Local's annual Irish degree show listings! Things are kicking off a little earlier this year in order to make sure spring shows like Burren College of Art and IADT's technology showcase are included, but keep your eyes peeled on this post as degree show season continues. I will update it as I get more information on shows all over the country, so what's starting off as 14 listings is bound to grow and grow... Is your show one of the missing ones? Then tell me! You can reach me by email or on Twitter. So without further ado, here is your guide to finding new Irish design talent this year. Let's go!

Copenhagen Cool

Shortly after arriving in Copenhagen, I was commissioned by Image Interiors & Living to write a guide to buying design in the Danish capital. Here's a fairly comprehensive list of places to find contemporary, classic and vintage design in a city made for interiors shopping, along with an amazing illustrated map by fellow CPH resident Philip Kennedy (above, click to enlarge). If you find yourself in Copenhagen, happy shopping!

Producing Better Production: Den Danske Keramikfabrik

I recently wrote a piece for the Irish Times about craft and cooperation in Danish design, looking at a number of different design collectives in Copenhagen and elsewhere. One that got a brief mention is Den Danske Keramikfabrik (DDKF), an initiative by 18 ceramicists and ceramics studios to bring ceramic factory production back to Denmark. I only wrote a small amount about it in the Irish Times, but it deserves much more than that, as it really is a cool project. So here goes...

ID2015: the end of something, or the beginning?

When the Glass Society of Ireland asked me to contribute to their annual journal, it provided a great opportunity to reflect (boom boom) not only on glass, the discipline I specialised in years ago for my undergraduate degree, but also on the year that has passed: 2015, the Year of Irish Design. It's been an interesting thing to look on at from afar, and a particularly curious thing to consider from my current Scandinavian location. Read on...

Learning From Japan

While I went to the opening back in October, it wasn't until last week that I returned to Designmuseum Danmark to take a proper look at its latest exhibition, Learning from Japan. Showing work from both Japan and Denmark from the 1870s up to 2010, it explores an interesting, and rarely considered idea: that rather than always being the influence, sometimes Danish design has been the movement being influenced...