The 9th Annual Design, Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (DICE) conference took place at ATU this month. The Conference which had a full schedule of events, welcomed creative practitioners and students to the Letterkenny campus over two days.
Nollaig Crombie, Head of Department of Design & Creative Media says; “This year’s DICE Conference was bigger and better than ever before. We welcomed over 400 attendees on campus and many more online. There were four discreet sessions, designed to suit, TY students, third level students, industry practitioners and academics. The event was extra special as this was our first DICE Conference since becoming a university. To mark this occasion, design academics from across ATU, came together in Letterkenny to discuss research and future collaborative opportunities.”
Aileen Faller (Costume Supervisor, Netflix), Sharon Maxwell (ATU Lecturer and DICE Team), Nollaig Crombie (ATU Head of Department of Design & Creative Media).
Fashion and film enthusiasts were fascinated by a behind the scenes look at television and film costume design by the highly entertaining Aileen Faller of Peaky Blinders and Game of Thrones.
Eileen Rafferty highlighted the global reach Donegal based media production companies can have when she showcased the work of her companies, The Bothy and Errigal Studio, and their extensive client list. Eileen was delighted to attend the event; “It was a fantastic event, every room full of inquisitive students and inspiring lecturers, mentors and colleagues. The buzz around the campus on the day was incredible and I had the pleasure of presenting alongside industry experts in various fields of creativity and design. ATU has a wide range of fantastic courses on offer delivered by amazing lecturers, and I hope that we can work alongside them to provide industry training, workshops and placements in the future.”
There was a warm welcome back to campus for recent graduate Jacob Burrill, having secured a design post at acclaimed Dublin based Design Studio, Hen’s Teeth following his work experience there last year. London based Mark Douglas, senior manager at Trueblack studios displayed an array of visual content produced for global clients. Mark discussed the importance of User Experience Design – which is embedded in the suite of offerings at ATU. Stephen Fagan, co-founder of Studio Meala Animation, passionately referenced the skills and values which are at the forefront of the Roscommon based studio.
Attendees at DICE Conference 2023
Nollaig Crombie (ATU Head of Department of Design & Creative Media)
The event, an already fitting celebration of women in creative industries on International Women’s Day was further re-enforced by the keynote speaker Donegal native Mary Doherty, owner of the award-winning Red Dog Studio who used her platform to celebrate her female employees/co-workers.
The DICE team are passionate, experienced and knowledgeable experts who have a vast network. Their aim is to guide and educate society as they navigate advancements in technologies and the 4th industrial revolution.
The event was live streamed and is available to watch on YouTube:
DICE 2023 – Driving Innovation – Design Thinking, The Key to Success
