Irish Design Week 2025 brought together the very best designers to celebrate creativity through a programme of events in venues across Ireland.
From 17–21 November 2025, a nationwide programme of workshops, exhibitions, talks, and conferences took place across Ireland, all centred on the theme “The ties that tie, and the links that link.”
Our keynote events took place each day at the beautiful auditorium at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Each day was themed and featured Design Diplomacy.
Design Diplomacy, created by Helsinki Design Week, pairs an international design professional with an Irish designer for a unique, card‑game‑based conversation.
- Day 1: Architecture
- Day 2: Fashion Design
- Day 3: Sound Design
- Day 4: Sound Design and Visual Communication
- Day 5: Communication Design
Day 1
Architecture
Irish Architecture Foundation in collaboration with Design & Crafts Council Ireland
Irish Architecture Foundation host a talk on collaborative design with Jayden Ali & RESOLVE, exploring design’s social & cultural impact.
French designer Laurent Ungerer of c‑album, known for major cultural visual identities, joins Irish designer Noelle Cooper, Creative Director of Unthink, whose practice spans impactful branding and digital experiences, for a Design Diplomacy conversation.
Our main focus is working from within to the outside. That is always for us the most important drive for making beautiful architecture - being aware that good design comes from people’s within instead of computerised design.
Lars Courage
Creative Director - Courage Architecten
Day 2
Fashion Design
National College of Art & Design in collaboration with Design & Crafts Council Ireland
National College of Art & Design host a talk on fashion, craft & collaboration featuring Sinéad O’Dwyer and Anastasiia Fedorova.
American fashion‑film pioneer Diane Pernet, founder of ASVOFF, joins Irish art director Eibhlín Albert‑Doran, whose Paris‑based practice shapes image strategy and visual identity for global luxury houses, for a Design Diplomacy conversation.
Fashion is a huge part of our history in Ireland, it's part of our heritage. The skills here are unique to the geography of different counties and places so it's really important that we don't lose that.
Natalie B Coleman
Fashion Designer & Lecturer at NCAD
Day 3
Sound Design
Institute of Creative Advertising & Design in collaboration with Design & Crafts Council Ireland
Institute of Creative Advertising & Design host an immersive, multi-sensory experience featuring Yuri Suzuki and Folding Waves.
Sound artist and designer Yuri Suzuki, known for his interactive sonic works and museum‑commissioned installations, joins Kasia Oźmin, founder and Creative Director of Together We Create and award‑winning art director working across global brands and emerging sectors, for a Design Diplomacy conversation.
Do what you love because you are going to be doing it for a long time.
Diarmuid MacMahon
COO at PA Consulting Dublin
Day 4
Sound Design & Visual Communication
Distinctive Repetition in collaboration with Design & Crafts Council Ireland
An immersive event, featuring performances by Seán MacErlaine and Tomoko Sauvage, Dan Trueman, and Benjamin Dwyer, as well as contributions by Garth Knox, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Fiona Hallinan, and Dr Jonathan C.Creasy.
Australian designer, author, and BBC presenter Banjo Beale, known for his sustainable, place‑rooted island design practice and award‑winning television work, joins Irish designer Anna Sutcliffe, founder of House of Achill and a leading advocate for Ireland’s island craft communities, for a Design Diplomacy conversation.
If we continue emitting at the current rate, frankly, we are cooked and there is not much we can do about that.
Sir David King
Founder and Chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group
Day 5
Communication Design
100 Archive in collaboration with Design & Crafts Council Ireland
100 Archive host a talk with Johanna Fabrin of 21st Europe exploring how design can shape collaborative and hopeful futures.
Swedish 3D director and DissEmbargo co‑founder Sebastian Helene, known for high‑end 3D work for global brands and an award‑winning career spanning London and Ireland, joins Irish designer Brett O’Mahony, Visual Director at Studio Saol and a practitioner working at the intersection of design, strategy, and futures, for a Design Diplomacy conversation.
