School of Design

At NCAD we encourage our design students to create visions and identities that are both innovative and sustainable. We are not educating mere problem solvers but also, more importantly, opportunity seekers. Our students will follow in the footsteps of our illustrious alumni and become the designers, thinkers and entrepreneurs that will positively shape the world we inhabit.

Design students at NCAD start with concepts and questions, challenging established design precepts and socio-cultural, ethical and technical assumptions to ensure that they don’t simply play a role in shaping objects, materials and spaces for today’s customers, but begin to define the very nature of what society may need, want and desire in the future.

The aim of the School is to create a design culture engaged in ongoing debate on all aspects of design, visual communication, fashion and craft; a culture that thrives on new ideas, new ways of doing things and new areas of exploration. We encourage our students to experiment and take risks in order to carve new aesthetic paths and make technical innovations within, and beyond, their design discipline.

Mixing traditional skills with the use of new technologies, Design at NCAD aims to deliver flexible, imaginative education where both the process of learning and the artefacts produced are of high quality.  Design and Craft, personal vision and commercial practice, academe and the cultural industries are not seen as opposites, but as parts of a dynamic, mutually informing, holistic process of education and creative endeavour.

Fashion Design

Fashion Design

Fashion Design aims to educate students to become professional practitioners in the field of fashion and related industries.

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Product Design

From chairs and lights to consumer products and environmental objects, product design is about enriching quality of life, whether in the home, workplace or public domain.

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Textile & Surface Design

The degree in Textile and Surface Design aims to give students an understanding of the creative design processes, materials and textile techniques to pursue a career as a textile or surface designer.

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Graphic Design

Graphic Design makes an increasingly powerful contribution to the cultural and economic life of society. It exists in the public domain, is an indicator of current cultural thinking and is a catalyst for social, cultural and economic change.

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Jewellery & Objects

Jewellery & Objects embraces a number of different creative practices, students are supported to develop individual craft and design skills which will allow them to realise their ideas in appropriate media.

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Illustration

Illustration is a powerful visual language that defies boundaries and extends across all art and design disciplines.

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Interaction Design

From apps and websites to connected products and wearable technologies, interaction design is about designing to support the way people communicated and interact in their daily lives.

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