Alumni Stories - Barbara Bennett
"I would come up once a month from Galway and visit my older buddies in the college. I fell in love with the place the first time I walked through the doors, the buzz of the college, the amazing work produced by students, and the grounds itself. I had never experienced anything like it."
Name: Barbara Bennett
Current Career: Fashion & Graphic Design
Graduation Year: 2017
Discipline: Communication Design
Location: Galway, Ireland
What career path did you want to follow as a child?
Growing up, I loved art. I was constantly drawing, painting and designing outfits for my dolls. I had always dreamt about becoming a designer. It’s no surprise I decided to pursue this type of career.
Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?
It wasn’t until after I had finished school that I thought about going to NCAD. Some of my older buddies from Galway were studying at NCAD at that time and they really sold it to me. I took a year out and did an art portfolio preparation course.
I would come up once a month from Galway and visit them in the college. I fell in love with the place the first time I walked through the doors, the buzz of the college, the amazing work produced by students, and the grounds itself. I had never experienced anything like it.
NCAD was the only college I applied to because I knew I didn’t want to go anywhere else.
How did you develop your career towards your current job or practice?
After graduation I worked as a Freelance Designer for two years in Dublin. I worked with a few companies doing branding, designing products and promotional work. I had applied for work in design studios in Dublin but never received any response. After that, I decided to immigrate to Canada in search of more work experience.
In 2019 I moved to Vancouver, but sadly due to the Covid pandemic my time there was cut short. I was forced to move home in March 2020, having lost my job. Fortunately, all of this bad luck led me to set up my own design business.
My business is based in Galway city. I specialise in hand-painting my own designs onto shoes. My work has always been about pattern design. I immediately started posting my shoe designs online and I have had great traction online ever since. There has been great social and traditional media coverage too.
What is the one experience during your time at NCAD that has informed you most in your career and work to date?
A first year tutor told me to ‘Make multiples - make a hundred of them!’ This advice really stuck with me. To this day when I start designing that advice always pops up into my head.
When I sketch out a design, I do lots of variations until I finally find the perfect one. I find it's a really good method for getting everything in your head onto a piece of paper or computer screen.
I also find it a lot more impressive when you produce a great body of work. It shows dedication and determination. Don’t forget, always be mindful of quality over quantity too.
My goal starting out was to produce a 100 different shoe designs in one year, which I happily achieved and am very proud of. So make multiples, make a hundred of them!
If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice you would offer?
Make Multiples, Make a Hundred of them!
What new opportunities have developed for you as a result of changes in work practice during the Covid pandemic of the last three years?
The initial isolation was a great time for many creatives because, all of a sudden there seemed to be so much extra time at home to experiment and explore new ideas. I found the lockdown in itself was a great opportunity to let my own ideas blossom. During this period, I have seen a wonderful increase in the number of creatives promoting their work online. I believe, you’ve got to nourish in order to flourish!
