Alumni Stories - Renata Dima

"Very quickly I decided to base my projects around the skills and technologies that I was curious about or that I thought would be useful for me in the future. I owe a lot of what I’m currently doing now in my career to following my curiosities and I believe that the starting point was during college at NCAD. "

Name: Renata Dima

Current Career: Digital Product Designer

Graduation Year: 2021

Discipline: Interaction Design

Location: Cork, Ireland

What career path did you want to follow as a child?

As a child I have the distinct memory of wanting to be a doctor so that I could cure my relatives. Many years later, I developed a fascination with moving mechanisms and thought I wanted to be an engineer. I knew I wanted to do something both practical and theoretical and that brought me to Product Design which later turned into Interaction Design.

Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?

Funny story. I initially applied to the ‘Product Design’ course as it was then because I thought that I could use it to give me the skills to build my own van interior. All of this was because I was obsessed with rock climbing at the time and wanted to travel the world in my van and climb. Once I started my course I quickly realized that ‘Interaction design’ was more suited to my interests as they did more work with electronics and digital technologies.

How did you develop your career towards your current job or practice?

Very quickly I decided to base my projects around the skills and technologies that I was curious about or that I thought would be useful for me in the future. I owe a lot of what I’m currently doing now in my career to following my curiosities and I believe that the starting point was during college at NCAD. 

What is the one experience during your time at NCAD that has informed you most in your career and work to date?

Possibly facing roadblocks with a particularly technologically heavy project that I was working on has informed my career to date. Pushing through those challenges and coming out on the other side was a valuable experience for difficult challenges in the future.

If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice you would offer?

Don’t be afraid to take things at your own pace. Enjoy the time you spend at NCAD and use it to work on things that you’re interested in. Don’t be rushed to produce the final result and take your time to enjoy the process!

What new opportunities have developed for you as a result of changes in work practice during the Covid pandemic?

I think the pandemic showed us that we have the capacity to adapt and work fully remotely from home. This had an impact on the industry as a whole and just goes to show how resilient the workforce can and will be in the face of adversity.

Portfolio Links:

https://renatadima.portfolio.site/

Awards:

RSA 2021 Winner

IDI Graduate Award 2021 Winner