On Tuesday the 12th of May, four groups of third-year BA [Hons] Graphic Design students presented original design research and proposals in Government Buildings.

The project was part of the Professional Studio module, a work-integrated learning programme that connects students with live briefs from real clients. This brief came from D/PER’s Strategic Design Office and sits within the Life Events framework, an approach being adopted by governments across the world to redesign public services around the moments that matter most in people’s lives. The aim is that people should not need to understand how government works in order to access it and build trust in it.

Each group was assigned a specific demographic: mature students, first-generation college students, students relocating from home, and students who had deferred or changed course. They conducted primary research to understand where the experience of navigating systems like CAO and SUSI breaks down, and where trust in public services forms or erodes.

From that research, they developed design interventions including service maps, content principles, manifestos and visual proposals, all grounded in what real people told them about a process that shapes some of the most important decisions of their lives.

What made this work stand out was not just the quality of the design craft but the strategic thinking behind it. These students had to understand a complex policy landscape, identify where meaningful intervention was possible, and communicate that clearly to a professional audience. These skills sit at the heart of what graphic design education at IADT is about.

The work will be displayed at the Better by Design public services conference on the 18th of June.

The team: Rory Bradley and Naoise Ó Conchubhair from IADT, working with Robert Farrelly and Genevieve McKenna from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

With input from:  Dr Emma Farrell, Maynooth University Trevor Vaugh, Public Sector Design Lead Ger Fox, IADT.

The students: Margianna Sfakianaki, Emma-Lilith Schuster, Mariam Khurtsilava, Hannah Stephens, Sinead Rooney, Jack Eglington, Arnold Schneible, Eabha Cusack, Sofie Taube, Olwyn Glynn, Oliwia Keson, Hannah Victor.