School Tour and Early Rising

At 6am on a Wednesday morning, you would expect most normal college students to be in bed nursing a hangover from the previous night, but not us Product Designers. No we were making our way up to Dublin for a day of museums, studios and exhibitions (Unfortunately due to time constraints the Viking Splash Tour had to be cancelled).

The first stop on the tour was Collins’ Barracks for the Eileen Gray Exhibition. Being one of Ireland’s best known designers it was an excellent insight into her work, especially being able to see some of her sketch work. Her furniture work was something I thoroughly enjoyed and being able to try out some of her chairs was a bonus I had not expected in the exhibition.

However the highlight of the Barracks for me was the wood turning work of Emmet Kane. Using bog wood and gold leaf, he created everything from bowls and vases to large art pieces. The detail, time and the imperfections in the wood made them incredible pieces to look at and enjoy. It was a real stumble upon find, as we came across it completely by accident in the maze that is Collin’s Barracks museum.

From there we were led like a school tour back to the bus and brought to the Science Gallery to see the “Trauma” Exhibition. This was something that I enjoyed far more than I had expected to. From knitted spinal cords, straitjacket parka coats and Guantanamo bay timetables, to state of the art bike helmets and medical tourniquets, it had something for everyone. Some of the highlights for me included the research into concussion and the lack of safety ratings in the NFL equipment, the Parabelt, a belt that also functions as a tourniquet, and Hövding, the inflatable bike helmet invented to prevent helmet hair in cyclists.

The Science Gallery was a real surprise for me on the day, as having previously gone to Collin’s Barracks I knew what to expect. From actual artistic pieces and studies, to ground-breaking pieces of design, it had so much to look at and would have loved to have spent more time here.

Following a brief stop for food, Burger King’s finest, we took off to IBM’s Dublin design studio. Here we were blown away by the size, quality and open space of it. From whiteboard walls and Mac Books left right and centre to couches and business class single seaters, the studio was something out of this world, and made the trip back to the Foundation Building a reluctant one. Having picked up tips on personal portfolio writing, design process management and how to make yourself more employable, it was time to leave back to Limerick.

So, following a long but thoroughly enjoyable day to the Capital (and a cold one in Stables) I can say that I learned and took in an awful lot about the world of design, even if it was just a few hours away from UL.