School of Design

Design is a cultural, social, political, economic, and relational activity that responds creatively to its context, location in time, connections, and people.

Design generates more than €20 billion of Gross Value Added to the Irish economy, and NCAD continues to play a critical role in the development of new talent and research that is helping establish Ireland as a creative, cultural and technological centre of design excellence.

At NCAD we seek to nurture, empower and enable our design students to become agents of change. The diverse range of creative work on display across undergraduate and  postgraduate design programmes demonstrates how our graduates are co-creating, co-realising, and co-communicating tangible design solutions and opportunities.

The award winning School of Design at NCAD offers the most comprehensive range of design education on the island of Ireland, our students study within and beyond graphic design, fashion, illustration, interaction design, jewellery, medical device design, moving image design, product design, service design, sustainable & circular design and textile & surface design. This dynamic environment creates a research-led studio culture that thrives on new ideas, ways of doing things and new areas of expertise.

The calibre of our undergraduate and postgraduate students continues to be globally recognised, with the college ranked 1st in Ireland, 19th in Europe and 53rd in the World in Art and Design in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. 

The staff team and I are immensely proud to introduce the next generation of NCAD educated designers and changemakers.

Professor Alex Milton
Head of the School of Design