IDI Award 2023: Universal Design Category Winner

The Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) awards took place on the 16th November 2023 in the RDS in Dublin. The winner of the Universal Design Category was the Co-art: Reimagining opera with communities & technology website designed by Emily Loughran (lead designer), Karen Hanratty (Creative Director), Lenka Nagyova (designer) from Path.

Screenshot from the Co-art website.

This website was designed to help arts producers understand that Opera must change to survive, to share principles of co-creation and its importance for a more socially equal world, and to inspire and show that it is possible. 

It won the Universal Design award because it used a Universal Design Approach to challenge tradition in an inclusive and innovative way. By applying co-creation methods, it ensured inclusion through a creative and sustainable format that increased its appeal to new target groups and audiences.  

IDI Award 2022: Universal Design Category Winner

The IDI Awards took place in The Marker Hotel on Thursday the 17th November 2022. The winner of the Universal Design Category was Rachel Copley McQuillan & Stina Sandström of Bureau Bonanza with their design of The Douglas Hyde website.

Screengrab of the Welcome Page of the Douglas Hyde Website

The Douglas Hyde website and all other communications platforms have a clear editorial structure that allows for tiered levels of engagement with an information system using headings, sub-heads, introductory paragraph-styles, ‘read more’ tags. The website structure goes from engaging and welcoming to descriptive and informative to academic and critical.

The Douglas Hyde was awarded the Universal Design award as this website can be easily accessed, understood and used, by all users, which demonstrates excellence in Universal Design.

This year CEUD is also delighted to be a part of the exhibition, ReJOYce, which is celebrating the Institute of Designers Ireland (IDI) 50th anniversary. You can find out further details about this exhibition on the ReJOYce webpage.

IDI Awards 2021: Universal Design category winner

The IDI Awards 2021 Event took place online on 11 November 2020. The winner of the Universal Design Category was Dolmen Design and Innovation for their project ‘Merlyn revo’

Photograph of a bathroom with a women and young child standing in their bathrobes. The child is standing in the walk in shower and beside her on the wall is a Merlyn revo shower railMerlyn revo shower rail and bathroom storage system. ©Merlyn, courtesy of Dolmen Design and Innovation

Revo is a multifunctional bathroom storage system and shower rail. A Universal Design approach was evident in the user engagement that took place through the whole lifecycle of the design, and in the conscious identification and addressing of the needs of users with diverse characteristics. The resulting product is simple, functional, easy-to-use, adaptable and requires low physical effort to use – a good example of the application of many of the Principles of Universal Design.

IDI Awards 2020: Universal Design category winner

The IDI Awards 2020 Ceremony took place on the 4 November 2020. The winner of the Universal Design Category, chosen from 50 unique entries, was Nokia Bell Labs, for its design of an interactive stall at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, for its design of an interactive stall at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Image of the Nokia Bell interactive stall at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

Nokia Bell Labs interactive stall at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition ©Nokia Bell Labs, courtesy of Ross Dowd, Industrial Design Lead of project

Nokia Bell Labs’s interactive stall was designed to be accessed and used by people with a wide range of characteristics. It was a worthy winner of this year’s Universal Design Category as the team involved, and the designed stall, addressed age, size, ability and disability to design a fun, interactive and informative stall.