Profile of Business in the Traditional Design Sectors

This research was commissioned by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland as part of the Year of Irish Design (ID1025), supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and was undertaken on their behalf.

This research aims to develop an understanding of the size, location, and demographics of design practices and businesses in the Republic of Ireland. For this report, the agreed sectors and design sectors to research were Animation, Architecture, Communication/Graphic Design, Digital Design, Product/Industrial Design, and Craft Design. The study’s specific objectives are to gain a better understanding of how the design sector in Ireland is structured, including the types of disciplines, business types, locations in Ireland by count, and the duration of business operations. The traditional design sector is well represented by the distribution of practices throughout Ireland. However, there is an understandable concentration of design practices in the capital and surrounding counties. This accounts for just over one-third of all design practices. The traditional design sectors in Ireland comprise just under 4,000 practices, including sole traders, Registered Business Names, Limited Companies, and Partnerships.

The full research report can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.21427/D79N5F