MAKE Digital Media Seminar
Talks and discussions from some of Ireland’s leading creative talent.
EVENT: 2026 Dates Coming Soon
LOCATION: Draíocht Blanchardstown, The Blanchardstown Centre, Co. Dublin, D15 RYX6
MAKE Seminar Series
MAKE - standing for Multimedia, Art, Knowledge, and Education - is designed to connect students from the TU Dublin School of Media across the Blanchardstown, Tallaght, and City campuses with experts in the field of creative digital media. Partnering with Draíocht in Blanchardstown, we’ve been delighted to host the event at the creative space each year.




Make 2024 Speakers
Grainne McGuinness
Creative Director at Paper Owl Films
Gráinne is the creator of ‘Pablo’ for CBeebies and RTÉJr., distributed internationally by CAKE. This series is lauded worldwide for its timely portrayal of a smart autistic child. Pablo’s quirky characters and stories promote empathy. Gráinne develops ambitious content for large audiences as Creative Director. Irish language content like the preschool cookery series “Bia Linn” and wildlife series Na Dulradóirí for 8–12-year-olds on TG4 shows a passion for minority language survival. Pablo has become an international movement for #thinkingdifferently and inspiring young people to see the world differently. A YouTube channel, book deal, and theatre show will expand Pablo’s international licensing and merchandising strategy in 2019. Pablo shows that meaningful content for kids must be commercially successful.
James Kelleher
Head Of Design at Publicis Dublin
James Kelleher is an Irish visual artist and designer based in Dublin. He studied English Literature and Sociology at University College Dublin and began his career creating posters for the college’s drama society. Mostly self-taught, his 25-year multidisciplinary journey has taken in publishing, photography, interaction and editorial design, journalism, creative coding and generative art.
Kelleher’s most recent work explores the tension between emerging technologies that mimic biological processes and the new pressures these technologies bring to bear on the organic and social environment.
James oversees the design team at Publicis Dublin, acting as a champion for the highest visual and experience standards across all client brands (and that of the agency itself), as well as an advocate for thoughtful user-centred design.
Ashwin Chako
Founder, Illustrator, Author & Speaker
An Indian author, illustrator and motivational speaker based in Dublin. specialises in positively playful, visual storytelling to bring joy and encouragement. Ashwin’s mission is to champion creativity and empower people to find their inner spark through: Motivational Talks | Books | Videos | Workshops. Interested in uncovering the social interactions that drive culture. Seeking to capture these moments in bold lines & shapes. Ashwin’s compositions focus on a strong use of characters intermingled with typography and patterns. “I like to describe my work as “positively playful.” He develops and design conceptual illustrations for advertising campaigns, products, packaging, editorial, children’s books and one off commissions from around the world. Books Include: Keep At It, Little Optimist, A little book About Justice, Everybody Feels Fear, What Wondrous Shapes We Are, What do you think?
Niki Collier
Visual Artist
Niki Collier embodies the essence of contemporary Ireland. Two decades ago, she arrived from Bulgaria to pursue a doctoral degree. Today, her personally crafted designs and artistic creations have gained recognition as an integral part of the Irish creative movement. Throughout her career, she has had several defining moments, including becoming the first Irish felt designer to have work sold at the British Museum Shop and the first felt designer to be featured in Kilkenny Design. Niki’s goal is to collaborate with film, music, and fashion houses, while maintaining relationships with her boutique stockists and expanding her workshop into a sought-after destination for those seeking a distinctive studio experience. At the core of her brand is a desire to convey authentic stories through her products, which embody her passion for heritage, materials, and origin. Her Wild accessory range, for example, features the first truly Irish felt tweed.
Steven Collins
Strategy and Innovation Manager, Deloitte Digital
Steven Collins is an Innovation and Strategy specialist with Deloitte Digital. He is an evangelist of human-centred design’s ability to help organizations to construct, design and launch new products and services, with experience in Finance, Big Tech, Healthcare and Government sectors. Omni-curious about how we interact with technology and how we can make it better – always starting by talking to the people who use it.
David Pollard
Education Manager, EIT Health
David is also a Ph.D. Candidate in Inclusive Design and Creative Technology Innovation at SMARTlab, University College Dublin (UCD), where he combines his passion for design, technologies and education. Prior to joining EIT Health Ireland-UK, David founded Sapien Innovation, a start-up that designs and delivers custom innovation and design thinking workshops, training, consultation, sprints and hackathons. During the pandemic, David co-founded TeamOSV which brought together over 5,000 innovators from across the world to develop rapid open-source solutions for challenges faced by the public, governments, and healthcare ecosystems. TeamOSV was nominated for an Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Award in the Innovation for Change category, and has been featured in Forbes, Fortune Magazine, and New York Times. David also holds the role of Irish Ambassador for the European Union’s Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE). At EIT Health, David is the lead for the building and development of EIT Health’s new European-wide digital learning platform, the EIT Health Academy. The aim of this learning platform is to create sustainable, scalable lifelong learning pathways in health innovation.
Joshue O'Connor
Director, InterAccess – Accessible UX
Joshue O Connor is the CEO of the accessible UX consultancy Interaccess.ie. He is an experienced technology consultant and is seasoned in accessible web, mobile and application development. Joshue is a published author and ex co-chair of the WCAG working group.
Emer Reynolds
Filmmaker and Editor
Emer Reynolds, Grierson-nominated feature documentary director and multi-award winning film editor, is based in Dublin, Ireland. ‘Here Was Cuba” her documentary directorial debut, which she co-directed with John Murray, described by The Hollywood Reporter as ” a real-life end of the world thriller”, was screened at festivals worldwide, on More4 and was nominated for a Grierson Award 2014. Her most recent solo-directed, award-winning feature documentary “The Farthest” , featuring the amazing Voyager spacecraft- described as “Awe-inspiring.. chills-inducing” Variety, “Dazzling” The New York Times and ” Exactly what the World needs right now” LA Times – having scooped three awards including the Audience Award at its premiere in the Dublin International Film Festival, made its international premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival; enjoyed a very successful release in Ireland, the U.K and the U.S, and is still touring international film festivals. Emer has written and directed four short films and directed the RTE 6 part TV drama series ‘Trouble in Paradise’. A five-time IFTA winning editor, her feature credits include ‘I Went Down’, ‘The Actors’, ‘The Eclipse’, and ‘Patrick’s Day’, and documentary work includes ‘One Million Dubliners’, ‘We went to War’ and ‘Broken Tail’.



