Apply the principles of data visualisation to the analysis, design and communication of information in order to provide insights, clarity and meaning.

The aim of data visualisation is to effectively communicate information through a graphical means. This course aims to provide an understanding of the theory underpinning the field of data visualisation and to provide an introduction to the practicalities of creating effective graphical representations of data.

The course is suitable for individuals involved in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data, as well as for those responsible for the communication of data to a range of audiences.

This course focuses on the technical aspects of immersive sound design for film, specifically in post-production for film production and episodic narratives. You will gain proficiency in advanced spatial audio techniques, editing, mixing for various formats, including stereo and Dolby Atmos, as well the use of dialogue, background, foley, sound effects, and music.

Do you want to develop your creative making and critical thinking skills in a meaningful and tangible way? If so, this Professional Certificate in Art and Ecology may be just what you’re looking for.

This module introduces learners to fundamental principles, working methods, skills and theories relating to intersections of contemporary art with ecology. A special emphasis will be placed on ‘learning through doing’ in a series of workshops and situated environmental learning.

CFA at NCAD’s Professional Certificate in Creative Diversity, is a special intensive course. It equips learners with an awareness of equality, diversity, and inclusion within Design, such as the need to decolonise the discipline, while also providing the tools, methods and platforms to enact personal, professional and sectoral change.

This Professional Certificate in Creative Hospitality introduces the learner to concepts of authenticity and shared experience in their work by adopting the fundamental principles and theories of hospitality, that is the practice of welcoming strangers.

The programme seeks to empower students from fields such as design, business, sociology, systems thinking, education, banking, technology and the public sector to shape the services of the future through design thinking and doing.

Learn how to develop, write and pitch an industry standard TV drama treatment.

TV drama has changed radically since the arrival of streaming platforms. Audiences are hungry for drama in hybrid genres, where the quality and richness of the writing is key to the success of the series. Writers have become the creative drivers of productions – the showrunners – the creative leaders of productions where in film the director is often that person.

Production companies, broadcasters and streamers are always looking for the next new idea that will capture audience. This course explores current trends and how to ensure ideas, regardless of genre, standout as authentic.

This short and practical micro-credential course will examine the broadcast landscape in Ireland, and explore ways to create ground-breaking radio and podcasts that resonate.

Learners will listen to, and create multiple examples of audio content in a variety of styles for both live and online contexts.

Learners will also analyse radio journalism as a discipline, and evaluate contemporary audiences and how to reach them.

Classes take place one evening per week online with a few Saturdays on campus in the National Film School audio lab and radio studio.

This postgraduate certificate explores recent design history from a critical perspective and proposes new theoretical frameworks for design that are matriarchal, eco-centered, and non-anthropocentric.

The course begins by examining the philosophical foundations of design, particularly those of the Enlightenment period, and their impact on contemporary design practice, and contribution to the multiple crisis in the Anthropocene.

The Certificate in Speculative Design Futures is a new course suitable for designers and creatives practitioners from all disciplines interested in designing a positive future for all (people and planet).

The course will equip you with futures thinking literacy and the practical speculative design skills needed to engage critically with the uncertainty and complexity of wicked problems that exist in our world today.

Explore how the core elements of user experience (UX) design can be used to create more effective, engaging and enjoyable digital media interactions.

UX design uses research, design skills and usability testing to enhance the ways in which a user can interact with a digital product. It involves a range of techniques, including user research, requirements analysis, user interface and interaction design, prototyping, and user testing. The demand from industry in Ireland for people with these skills has significantly grown in response to the increasing prominence and importance of the field. This course produces skilled, confident and knowledgeable user experience designers to fill this gap.

This course will provide learners with a command of the practical management of industry standard digital animation productions, primarily 2D animation but also 3D and VFX.

The course has been developed with industry partners in Ireland and the state agency with responsibility for skills development for the screen sector in Ireland, Screen Skills Ireland.

Each student will complete a live production plan as part of this course. They will have an opportunity to apply the skills they have learned on the course in a real world context.

The postgraduate certificate involves the application of electronics technologies to artistic and design practice, from the point of view of creative, aesthetic, mood and thematic aspects of art and the problem-solution paradigm of design in an elegant sense.

The course will explore applications of electronics technologies in a basic, mixed media sense, within a thematic research context, underpinned by academic methodologies, leaning heavily into the learners’ existing creative practices, in terms of practical projects of their collective choice. Learners will ultimately gain practical and research knowledge, skills and competencies applicable within their own professional context.

This part-time postgraduate course is designed for creative professionals from various disciplines (filmmakers, designers, photographers, actors, theatre and event professionals, game developers, animators, painters, sculptors, and more) who want to develop or formulate a strategy for their practice or business, and to take the next step in transforming their passion into a more commercial venture. This may involve expanding an existing business, launching a new venture, or better positioning yourself within the creative marketplace.

Learn valuable design methodologies and strategies that will transform your approach to problem solving and innovation.

Design thinking can transform the way organisations develop products, services, processes and strategy. Many companies now use design thinking methodologies to help them overcome key business challenges ever present in today’s fast-paced technology and data driven environment.

The programme works directly with an urban embedded novel ecology of the NCAD FIELD site. This taskscape acts as an outdoor classroom, a site for nature connection, commoning and a testing site for multi-species futures.

The programme supports a range of creative approaches and interdisciplinary art and design practitioners that wish to connect and work in the space of critical ecologies and expanded environments.

Learners aiming to evolve as artists, curators, activists, designers and cultural producers will be supported, giving them the tools, networks and knowledge to confidently work in this interdisciplinary field.

Professional Certificate in Creative Learning explores the transformative potential of creative teaching across diverse educational and community settings. Developed for practitioners in creative fields, it enhances collaborative learning environments that value experience-led, practice-based knowledge. Learners are positioned as facilitators and collaborators, gaining tools to co-create innovative learning spaces.

This course creates a stage for the exploration of the complex issues around fashion, textile design and product design, to interrogate and provoke sustainable systemic change.

The Professional Certificate in AI for Design helps creative practitioners integrate AI into their design process and shape the future of their field. Through a critical, practical, and future-facing lens, the programme explores the power and potential of designing for and with AI. Learners will develop technical, ethical, and conceptual fluency in AI tools while anticipating what’s next in design innovation.

This hands-on programme is ideal for creative practitioners looking to position their work within a well-informed digital, technological, and ecological context.  The Professional Diploma in Digital making is suitable for all Art & Design graduates, those who work in Art Departments of Film and Theatre or anyone with a need to know more about digital making.