About us
We are a multidisciplinary design group that strives to make experiences which are engaging and inspiring for spaces, places and people. Associate members of the team have been planning and developing exhibitions, brand identities and digital products both locally and internationally for over 26 years. For any given brief we call upon a roster of experienced and talented people to offer clients a start-to-finish approach. Here are some of our key associates:
John Raftery
Creative Director
John Raftery is the founder of Makedot. His intuitive understanding of both interpretation and commercial design, coupled with broad experience, ensures that we deliver consistent and inspirational visitor experiences. John has extensive knowledge across all platforms, having worked in the design industry since graduating from Limerick College of Art in 1996. His twenty-year globe-hopping career has seen him work in New York, Boston, Dublin and Cork. He takes an integrated approach, playing solutions out across varied media chosen for maximum suitability for each unique project. He combines his conceptual creative approach with solid practical skills including exhibition design, identities, branding, way-finding, 3D design, editorial design, typeface design and immersive interactive applications.
Mark Leslie
Interpretive Planning/Content Specialist
Mark Leslie qualified as an architect at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1977. For the past thirty years Mark has led a uniquely multi-skilled group of narrative architects: architects, researchers, writers, interpretive planners, exhibition designers, graphic artists, filmmakers, computer programmers, lighting and hardware specialists to produce immersive narrative spaces and innovative interactive experiences around the world. Mark’s designed many of Ireland’s most popular, and award winning visitor attractions, including:- Atlantic Edge at the Cliffs of Moher; the Glendalough Visitor Centre; the Life and Work of WB Yeats at the National Library; the Guinness Storehouse; Glasnevin Museum; the Jackie Clarke Collection; Irish Whiskey Museum; and GPO Witness History.
Rob Reid
Interactive and Immersive Design
Rob works closely with the design team to help identify where interactive media can be appropriately used to enhance and support the interpretive storyline. Rob firmly believes that technology has a place in story telling but strongly prohibits the use of technology for technology’s sake. From an early stage Rob will help define the role of digital media throughout the experience and will have a central role throughout the project overseeing the design, development, programming and testing of all digital solutions to be implemented.
Apart from years of hands on practical experience, Rob is also a registered Apple Developer and works closely with the digital community in Dublin (and world wide) to explore new techniques, programming languages and developments in the ever-changing digital space.
Aoife Dorney
Researcher
Aoife has worked in the storytelling industry for the last 20 years: in academia, design and TV. Her first love is research, and especially in unearthing interesting stories in everyday ephemera. Aoife teaches design in Cork Institute of Technology and has worked in the design industry in New York and Ireland. Previous to that Aoife worked in independent television for Hummingbird Productions on a number of documentaries. Aoife believes that there is an interesting story in everything and is excited by what people say about their own everyday lives. She loves piecing these anecdotes together into animated narratives. Aoife is a member of the Crawford College of Art Research Committee and EFACIS (European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies).