IADT Cartlann An archive for socially engaged production
IADT Cartlann | A dynamic online catalogue platform for socially engaged production
Piquant worked with IADT to develop the C3 Co-Creation Centre online catalogue. This meant transitioning a vast historical archive of creative collaborations into an open production hub. We overcame complex administrative approval requirements and sensitive data restrictions to build a flexible, dynamic learning platform for higher education.
We created a custom multi-tiered digital archive that turns past public projects into an interactive learning tool. Streamlining multi-layered content moderation while safeguarding intellectual property and institutional frameworks.
A legacy of social impact
The Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology (IADT) has a long-standing history of collaborative, socially engaged programming where students and staff work closely with civil society. To accelerate this work and establish a sustainable production model, the institute required a central digital repository. This environment needed to serve two main purposes: to act as an inspiring public gallery for funding stakeholders and communities, and to function as an educational pipeline that guides current students step-by-step through past production lifecycles.
A fresh visual identity
To bring the platform to life, we developed a new standalone brand identity for Cartlann, distinct from IADT's core institutional branding. The identity centres on a considered wordmark and a distinctive spherical emblem, paired with a vibrant colour palette and a typographic pairing of Circular and PP Fragment Glare Light for a human touch. This visual language ensures the platform holds visual impact while guiding focus towards the student and researcher portfolios it exists to showcase.
Navigating complex assets
The fundamental challenge was centered on data flexibility, content variance, and strict compliance management. Each uploaded project carried drastically different media formats (research documents, text to animations, video embeds, future VR capabilities, etc). Furthermore, much of this student work contained copyrighted assets, sensitive public domain questions, or GDPR implications. The system had to accommodate diverse content types while enforcing strict privacy rules without creating an unmanageable administrative burden on faculty reviewers.
Turning archives into live learning tools
We identified an opportunity to design a dynamic metadata framework that turns passive records into active learning modules. Piquant then developed a structured, dual-mode interface featuring a standard public presentation view alongside a deep-dive "Learning Mode". This allows authorised users to study an initiative from its earliest conceptual stages up to final asset delivery. By integrating custom taxonomies, administrators can dynamically scale tags, formats, and descriptors as the college's curriculum evolves.
Granular moderation and system integration
To make the system completely seamless, we engineered an intuitive backend with strict role-based permissions. We deployed a secure user portal where students and staff authenticate instantly via single sign-on using their standard IADT credentials. To protect copyrighted material, a multi-tiered approval hierarchy was established: student assistants act as Project Creators, uploading assets into locked fields, while senior staff act as Project Evaluators, reviewing, feedback-tagging, and authorising content blocks before they publish to the public domain. The platform operates alongside institutional research networks including FigShare and the IADT library ecosystem.
Future-proofing institutional knowledge
The new platform firmly positions IADT as a leader in socially engaged art and design, giving external partners a clear window into student capabilities. By locking down privacy parameters while simultaneously opening up production toolkits and documentation, the hub provides a blueprint for transparent academic archiving.
