Ms Clare Conway

Contact

Email: c.conway@kingston.ac.uk
Location: Kingston School of Art, Knights Park
Faculty: Kingston School of Art
School: School of Design
Department: Department of 3D Design, Department of Fashion, Department of Graphic Design, Department of Illustration Animation

About

I am a design practitioner and School Director of Learning & Teaching in the Design School.

I began my career in publishing, working at Macmillan as Design Studio Manager, then moved to Emap as Deputy Creative Director. In 2000 I co-founded Redcow Creative (now Surgery Redcow) a brand strategy and creative agency. Clients include Thomson Reuters and The Economist. As a design consultant, I specialise in branding, book and editorial design.

In 2017, I founded The Storybox Collective, exploring archival research through interdisciplinary collaborative making. Our first exhibition: Storybox: Tales of Absence, 'What ifs' and Salvation was inspired by the archives of Wilton's Music Hall - the world's oldest surviving Grand Music Hall https://wiltons.org.uk/heritage/history. We were the first researchers to work with Wilton's paper archive held by the V&A. In 2020 we launched a collaboration with the William Morris Society which focused on the resonance on Morris' work in the context of the political and ecological issues of today. Our exhibition William Morris: Wallpaper Man was held at Kelmscott House in conjunction with an exhibition of the work at Not My Beautiful House, Kingston in July 2021.

Academic responsibilities

School Director Learning & Teaching

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Visual Communication
MA Design with Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Teaching and learning

Qualifications and expertise

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
Academic Impact Awards: Most Innovative Lecturer Award – Runner-up (2019)
KU Student Led Learning & Teaching Awards: Best Postgraduate Teacher – Winner (2017)
KU Student Led Learning & Teaching Awards: Personal Tutor Award – Runner-up (2015)

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

In 2017 I founded the Storybox Collective, a group of artists/designers/writers and poets exploring the potential of archival research through collaborative making. The Collective comprises UG and PG students, recent graduates, staff and alumni from Kingston School of Art. Disciplines include: Creative Writing, Curation, Fashion, Fine Art, Filmmaking, Graphic Design, Journalism, Illustration, Sustainable Design and Product and Furniture Design.

Although we define our collective approach to research as interdisciplinary, the nature of the way we discuss, exchange ideas and influence one another—both within our individual and collaborative responses to each project—has led to recent consideration of a shift towards transdisciplinary where ‘new approaches arise out of the interaction between [discipline], but to a heightened degree, in a kind of super compound' (Strathern, 2007).

We are exploring this notion in our current work with a new archive and an exhibition showcasing our collective research methodologies entitled: Collective Explorations: People, Performance and Place is scheduled to open in February 2022.

William Morris: Wallpaper Man, The William Morris Society, Kelmscott House, Hammersmith; 24 October 2020 – 24 July 2021 (Curator)

William Morris: Wallpaper Man at Not My Beautiful House, NMBH, Kingston 24 June 2021 – 24 July 2021 (Curator and Illustrator)

Tales of Absence, ‘What ifs' and Salvation, Wilton's Music Hall, London3 November 2017 – 25 November 2017 (Curator)

Areas of specialism

Illustration
Graphic Design
Curation