Darren Raven

Senior Lecturer, MA/MFA Illustration

Darren Raven is a design educator with FE, HE and Post Graduate teaching and leadership experience. Prior to entering education he was a freelance illustrator with a global client base. Clients included: Financial Times, The Guardian, BBC, The Independent, Friends of The Earth, Management Today, The Builder Group, Bloomsbury, Disney, Amazon, Viacom (MTV Europe, Nickelodeon), Microsoft, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Chronicle Books.

Darren's teaching practice involves developing vocationally-situated challenges that explore the concept of design education as a liminal space, engendering a transformative exchange between learners, tutors and creative industry practitioners. His design projects challenge students to explore and apply design research methods to gain insight, inform process and underpin the development of practical and transferrable skills with work-based and related situations.

Darren has worked as an external examiner and advisor at various UK HE institutions - Staffordshire University, Kingston University, Hereford College of Art, University for the Creative Arts, the Arts University Bournemouth, University of Derby, University of South Wales, University of the Arts London and Ravensbourne University London.

In 2013 Darren received 3 x awards recognising his work, teaching and leading the FdA/BA Design for Communication Course at London College of Communication - 2 x team based UAL awards for excellence within learning, teaching and sustainability and a National Teaching Fellowship from the HE Academy.

Keen to engage in collaboration regards design education, Darren, along with participants from other UK design courses, used his National Teaching Fellowship award to facilitate the development of a national subject association entitled the Graphic Design Educators Network (GDEN), which aims to provide a forum for subject specific debate and exploration, sharing of best practice and the advancement of education in Graphic Design.