Ian Whadcock FHEA
Education Lead for Design
Senior Lecturer, Illustration with Animation and MA/MFA Illustration
Ian Whadcock is an illustrator, designer and educator based in the UK. Having developed an award-winning professional practice profile over a 25-year period, Ian was appointed to Manchester School of Art in 2014, working as Senior Lecturer until March 2023 when he was promoted to Reader in Design (EPC).
In the period since 2014 Ian worked as a senior lecturer with the BA (Hons) Illustration with Animation programme and taught into both MA/MFA Graphic Design and Art Direction and MA/MFA Illustration. He is also co-supervisor, subject specialist for Design based PhD candidates and in 2021 was part of the successful MMU / MSARC Design Research Hub submission to the REF.
Since 2021 Ian has moved into departmental leadership roles firstly as Employability & Graduate Outcomes Lead; from 2022 taking on the Education Lead responsibility and working as member of the Design Leadership Group. Alongside these senior department roles Ian has been acting programme leader for BA(Hons) Illustration with Animation (2021) and represented Design at international recruitment events in Seoul, South Korea (2019). As part of his role in Design, Ian has taken responsibility for raising the national profile of Design programmes through coordination of the graduate showcase at New Designers in 2016 – 2022 and supporting engagement with the Design Council, Global Design Academy and the Creative Conscience, Global Challenge Awards.
External to MMU Ian has undertaken a series of appointments as external panel member for the validation / revalidation of undergraduate courses and delivered guest lectures at institutions across the UK. Ian is a lifelong member of the Association of Illustrators and a supporter of the Arts Council funded, Pathways into Publishing Project in partnership with Pop Up Projects London.
Research interests focus on the future of design education alongside the use of illustration research methods as a toolkit to interrogate culture and context. Recent outputs focus on published visual essays exploring the relationship between illustration and cinema / film making. Ian also has an interest in montage and the regenerative use of archival engravings as a data source for image making.
Projects
2017 Imagined Realms Exhibition Royal Cambrian Academy Conwy
Exhibition: Imagined Realms Royal Cambrian Academy 22/10/17 - 11/11/17 Invited contributor to a group show thematically curated by Clive Hicks-Jenkins on theme of Imagined Realms - stories in the landscape. The show consisted of a mix of artists and illustrators from across the UK each in their own way inspired by the sense of place and narrative that resides in location, these links can be imagined, fictional, part fact, speculation, myth or lore. Details…
2017 London Road Fire Station Project 2017
Cross departmental external collaborative project based on the London Road Fire Station. The project has been instigated and managed by Jenny Walker (independent practitioner) with academic organisational support from Ian Whadcock (Design) and Gavin Parry (Media). Details…
2017 Society of The Spectacles. Stelnikov's Glasses and Other Stories
Invited artist to contribute as a member of The Society of The Spectacles in the Granda Foundation Gallery at Home Manchester. The exhibition was curated by Susan Platt and consisted of 24 invited international artists/designers/academics working with a theme of spectacles and film. Details…
2015 A New Manchester Alphabet Publication with Special Collections and Manchester Writing School
Publication 2015: A New Manchester Alphabet. A unique collaboration between the Manchester Writing School, the Manchester School of Art, Illustration with Animation and MMU Special Collections. Details…
2016 App Hack Knowledge Exchange April
Developed over a 12 month period the project began with a request to illustrate a collection of 100 Lateral Thinking problems written by Dr Lloyd Strickland from Humanities. Through an extended series of meetings and conversations over a 6 month period, including Mark Ratcliffe in RKE, a project was delivered in April 2016 facilitated by Digital Innovation /Hayley Walsh. Details…
2016 Bradford Pit Project June 2016
A project with origins in the 3D Design course and ex 3D student Lauren Murphy, extended through Humanities in Public and the Manchester Histories Festival to create an exhibition in June 2016. Taking part were Department of Design/Media programmes 3D Design, Illustration with Animation, Graphic Design and Photography. Details…
2016 Hypnotised: Collaboration with Lewis Sykes for Seeing Sound Symposium Bristol 2016
The project evolved out of as series of informal conversations around use of social media in teaching in MIRIAD in the early part of 2016. These sessions were open invitations from Lewis Sykes to provide support with regard to developing these aspects of programmes or personal projects. Details…
2014 Let In The Stars A New Collection of Children's Poetry Published July
A new Illustrated book of Children's Poetry 'Let in The Stars' published by MMU in July 2014. Poems were selected by invited submissions from across the world and published via a collaboration between Manchester Writing School and Manchester School of Art, Illustration with Animation students. Details…
2014 Manchester City Library Transport Poster Exhibition
Initiated by David Govier at the newly reopened Manchester City Library. This project was inspired by the discovery of a set of 1920's Transport posters created for trams in Manchester in the library archives. Details…
2014 Political Poster Workshop
One day cross programme brief with Graphic Design and Illustration with Animation students and staff from Manchester School of Art, Liverpool John Moores University and Salford University. Project launched and directed by Illustrator Steve Smith /Neesden Control Centre. Details…
2015 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Limited Edition - Inky Parrot Press
A Sesquicentennial Edition of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' I was contacted by Dennis Hall to take part in this project in March 2014 - published April 2015, with a charming hand written letter and a nominal fee. An open brief to work with Chapter 8 titled - The Queen's Croquet-Ground. Details…
2018 RHS Bridgewater Gardens - ongoing
Students from IWA L6 were invited to participate in the new RHS Bridgewater Gardens development in Worsley north Manchester. The site represents over £20million pounds of investment in the largest garden restoration project in Europe. Details…
2019 Radical Response: Bradford Pit Memorial
Radical Response Exhibition IASDR Conference Manchester Metropolitan University September 2019. Project Contributors: Lucy Gannon, Ian Whadcock, Jonathan Hitchen Unity Progress Strength: The Bradford Pit Memorial This installation presents a life size visualisation of a memorial which commemorates the industrial heritage and community of the former Bradford Colliery in East Manchester, now occupied by SportCity and Etihad Stadium. Details…
Performing Arts Collaboration 1 2010 - 2017
Established in September 2010 there has been a creative partnership between Ian Whadcock and The Fallibroome Academy Performing Arts Department, to generate advertising and design outcomes for theatre productions in music, dance and drama. These range from one off events to annual What's On Guides, full production programmes and outdoor festivals. Details…
Performing Arts Collaboration 2 2013 - 2015
Stage Design and artistic Direction with Prestbury Youth Pantomime. This partnership is now in its third year with the remit growing with each production. Details…
Walking the Lines June 2013
A personal body of work commenced June 2013 exploring the use of drawn thoughts, memories and photographic records derived from walks in and around the White Peak on the Cheshire, Derbyshire borders. The work seeks to explore the relationship between differing internal and external journeys undertaken simultaneously whilst en route and how these are translated and communicated through the resulting artworks. Details…
Research
Ian Whadcock is a member of the Design Research Hub.
Exhibitions
Whadcock, I., Gannon, L., Hitchen, J., 2019. Radical Response exhibition in partnership with the International Association of Design Research (IASDR) Conference, Manchester School of Art, 2/9/2019 - 5/9/2020.
Whadcock, I., 2017. Imagined Realms, Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, North Wales, 21/10/2017.
Whadcock, I., 2015. Fifty years of Illustration, UCL london, October 2014.
Whadcock, IJ., 2014. London Stories The Serco Prize for Illustration 2014, London Transport Museum, 14/2/2014 - 6/4/2014.
Whadcock, I., 2013. AOI Illustration Awards 2013, Somerset House/ AOI Website Shortlisted/ Advertising, 2nd - 27th October 2013/ Permanent online archive.
Whadcock, I., 2013. Brighton Illustration: Then, Now, After, University of Brighton Art Gallery, 14th January and 14th February 2013.
Whadcock, I., 2012. AOI Illustration Awards Images 36 2012, Somerset House London, 2nd - 28th October 2012.
Whadcock, I., 2011. AOI Images 35, TBC, August 2011.
McCullough, I., 2010. The Windhorse Project., All Saints Manchester, 2010.
Artefacts
Whadcock, IJ., 2024. 'Imaginary Worlds.', Oriel Davies Gallery Newtown Powys Wales..
Whadcock, I., 2017. 'Royal Academy of Art 250th Summer Exhibition', Royal Academy of Art London.
Whadcock, I., 2015. 'Alice In Wonderland: Chapter 8 the Queen's The Croquet Ground', Manchester.
Books
Sprackland, J., 2015. 'New Manchester Alphabet An Illustrated Collection of New Poetry 2015', Manchester Metropolitan University.
Coe, M., 2014. 'Let In The Stars: New Poetry for Children', Manchester Metropolitan University.
Journal Articles
Whadcock, I., 2020. 'Cultural Icons: The drawings and sketchbooks of Dr John Hewitt, British Ceramics Biennale 2019, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, 14 September-19 November 2019', Craft Research, 11 (2), pp. 305-313.
Non-Peer Reviewed Articles
Whadcock, I., 2019. 'Beneficial Shock: No Man's land', Beneficial Shock Magazine, 1 (4), 4.
Whadcock, I., 2018. 'Varoom Activism', Varoom Magazine, 58, pp. 58-64.
Presentations
Whadcock, IJ., 2013. 'A Diverse Practice', London College of Communication.
Whadcock, I., 2013. 'Ideas Generation and Conceptual Thinking', A Diverse Practice, London College of Communication, 4th December 2013.
Whadcock, I., 2013. 'Professional Practice and Personal Work', Professional Practice Lecture Series., Stockport College, School of Arts, Design and Media.