Dezeenwire: graphic designer Neville Brody has been appointed head of the department of communication art & design at the Royal College of Art in London. See below for more info.

Related: see our video interview with Neville Brody

The announcement below is from the Royal College of Art:

Neville Brody: Royal College of Art “de facto natural home for all visual communications” as he accepts position as Head of Communication Art & Design

LONDON, 22 March, 2010 -- Neville Brody has been named as the new Head of the Department of Communication Art & Design at the Royal College of Art, taking up the position on 1 January 2011. He will be succeeding Professor Dan Fern, who retires at the end of the academic year.

An internationally renowned designer, typographer, art director, brand strategist and consultant, Neville Brody has outstanding credentials in the world of graphic design. He currently holds a visiting professorship in the Faculty of Design at the London College of Communications, where he is an alumnus.

Neville Brody’s appointment will help the Royal College of Art explore new challenges and directions in the rapidly-moving world of communications. The move signals the College’s intention to maintain its vitality and relevance both within the discipline, and beyond.

“Neville Brody is both an eloquent advocate and a superb practitioner,“ said Dr Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art. “His design talent traverses so many different media – traditional print and typography through to online and motion graphics, and packaging. He is one of the most influential designers of his generation and perfectly captures the interdisciplinary ethos of the Department of Communication Art & Design.”

Professor Neville Brody said: “The position is a great honour and challenge. The Royal College of Art sits at the threshold of a new and vital moment in communications history, an extraordinary time and one that will deeply affect all of us. I am excited by this possibility of joining of the dots - of combining the RCA’s deep sense of history, craft and experience with a dynamic, relevant and exploratory approach to art and design communications. The RCA is a centre of excellence for art and design, and is the de facto natural home for all visual communications."

ENDS

A founding member of FontWorks, Neville Brody designed a number of notable typefaces for them. Brody was also involved with FUSE project, the influential forum for experimental typography and communications.
In the early to mid-80s, Brody was art director at the groundbreaking magazine The Face before he moved to men’s style and lifestyle bible, Arena, in 1986, swiftly establishing the magazine as a leader in its field.

In April 1988 the V&A held an exhibition of Brody’s work to accompany his first monograph, The Graphic Language of Neville Brody, which became the world’s best selling graphic design book.
In 1994 Brody founded Research Studios. With a presence in Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and New York, the network works from a wide variety of design platforms for a diverse range of international clients.

Today, in addition to lecturing and contributing to a variety of cultural and educational initiatives, Brody works both independently on private commissions and alongside Research Studios on commercial projects.
Recent projects include the redesign of The Times in November 2006 with the creation of a new font ‘Times Modern’ and a daring move in format from broadsheet to tabloid.

Other recent typefaces by Brody include ‘New Deal’, originally used for the 2009 film by Michael Mann, Public Enemies, and ‘Peace 2’, developed for Wallpaper* magazine’s August 2009 edition. Brody’s new global visual language for the BBC's digital services has received global praise.

Graphic Design and Illustration were both established in 1948, and in 1999 were amalgamated to become Communication Art & Design (CA&D). Following the restructuring, CA&D reflects the multidisciplinary nature of contemporary Communications, Graphic Design and Illustration at the RCA and has an unrivalled track record. For many years, graduates from these disciplines have been at the forefront of contemporary art and design

CA&D alumni include: Ridley Scott, Len Deighton, Alan Fletcher, Gerhard Dumbar (later Head of Department, 1985 – 87), Jock Kinnear, Margaret Calvert, Jonathan Barnbrook, Daniel Eatock and Sara Fanelli along with design companies Pentagram, Fuel and Why Not Associates.

As well as being an influential teacher, Professor Dan Fern is an award-winning designer and graphic artist and has worked extensively across all areas of visual communications. He began teaching at the Royal College of Art in the 1970s, and was made its first Professor of Graphic Art and Design in 1994.

This is the RCA’s fourth Professorial appointment at Head of Department level in the past 12 months. The other three are: Miles Pennington, Innovation Design Engineering; Tord Boontje, Design Products; Richard Wentworth, Sculpture.

The Royal College of Art is the world’s most influential postgraduate university of art and design, specialising in teaching and research and offering the degrees of MA, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of fine art, applied art, design, communications and humanities. There are over eight hundred masters and doctoral students and more than a hundred professionals interacting with them – including scholars, leading practitioners of art and design and innumerable specialists, advisors and distinguished visitors.

March 2010

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