Diane Jones MA (RCA)

Designer | Artist | Creative Consultant/Educator + Honorary Senior Lecturer University of Sussex

Curriculum vitae

Profile

Diane is a designer, artist, and creative educator with a broad range of skills and experience across key areas of design. Her background is that of a practicing designer who having first graduated with a first-class BA honours degree went on to complete a master’s from the Royal College of Art.

For seventeen years she was a senior lecturer on the BSc product design degrees at the University of Sussex. For 7 years of that time, Diane was course leader. She both created and taught courses in design Philosophy, toy and game design, visual communications, drawing for design, human factors, design techniques and design for industry, where the workshops focused on design thinking, and the creative process. Diane has won numerous awards for outstanding teaching and since leaving has been made an Honorary Senior Lecturer.

Students Diane has mentored have not only have gone on to high profile industry positions but also won a variety of prestigious awards across design, including the International Dyson Award. She currently practicing artist, designer/maker working from her studio in Steyning, West Sussex.

Diane is an intuitive and understanding tutor who has the ability to see students as individuals and identify where their strengths lie in the numerous areas of art and design.

As admissions tutor, she interviewed students for a place on the design degree so has first-hand knowledge of not only of how to prepare and organize a portfolio but also on personal statements and interview techniques. As Head of Final Year, Diane was both a tutor and mentor so has vast experience on project supervision from research, design thinking, and ideation to final design as well as writing and presenting a design thesis. All this experience will help students be successful for employment, university, college, or scholarships.

Diane can support, assist, and inspire students to create new and exciting work from a range of disciplines for post-graduate level, degree level, A-Level, GCSE, or other level 3 qualifications.

Note: Diane uses her maiden name of Diane Jones for her creative work

Employment History

2020 – Present – Self-employed artist, designer, and creative educator

2018 – 2019 –   Senior Lecturer and Industrial Liaison Lead Bsc (Hons) Product Design Degree and BSc (Hons) Product Design with  industrial placement year

2011 - 2018 – Course Convenor/Senior Lecturer Bsc (Hons) Product Design Degree and BSc (Hons) Product Design with industrial placement year

2005 – 2011 – Lecturer Bsc (Hons) Product Design Degree and BSc (Hons) Product Design with industrial placement year

2002 – 2005 – Associate Tutor Bsc (Hons) Product Design Degree and BSc (Hons) Product Design with industrial placement year

Judging/Jury Panels

2017 - present - Part of the judging panel for the European Product Design Awards (EPDA) https://www.productdesignaward.eu  

Higher Education 

1990 - 1992 Royal College of Art, London – MA ceramics and Glass         

1985 - 1990 Middlesex University – BA (Hons) First Class Ceramics

1984 - 1985 Coventry University – Foundation in Art and Design

DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL CONTRIBUTION

2018 - 2020 - Senior Lecturer in Design for BSc (Hons) Product Design Degrees

2011 - 2018 - Course Convenor for BSc (Hons) Product Design Degrees

Duties and Aims: were to set and maintain academic standards, enhance the student experience, lead the course team in providing high-quality inspirational teaching that is research-led, lead the course team in responding effectively to the changing demands of delivering an up-to-date, coherent course.

Modules Taught:

Design Philosophy, Toy + Game Design, Final Year Design Project, Visual Communications, Drawing for Design, Human Factors/Design for Society, Design Techniques + Integration, Design for Industry.

Responsibilities

o    Academic advisor to industrial placement students, first, second and final year students

o    Admissions tutor for product design.                                                                                                                                                

o    Advisor to the external examiner                                                                                                                                                              

o    Annual Course Review Reflective Report contributor                                                                                                            

o    Co-curation of New Designers Exhibition, London                                                                                                                                 

o    Convenor for the final year major project.              

o    Final year major project tutor                                                                                                                                           

o    Full responsibility for the planning and execution of the Final Year Product Design Show  

o    Industrial Placement Liaison

o    Integration, management and mentoring of new lecturing staff and associate tutors.                                                          

o    Member of the School Progress and Awards Board, Member of the Board of Studies                                                              

o    Organization of the product design open days and applicant visit days.                                                                                 

o    Overall responsibility for final year project students                                                                                                                    

o    Oversee the Quality of Information provided to students

o    Pastoral care of students on the degree course                                                                                                                            

o Prospectus and website editor for product design                  

Other Contributions to the BSc Product Design Degree

Collaboration with External and Industrial Business:

succeeded in building strong links for placements, live briefs, seminars, tutorials and workshops with IBM (Hursley) design team, John Lewis, Hasbro, Body Shop, Stanley Black & Decker, Rolls Royce, Ford, Tublines (London Underground), LEGO, Aardman (Wallace & Gromit), iRide, Royal Pavillion & Brighton and Hove Museums, Conran Design, First Base, Booth Museum, Big Potato Games, MoJo Nation, Wicked Design and numerous smaller local businesses: Claire Potter Design, VIVA Magazine, Oliver Heath Design and Furnace Design.

Mentoring of prize-winning students

Students went on to win prizes for for outstanding student achievement in their project work for example The International Dyson Award, the LEGO award for playful creativity, KTN (Knowledge Transfer Network) Award, Not on the High Street for product recognition, Toy Inventors Award 2015 and 2016.

Elective Pathway

Co-created a 60 credit Product Design Elective Pathway

Which was on offer to all Sussex students for 2017 and made product design accessible to students whatever their prior academic experience.

Accreditation

IED accreditations – as course leader Diane successfully led the product design team to renewed accreditation                         

Recruitment/Mentoring

Recruitment and mentoring of two teaching associates on course preparation, course delivery, course marking and administration

Interview Panels

Member of the Professorial and Lecturer Interview Panels

Annual Course Review

Periodic Review – responsible for the successful curriculum re-design of the product design degree

Interviews

Introduced the process of interviewing candidates for the Product Design degree

Additional Achievements

Design and Module structure for 4 new, relevant innovative modules;

Joint responsibility for the curriculum design of the foundation year in Creative Technology

Convenor for nine modules

Key member of the Creative Technologies Group

Portfolio Review – responsible for leading the development and validation of the new curriculum course structure for product design.

Member of the engineering and design audit committee

Responsible for initiating and our participation in the UK’s leading graduate design show – New Designers

Creativity Camp

Co-created the product design ‘Creativity Camp’ a one week-long creative workshop for all design students during the first week of the autumn term.

Department of Politics

Working with the department of Politics to run as series of workshops for politics students in 2018 on design thinking.