MA Narrative Environments

Alumni

In Practice with graduate Arif R Wahid

black and white portrait of man wearing glasses within a circular green frame.

Following lecturer and researcher Arif R Wahid’s captivating presentation at the MA Narrative Environments alumni event last month, we caught up with him in more depth about his inspiring post-disaster school design project in Indonesia, the global issues designers are responding to and a few words of advice for our students and fellow graduates. What

Global Alumni Sharing Event

screenshot from a zoom call with 15 participants faces.

MA Narrative Environments recently held its’ first global ‘In Practice’ Alumni Sharing Event, bringing together our amazing graduate community on zoom. The event was an opportunity for alumni to connect with each-other across the world and share the work they have been doing since graduating with current students. Building on our popular ‘In Practice’ interview blog

In Practice with graduate Mariana Martínez Balvanera.

portrait photograph of a dark haired woman with brown eyes in a pink circular frame

For this edition of our ‘In Practice’ interview series with MA Narrative Environments graduates, we hear from Mariana Martínez Balvanera, an independent spatial-social designer working between Amsterdam and Mexico City. Name: Mariana Martínez Balvanera Current role: I am an independent spatial-social designer half based in Amsterdam and Mexico City, working in the realm of community lead urban and rural placemaking projects (within the critical spatial

In Practice with graduate Andres Restrepo.

black and white portrait photograph of a man framed in a pale blue circle.

For this edition of our In Practice series, tracing the career trajectories of MA Narrative Environments alumni, we catch up with Andres Restrepo, a 3D designer at the independent experience design company Imagination. Name: Andres Restrepo Current role:  Mid-weight 3d designer at Imagination – Tell us about a narrative environment you’ve worked on since graduating. Last

Alumni Anna Horváth exhibits latest collection with Initio Fine Arts.

black and white portrait photo of Anna Horvath, wearing a brush stroke pattern shirt and short brown hair.

MA Narrative Environments alumni and Hungarian designer Anna Horváth (AHA Objects) exhibited her latest collection of objects with Initio Fine Arts at Cromwell Place, in October. Anna’s strictly geometric, yet refreshingly playful works were showcased alongside the French architect and designer, Reda Amalou’s (RAD) elegant and organic creations. Through the exploration of contrasting materials and

In Practice with Lucy Carruthers.

photograph portrait of a woman wearing glasses with mid-length hair in a circular peach pink frame

For this edition of ‘In Practice’, our blog series exploring the trajectories of MA Narrative Environments graduates, we are delighted to catch up with alumni Lucy Carruthers, a Senior Designer at MET Studio. See Lucy’s work at: lucycarruthers.com –What is your current role? I am currently working at MET Studio as a Senior Designer, creating

‘Rooting Failure’ at the Bloomsbury Festival

Recent graduates Paolo Di Gennaro and Sara Coppa’s award winning final project ‘Rooting Failure’ was included in the Bloomsbury Festival as an installation in the Crypt Gallery. Thoughtfully curated throughout the rooms and hallways of the Crypt Gallery, Rooting Failure takes the form of an interactive installation that challenges dominant understandings of failure through an

‘Let Our Legacy Continue’ exhibition by alumni Jean Campbell.

graphic image of a hand and arm silhouetted on a grey background with writing on it.

Exhibition Designer and MA Narrative Environments alumni Jean Campbell’s exhibition “Let Our Legacy Continue” is a tapestry of visual art, sound, music and words that captures and celebrates the material of the unique Caribbeaness as reflected in everyday lives, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Designed in collaboration with photographer, exhibition designer and curator Ingrid Pollard, the exhibition is

In Practice with graduate Yasmeen Ayyashi.

photograph of a woman with dark hair wearing heart shaped sunglasses framed in a peach coloured circle

An Experience Design Lead at Holition, alumni Yasmeen Ayyashi shares the trajectory her career has taken since graduating from MA Narrative Environments, for this edition of ‘In Practice’. Current role: Experience Design Lead at Holition, a cross-disciplinary creative innovation studio. Within my role, I hover somewhere between the UX, Strategy and Creative teams, and focus on designing both digital

In Practice with graduate Kulay Labitigan.

For this edition of our In Practice series, we are delighted to catch up with MA Narrative Environments graduate Kulay Labitigan, a Narrative Designer for an insight company. What is your current role?  I currently work as a Narrative Designer for an insight company where I help bring company stories to life. Tell us about

In Practice with graduate Annemarie Mayo.

In this edition of our In Practice series, highlighting the trajectories of MA Narrative Environments graduates, we catch up with Annemarie Mayo, an Interior Architect. – Tell us about a narrative environment you’ve worked on since graduating. I came across a local community initiative in Finsbury Park which immerses artists into a particular music album

MA NE alumni Radha Mistry appointed Core 77 Design Awards Jury Captain.

“Once you kind of step outside of yourself and set your ego aside, you realise actually your role as a designer is not to put your vision out in the world—it’s to be a mediator for these future environments.” (Radha Mistry : Core 77 Interview, 2020) MA Narrative Environments alumni Radha Mistry, Practice Leader for Foresight

Designing Narrative Environments for Critical Heritage event.

MA Narrative Environments recently hosted a ‘Designing Narrative Environments for Critical Heritage’ event in collaboration with UCL Institute of Archaeology, devised and produced by MANE Course Leader Tricia Austin and Colin Sterling, AHRC Leadership Fellow at UCL. Cross disciplinary speakers and guests cast a critical eye on the important role of museums, heritage sites and

“Marvellous and Mischievous: Literature’s Young Rebels” exhibition at the British Library designed by graduate Simon Banos, for Simon Leach Design.

MA Narrative Environments graduate Simon Banos, working for Simon Leach Design, has created a family friendly exhibition at the British Library called “Marvellous and Mischievous: Literature’s Young Rebels”. The exhibition explores how characters from favourite children’s books, from Matilda to Pippi Longstockings, break conventions and bend rules to change the world around them for the

Daily tous les jours installation at Somerset House 24/7 exhibition

Daily tous les jours – founded by MANE graduate Melissa Mongiat – will exhibit their interactive Leonard Cohen sound piece ‘I heard there was a secret chord’ at 24/7: A wake up call for our non-stop world, a major new show opening this Autumn at Somerset House. “An essential exhibition for today, 24/7: a wake up call

In Practice – with graduate Julie Howell

For this edition of our In Practice series we talk with Julie Howell, freelance artist / visual director / social arts practitioner and experience designer.   Julie Howell www.juliehowell.space Current role: Freelance artist/visual director/social arts practitioner and experience designer. Tell us about a narrative environment you’ve worked on since graduating. In 2017, fifty years after the

Showcase at the British Embassy, Berlin

photo of a modular display system in bright colours

MA Narrative Environments graduates Tom Butler, Lea Nagano, Yewon Shim, Julie Howell and Nele Voss re-united to created a temporary exhibition of work that has resulted from collaborations between British and German universities, at the British Embassy in Berlin. They showcased 11 projects ranging from the latest research in prostate cancer to augmented reality ‘

PHD Graduate Silvia Grimaldi on Design For Narrative Experience in Product Interactions

Congratulations to Silvia Grimaldi, who’s director of studies is MA NE course leader Patricia Austin, on gaining her PHD for her work on Design for Narrative Experience in Product Interactions. Her research investigates the potential of narrative in product design to enhance sustainability. Engaging people emotionally with an object, for example through having that object

In Practice: with graduate Lea Nagano

For this edition of our In Practice series, we catch up with Digital Media Director and Motion Graphic Artist,  Lea Nagano.   Name: Lea Nagano – Current role:  I am a freelance Digital Media Director and Motion Graphic Artist who merges audio- visual moving image with spatial environments to create engaging museum, exhibition, event and retail

In Practice: with graduate Luca Ponticelli

For the second edition of our monthly In Practice series, featuring an MA Narrative Environments alumni, we talk with Luca Ponticelli, Designer at IDEO London. Luca Ponticelli  lucaponticelli.com I am Visual Communication Designer with a background in Psychology. I worked across industries for the past few years at the intersection of brand, exhibition design and

The Design Museum x MA Narrative Environments explore Storytelling through Design.

The Design Museum and MA Narrative Environments came together on  Wednesday 20th February 2019 to host an all day Industry Insights event exploring the relationship between space and stories. A diverse panel of designers and architects shared examples of their work and captivating insights into how to harness storytelling as a tool to narrate and

In Practice: with graduate Anna Lincoln

We catch up with Anna Lincoln in this very first edition of our ‘In Practice’ series, shining the spotlight on MA Narrative Environments alumni trajectories since graduating from the course. Anna Lincoln // annalincoln.co.uk Where are you working now? I work as a designer for the Arts, predominantly with museums and cultural institutions. Currently I lead the 2D team

Graduate Lea Nagano’s work with Squintopera for the new Endeavour Galleries at the National Maritime Museum

a blue screen with the words polar worlds in a grey modern room

Graduate Lea Nagano worked with Squintopera over the last year to direct five audio-visual media installations for the new permanent ‘Endeavour Galleries’ at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. “It was a very exciting and rich project that is now brilliantly staged within the beautiful exhibition design done by Casson Mann. I feel honoured to be part of

Rhiannon Williams on Designing a Feminist Alexa and Feminist Internet’s residency at Somerset House

Exciting things are happening with Feminist Internet, a movement co-founded by a group of artists and designers that include MA NE alumni Rhiannon Williams. Working to advance internet equalities for women and other marginalised groups through critical practice, Feminist Internet has recently been selected for a fellowship with UAL’s Creative Computing Institute and awarded a residency at

The Decorators tables at the Tate Modern Summer Terrace.

Head down to the Tate Modern before the end of September for some communal cooking with locally sourced ingredients and check out The Decorator’s new 15 m long tables at the Tate Modern’s Summer Terrace. The tables are designed to change from bar table, to dining table, to picnic blanket and play host to all

Graduates Rhiannon Williams, Cruz Maria Vallespir and Erica Jensen featured in Creative Unions Show at the Lethaby Gallery

Three of our recent graduates are showing work in the Creative Unions exhibition at the Lethaby Gallery in King’s Cross from 25 September – 27 October 2018. Showcasing the work of Central Saint Martins graduating students whose practice addresses our current socio-political climate, Creative Unions explores how design can further public debate and become an active

Daily tous les jours create a public lab for the future of urban life.

MANE alumni Melissa Mongiat’s studio, Daily Tous Les Jours, has collaborated with Sidewalk Labs recently to create a public lab for the future of urban life. The design transformed the ground floor of 307, Sidewalk Lab’s first experimental  workspace in Toronto, into an interactive space that engages local inhabitants in conversation through games, a generative

Knowledge Forest / Chi No Mori by MA NE graduate Yuka Kawamoto

Tokyo based MA NE graduate Yuka Kawamoto created an 8 m tall Knowledge Forest / Chi No Mori installation inspired by books and knowledge maps, in Toyama Library. The Knowledge Forest [知の森 – chi no mori] is an interactive design installation which acts as a metaphorical Tree of Knowledge, allowing participants to share their favourite

Prejudice and Pride nominated for a Museums and Heritage award

We are so proud of our talented graduates Tom Butler and Julie Howell who, with collaborators Lea Nagan and Anna Lincoln, worked on the on the research and narrative design of EXILE – part of the 2017 National Trust exhibition Prejudice And Pride which has just been shortlisted for Museums and Heritage best Temporary or Touring