The Logic of Corporate Communication Design
David’s doctoral research looked at how the emergence of programmatic branding impacted the practice routines of graphic designers in the 1950s and 60s. He completed his PhD in the Culture & Enterprise programme at Central Saint Martins (CSM) under the supervision of Dr Jamie Brassett (Reader and Head of MA Innovation Management) and Professor Sean Nixon (Dept of Sociology, University of Essex).
His thesis investigated three innovate post-war design consultancies who had pioneered a more systematic approach to brand image. Much of this work surrounded how designers increasingly sought to explain their working methods and rationalise their design decisions to their clients. During the period under study the practitioners in question each began to embrace group work in order to fulfil the potential of all-embracing, holistic corporate design programmes that were beyond the capacity of the individual artist. The move towards team working led in turn to ever-increasing efforts to manage design in a more deliberate, pre-planned manner.
David has delivered conference papers and lectures on his research at the University of São Paulo, Willem de Kooning Academy (Rotterdam), the University of Warwick, Brighton University, the Royal College of Art, and University of the Arts London.