Photo by Kasia Wozniak
I am a designer, educator and researcher interested in new narratives and practices in design that push the disciplinary boundaries and definitions of the subject. Currently, I am a Reader (Associate Professor) in Anti/Post/Decolonial Histories, Theories and Praxes at Decolonising the Arts Institute and in the Design School at Camberwell, Chelsea, and Wimbledon Colleges of Art (CCW) at University of the Arts London (UAL). From 2020-2024, I was Programme Director of Graphic Design at CCW (UAL), where I was responsible for overseeing the BA Graphic Design, BA Graphic Design Communication, Graduate Diploma Graphic Design, MA Graphic Design Communication and MA Global Collaborative Design Practice programmes. I previously held positions at Brunel University London and London College of Communication (UAL).
I have held a Visiting Professorship at the Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania and guest-lectured across UAL colleges, at Goldsmiths (University of London), Kingston University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Leeds Arts University, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Universidad de Chile, Hochschule der Künste Basel, and Lusófona University. I obtained my Ph.D. in Design from Goldsmiths, University of London and I am a founding member of the Decolonising Design platform, and founded Kalimat Magazine (2010-2016), an independent, non-profit publication about Arab thought and culture.
I am the author of two books Designerly Ways of Knowing: A Working Inventory of Things a Designer Should Know (Onomatopee, 2022), which has been reprinted with a new cover by Set Margins, and Design Otherwise: Transforming Design Education in the Arab Region (Bloomsbury, 2025).
My research interests are on decolonising design, possibilities of design education, design culture(s) (with a focus on the Arab region), the politics of design, publishing, design over time, and social design. I am keen to supervise PhD students interested in these areas.
Prior to my academic career, I worked in advertising and marketing for Matchstick, DDB, and Isobar.
Contact
︎ Personal/Everything else: danah.abd [at] gmail [dot] com ︎ UAL Queries: d.abdulla [dot] arts [dot] ac [dot] uk
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