Ms Rachel Gannon
Faculties, departments and locations
- Kingston School of Art
- Across departments
- School of Design
Associate Professor and Head of School of Design
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
I am Head of the School of Design, as well as an illustrator, educator, and researcher. My work explores illustration as a disciplinary research practice, with a particular interest in its inter- and transdisciplinary potential. This research led to the co-authorship of Illustration Research Methods (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021), written with Dr Mireille Fauchon.
My academic and pedagogical practice is grounded in an 18-year professional career as an illustrator, and my research and practice-based work has been published in leading scholarly and professional publications in the field. As Head of School, I am committed to fostering innovative, collaborative, and inclusive approaches to design education.
Qualifications
- MA Communication Art and Design - Royal College of Art
- BA Graphic Design: Illustration - Norwich University of the Arts
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice
Domains
As Head of the School of Design, which comprises four departments — Illustration Animation, 3D Design, Fashion, and Graphic Design — I have strategic oversight of the School’s portfolio, with responsibility for leading on learning and teaching, research, and knowledge exchange initiatives that align with the University’s key priorities. I am also Associate Professor in Illustration.
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), awarded through the Kingston Academic Practice Standards Framework (KAPS) in recognition of my leadership in inclusive curriculum development, redesign of group work, and embedding research skills into teaching.
I am co-founder and co-director of Illustration Educators, an international subject association established to support, advance, and disseminate the practices and discipline of illustration through forums for discussion and debate. Developed in collaboration with colleagues from Camberwell College of Arts and the Royal College of Art — including co-director Darryl Clifton (UAL: CCW) — the organisation launched in 2021 with over 100 members and a full programme of events in 2022–23. I am also a member of the CHEAD Subject Association Alliance, which brings together leadership across art, design, and media subject associations.
I currently act as External Examiner for BA Illustration programmes at Leeds Arts University, and have previously held examiner roles at the University of Plymouth, UCA Farnham, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of East London.
Qualifications
- Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy
- Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice
Courses taught
My research interests lie in the potential of the discipline of illustration, its shifting landscape and innovative approaches to illustration methodologies, informed by a successful 18-year professional illustration career. I am an active researcher whose articles and practice-based works have been published in the leading research and professional publications in this subject. I am a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Illustration.
In 2021 I co-authored Illustration Research Methods (Bloomsbury, 2021), a dedicated critical and theoretical text offering a new discipline specific vocabulary to explore the processes and methods through which illustration now operates. Proposing ‘illustration' to be considered as holistic processes consisting of a range of project appropriate interpretative and creative practices rather than simply a finished outcome. Leading design theorist Steven Heller (School of Visual Arts, New York) publicly endorsed Illustration Research Methods as an ‘essential volume in the evolution of this significant discipline.' Similarly, Rick Poynor (Professor of Design and Visual Culture, Reading), said it makes a ‘vital contribution to the discipline's critical discourse'.
I have planned and developed significant research events, most notably organising and chairing the 11th annual conference for Illustration Research. Timed to coincide with the publication of Illustration Research Methods (2021) and thematically drawing upon the research I conducted in this area, Education and Illustration: Models Methods Paradigms (Kingston University, 2021) showcased and discussed multiple positions and levels within the pedagogic and professional illustration practice, highlighting pertinent contemporary disciplinary concerns and how these impact, and are impacted by, education and academic research culture. The event hosted 800+ delegates from 27 countries (the largest gathering of international illustration researchers, academics and practitioners).
I supervise PhD students working within illustration, animation, heritage and story-telling. I am also currently supervising a PhD student who is working at the intersection of design, anthropology, illustration and mycology (Edinburgh College of Art). I welcome proposals from prospective PhD or MA by Research students working in these areas.
Specialisms
- Illustration practice
- Trans-disciplinary research methods
- Practice-based research
- Trans-media storytelling
Scholarly affiliations
- Journal of Illustration
Publications
Education and illustration: methods, models and paradigms
Fauchon, Mireille and Gannon, Rachel, 2023, Journal of Illustration (9), 1pp 3-14, Published
An introduction to the manifesto for illustration pedagogy: a lexicon for contemporary illustration practice
Fauchon, Mireille and Gannon, Rachel, 2018, Journal of Illustration (5), 2pp 207-223, Published
Teh Nw
Gannon, Rachel and Clifton, Darryl, 2016, Varoom! (32)pp 44-49, Published
Immaterial Boundary (film)
Gannon, Rachel and Clifton, Darryl, 2016, VaroomLab Journal (4)pp 68-72, Published
Illustration research methods
Gannon, Rachel and Fauchon, Mireille (2020). [Published]
The manifesto for illustration pedagogy: a lexicon for contemporary illustration practice
Gannon, Rachel and Fauchon, Mireille(2018). [Published]
Concrete and shadows: documenting Chandigarh
Gannon, Rachel(2016). [Published]
Immaterial Boundary
Gannon, Rachel and Clifton, Darryl(2015). [Published]
Networks and Meshworks - topologies for cross-disciplinary teaching in drawing
Davies, Colin and Gannon, Rachel(2012). [Accepted/In press]
Frontiers
Gannon, Rachel (2015) [Published]
Mut Mut
Gannon, Rachel (2015) [Published]
Reportager Award
Gannon, Rachel (2015) [Published]
Prototype to Production with Commentary
Gannon, Rachel, Gannon, Rachel and Carpenter, Ed (2014) [Published]
Prototype to Production with Commentary
Gannon, Rachel, Gannon, Rachel and Carpenter, Ed (2014) [Published]