Dr David Preston

Biography

I am a designer, educator and researcher known for my expertise in communication design methods and strategies.

Currently I lead the ‘Strategy & Identity’ platform on the BA Graphic Communication Design course at Central Saint Martins where I lecture on branding, graphic design and advertising from a social purpose perspective. I was previously Route and Subject Lead for Design & Interaction and prior to that Senior Lecturer in Typography. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, SEDA Recognised PhD Supervisor, and hold a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning where my action research focused on extra-curricular peer learning.

My research investigates design as a form of labour, with particular focus on the cognitive basis of the design process and the relationship between technical and practical rationality. I work between design history, theory and practice, covering topics including brand strategy, typographic design, publishing and advertising.

I obtained my PhD in the History & Theory of Corporate Design from UAL in 2019. My thesis examined how the emergence of programmatic branding impacted the practice routines of designers working in post-war Britain. This was developed into a monograph for Bloomsbury Publishing, titled The Development of Corporate Design: Brand identity, graphic design and professionalism in Post-war Britain (2025). Other outputs include refereed journal papers with Visible Language (pre-press) and Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education.

I have shared my research internationally, with papers at the International Conferences on Design History and Studies (São Paulo), the College Art Association Conference (New York) and the Assessment in Higher Education Conference (Manchester), with guest lectures delivered at Aalto University (Finland), the University of Connecticut (US), Willem de Kooning Academy (Netherlands), Escola Superior de Artes e Design (Portugal), University of Warwick, Brighton University and the Royal College of Art.