Lets talk about practice and how we love it: Professor Andrew Kulman

I’ve always considered myself a Graphic Artist…what’s one of those? In short I’ve studied Fine Art Printmaking at Leeds Polytechnic but graduated with a degree in Graphic Design, I then went on to study Illustration at the Royal College of Art but largely produced fine art prints. I’m a versatilist  by nature or a T shaped practitioner…the vertical is my specialist interests, the horizontal is my broad interests…I have no difficulty stepping across subject boundaries and speak multiple visual languages. This is my philosophy when it comes to teaching…students should know their subject deeply but be aware of having a grasp of other subjects and never being afraid to collaborate with artists and designers from outside their circle.

My own work has featured in magazines and newspapers both nationally and internationally and has won industry awards. My favourite clients were Vogue and Trickett and Webb, both allowed me the luxury of artistic freedom whilst being tested to answer tough commissions and design briefs. I’ve been very lucky in that respect.

The Graphic Arts Facility (GAF) was set up in 2014 with the intention of creating a research hub for Illustrators and Graphic Designers and was initially run by myself and Richard Schofield, but is now under the inspirational leadership of Jo Berry. Its now celebrating its fifth anniversary and is the sponsor of Digi-Fest and Digi-Jam, two great events that bring different communities of practice together and promote the ideas around cross disciplinary practice something that is in the very DNA of the School of Visual Communication. This is exemplified by the people who have visited the GAF over the last few years, Dan Fern, Andrzej Klimowski, Lawrence Zeegen and Patrick Thomas to name but a few.