James Corazzo NTF
Associate Head – Sheffield Creative Industries Institute
- Department of Art and Design
- Sheffield Creative Industries Institute
- Art Design and Media Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Centre
- Culture and Creativity Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Institute
Summary
My approach to leadership, teaching and research is driven by the belief that creative education can shape equitable and transformative futures. My leadership and research in creative education operate at the intersection of people (students and academics), places (studios, art schools, policies, and corridors), and things (curricula, materials, and dialogues). I am a , co-founder of the Graphic Design Educators’ Network, and Convenor for the Design Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Society.
About
I am an award-winning graphic design educator with over twenty years of experience teaching higher education in further education colleges and universities. I started as a part-time teacher while working as a book designer. In 2007, I swapped designing ‘things’ for designing ‘learning’ full-time. Since then, I have worked as a Course Leader, Senior Lecturer, and Principal Lecturer in Graphic Design. In 2015, I became the Teaching and Learning Lead for the Department of Art and Design. In 2022, I was conferred as an Associate Professor, and in 2024, I became an Associate Head in the Sheffield Creative Industries Institute.
My approach to teaching and leadership has been to channel my own uneven higher education experiences to shape compelling, compassionate and critical encounters with creative subjects. As an educator, I approached graphic design education and teaching as the act of making things possible and not taking things for granted. I strived to combine care, creativity, and organisational flair to make all students active protagonists in an unfolding excursion from the familiar to the unfamiliar.
As a researcher and educator, I persistently challenged the normative practices of design education – whether it’s through democratising the crit to give voice and space to students or creating reflexive tools for students to ‘see’ the domains in which they practice. I was awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship in 2022 for my sustained and outstanding impact on student experience and outcomes.
As a Teaching & Learning Lead, I supported colleagues by combining the requirements of day-to-day policies with playful encounters that examine education through the lens of risk, performance, and realness.
Inspired by the idea that networks can enable individuals to possess qualities and capacities beyond their individual competence, I co-founded a Subject Association in 2014 – the Graphic Design Educators’ Network (GDEN) – taking a leading role in growing the network to over 500 members. Since 2015, GDEN events and conferences have hosted over 850 attendees from 75 different institutions, representing over 100 courses to advance graphic design education.
Teaching
Department of Art and Design , Sheffield Creative Industries Institute
College of Social Sciences and Arts
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- Art and Design Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Centre
- Culture and Creativity Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Institute
I research design education and its people, places and things. I use various creative and ethnographic methods to explore how bodies, discourses and objects come together to make particular kinds of design education and particular ways of knowing. I am the co-author of Studio Properties: A Field Guide to Design Education, published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts in 2025. I am researching the role of materiality in the design studio and undertaking a PhD by Publication.
Publications
Key Publications
Corazzo, J. (2022). . DRS Conference Proceedings.
Corazzo, J., & Gharib, L. (2021). . Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 26 (4), 144-164.
Corazzo, J., Harland, R., Honnor, A., & Rigley, S. (2019). . The Design Journal.
Journal articles
Corazzo, J. (2019). . Design Journal, 1-4.
Corazzo, J. (2016). . Arts, Design and Communication in Higher Education, 15 (1), 103-104.
Burns, J., Corazzo, J., Hardie, K., Harland, R., & Raven, D. (2015). . Arts, Design and Communication in Higher Education, 14 (2), 199-205.
Corazzo, J. (2012). . Networks, 17.
Corazzo, J. (2010). . Icograda.
Conference papers
Corazzo, J., Hudson, F., & Jones, D. (2024). . In Corazzo, J., Jones, D., Noel, L.-.A., Lotz, N., Clemente, V., Nielsen, L.M., & Börekç, N.A.G.Z. (Eds.) Learn X Design 2023 Futures of Design Education, Online by the Open University, UK, 1 September 2023. Design Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Society:
Corazzo, J., Hudson, F., & Jones, D. (2024). . In Corazzo, J., Jones, D., Noel, L.-.A., Lotz, N., Clemente, V., Nielsen, L.M., & Börekç, N.A.G.Z. (Eds.) Learn X Design 2023 Futures of Design Education, Online by the Open University, UK, 1 September 2023. Design Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Society:
Corazzo, J. (2020). . Ï㽶ÊÓƵ & Education in Design: People & Processes & Products & Philosophy, 93-100.
Corazzo, J. (2019). . In Learning, Teaching and Assessment Conference: Connected Curriculum, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, 9 September 2019. Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
Corazzo, J. (2019). . In Graphic Design Educators’ Network Annual Conference: Time and Space, University of West of England, 5 September 2019 - 6 September 2019.
Corazzo, J. (2019). . The Design Journal, 1249-1265.
Harland, R., Corazzo, J., Gwilt, I., Honnor, A., & Rigley, S. (2018). . DRS 2018, 2811-2821.
Corazzo, J., Shaw, B., & Harrington, J. (2017). . In ELIA: Exploring Elasticity in Teaching and Learning in the Arts, Central St Martins, University of the Arts, London, 5 July 2017 - 7 July 2017.
Corazzo, J. (2016). . In GLAD – Pedagogic Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Network Symposium 2016, Coventry University, 7 June 2016.
Corazzo, J. (2016). . In Graphic Design Educators' Network Pedagogic Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Symposium, Loughborough University, 20 April 2016.
Corazzo, J. (2015). . Proceedings of Learn x Design 2015: DRS / CUMULUS The 3rd International Conference for Design Education Ï㽶ÊÓƵers.
Corazzo, J., & Levick-Parkin, M. (2013). . In Higher Education Arts and Humanities Conference, Brighton, 5 May 2013 - 6 May 2013.
Corazzo, J., & Price, S. (2012). . In Alt/Shift:UAL University of the Arts, London, London, 2012.
Book chapters
Corazzo, J., & Price, S. (2014). . In Martinez, Y., & Trees, J. (Eds.) Thought experiments in graphic design education. London: Books from the future:
Books
Boling, E., Brown, J.B., Corazzo, J., Gray, C.M., Jones, D., & Lotz, N. (2025). . London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Almendra, R., & Ferreira, J. (Eds.). (n.d.). Ï㽶ÊÓƵ & Education in Design: People & Processes & Products & Philosophy. CRC Press.
Presentations
Corazzo, J. (2017). . Presented at: Exploring Territories: The Changing Landscape of Art & Design Higher Education’, Manchester, 2017
Corazzo, J. (2017). . Presented at: The Photobook, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
Corazzo, J., & Raven, D. (2016). . Presented at: Exploring Territories: mapping the terrain of graphic design education Cardiff Metropolitian University 8—9 September 2016, Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2016
Corazzo, J., & Price, S. (2012). . Presented at: Redesigning (Graphic) Design Education Conference, University of Derby, Markeaton Street, Derby, England, DE22 3AW
Other activities
As a passionate advocate for design education, I co-founded the subject association Graphic Design Educators’ Network in 2014. I led a consortium of Art & Design sector bodies and institutions to identify the research barriers and challenges for graphic design academics. I am a highly experienced External Examiner for design programmes in the UK and internationally. I consult with institutions on the validation of new design programmes, course structures and innovative approaches to assessment.
I have served on various boards and advisory groups, including the D&AD Committee (North) and the Cultural and Creative Skills Industry Advisory Board, Graphic Design Educators’ Network. I currently co-run the Education Special Interest Group (EdSIG) for the Design Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Society (DRS) and serve on the Editorial Advisory Board for various journals, including Arts, Design and Communication in Higher Education (ADCHE) and Message Journal.
Postgraduate supervision
I currently supervise PhDs around design education and design for health. I am interested in supervising PhDs at the cross-section of art & design education, new materialisms, graphic design, creative methods, and academic cultures.