Role
Sara is a Senior Lecture on the BA (Hons) Graphic Design programme. She provides teaching and learning support to students across all levels of the UG and MA courses. Sara is module leader for contextual studies. Alongside her teaching responsibilities she is involved with organising guest speakers and fostering scholarly engagement.
Career overview
Sara has over 15 years’ experience of teaching Graphic Design and Visual Communication in Higher Education. She joined Nottingham Trent University in 2017, prior to this Sara was based in Shanghai, where she covered several academic roles. Between others she was Program Director of the Visual Communication Department at Raffles Design Institute/Dong Hua University, Visual Communication Course Leader for the top up degree year of Northumbria University, RCDC and University of Derby.
Sara's industry background covers a wide range of disciplines from visual design projects to art installations, exhibitions, and show organisation. She has been creative director, art director and designer of many identity systems, museum information points, exhibitions, websites and digital publications.
In Spain, where she lived for several years before moving to China, she was the Director of the Multimedia Publication Department at Zeta Multimedia, part of Grupo Zeta, Barcelona (Spain). Sara was responsible for the localisation, development and implementation of more than fifty multimedia projects. She played a key role in the Spanish localisation of several educational and entertainment projects from the world's most prestigious multimedia organisations, such as BBC, Dorling & Kindersley, Hachette, Kutoka, Discovery Channel, JoWood, Green and Enlight Software.
Research areas
Sara’s main research areas are: Active Learning, Design for Society Branding Design & Visual Culture. Sara current research explores the potential of active learning to support students in their transition into Higher Education. Acknowledging that prior educational experiences, expectations, self-determination, the wider social and institutional context play a significant role on students’ attitude toward their learning, in her research the focus is on teaching and learning strategies, as she believed they hold an important role in fostering greater engagement. How can we respond to the diversity of L4 students in a way that instead of ‘lowering standards can benefit everyone?"
External activity
Sara maintains an active professional practice of client-initiated and self-initiated design projects. Her creative activity addresses social, cultural and commercial issues within the broad spectrum of visual communication design, ranging from graphic design to exhibition design.
BERA (Member of British Educational Research Association)
FHEA (Fellow of The Higher Education Academy)
AAIIC (Member and founder of Associazione Accademici Italiani in Cina)
GPDD (Grands Prix Du Design Awards, regular Member of the Jury)
Publications
University of Liverpool, Bera Annual Conference, The potential of active learning in the transition into
Higher Education, September 8th, Liverpool, UK 2022
Anglia Ruskin University, Active Learning Conference, Fostering students’ engagement with historical
issues surrounding the field of graphic design, July 21st, Cambridge, UK 2021
Nottingham Trent University, TILT Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, Fostering students’
engagement: re-framing a specific intervention for on line delivery, Nottingham, September 14th, UK
2021
Traveling in the Luxury Socialist Times, featured design work, Luxun Fine Arts
Institute, Contemporary International Artists Group Exhibition, China, 2012, p74-75
The Urbanity Project, featured design work, Shanghai Arts Community, Shanghai, 2010, p110-114
Al di là dei confini teatrali: la Fura dels Baus; Sipario, Milan 1995, p64-66
Primavera del Disseny, Escena, Barcelona, Spain 1995.
Un viaje interactivo en mundo del espectáculo, Escena, Barcelona, Spain 1995
Diseño de Sistemas Interactivos, Escena, Barcelona 1995.
SELECTED MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Mia-Crea & Colorea, Mia-Lengua, Mia-Mates, Mia-Ciencia Spanish localization and graphic
production, Kutoka /Zeta Multimedia, 1999-2003
Mortadelo y Filemón / La Banda de Corvino, Zeta Multimedia, 2002, ISBN 84-97380-28-6
Mortadelo y Filemón / Operación Moscú, Zeta Multimedia, 2001, ISBN 84-95310-98-8
Mortadelo y Filemón / Terror Espanto y Pavor, Zeta Multimedia, 2000, ISBN 84-95310-00-7
Tweenies, Spanish localization, BBC, 2001 , ISBN 84-95310-902
El Mago de Oz, Spanish localization, GMD /Zeta Multimedia, 2000 , ISBN 84-95310-03-1
El Gran Atlas del Mundo-DVD, Spanish localization and content adaptation, Dorling Kindersley/Zeta
Multimedia 1999, ISBN 84-95310-84-8
La Máquina del Tiempo, Spanish localization, Dorling Kindersley/Zeta Multimedia 1999. ISBN
9788489370875
Mi Primer Diccionario Interactivo, Spanish localization, Dorling Kindersley/Zeta Multimedia 1998, ISBN
84-95310-813
Mi increíble cuerpo humano, Spanish localization, Dorling Kindersley / Zeta Multimedia 1998, ISBN
84-89370-67-2
Las Tres Mellizas, La Casita de las tres Mellizas, graphic design, Cromosoma, Spain 1999, ISBN 84-
30319-211132
Les Tres Bessones, Sopa De Contes, graphic design, Cromosoma, Spain 1998, ISBN 978-3-19-509031-5
Diccionario Multimedia: Español <--> Inglés, graphic design, La Vanguardia, Spain 1997, ISBN 84-80162-77
Selected Exhibitions
Curator Creative Director of YiTech, Italian Technology Exhibition, organized by AAIIC, with the patronage of the Italian Embassy and the support of ITA, Suzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu 2017-2018.
Artist in the exhibition “Traveling in the Luxury Socialist Times”, organized by Luxun Fine Arts Institute & No1 Art studio. Northern China, December 2012, January 2013.
Artist in The Exhibition: As a global citizen what moves you? Dissent, Hope & Ideas. The New BLK Gallery, Power to the Poster & Nicholas Burroughs, NE, US September 2010