Andy Neal

Course Leader, Graphic Design BA(Hons)

Andy has been part of the Falmouth University community for over 25 years and is a firm believer in the value of an arts education, the capacity for design to make a positive difference in the world, and the unique creative landscape that Cornwall offers.

His career began as a musician, composing and performing material with Detritus, and recording albums ‘Perpetual Defiance’ and ‘If But For One’ (Edge Records/Music for Nations). He studied graphic design over a period of six years; initially in Cornwall, and then in Edinburgh, graduating with a first-class honours’ degree in Visual Communication and later as a Master of Design (MDes, Graphic Design) at Edinburgh College of Art.

He worked commercially in Scotland with Millhouse Design Consultants developing the print & exhibition spaces for the National Museum of Scotland, as well as working on broader editorial and identity projects. He then moved to Navyblue Design Consultants developing web, interactive and moving image projects for clients that included Tony Stone, Ellesse and Orange, together with award winning work for Edinburgh University. He started teaching at Glasgow School of Art in 1998 and set up Nbuffalo soon after as an informal umbrella for his own commercial and personal work. He has been an invited assessor at the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) Student Assessment Scheme since 2004 and part of their education team since 2013.

He has been part of the BA(Hons) Graphic Design team at Falmouth since January 2000, acting as Year Head for each of the three years during that time, teaching into all of the modules on the course and contributing heavily to the curriculum development of much of the taught content. Now, in his current role as course leader, he is overseeing the evolution towards a more critically aware programme of study and reimagining the subject as a tool for positive change. He was awarded ‘Best Tutor’ in the national Future Talent Awards (2008) and an ISTD Premier Award (their highest recognition) for his typographic work (2011).

His own creative practice continues in and around his teaching; developing and publishing the creative thinking tool ‘designdice™’ (Wild-Goose Media, 2018), releasing the third Detritus album (30 years after the first) ‘Myths’ (Embryo, 2021), and as co-author (with Dion Star) of the book ‘Creativity Begins With You’ (Laurence King, 2022). He is driven by championing creativity in others and is equally at home lecturing on design process or typography as he is playing guitar in experimental rock outfits or in liturgical spaces.



He lives and works in Cornwall, UK.

External Links

• designdice™
• Creativity Begins With You
• Detritus | Spotify

Contact details