Michael O'Malley

With over two decades experience, Michael O’Malley is a graphic design academic, practitioner and Course Leader for BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Teesside University. His academic profile is informed by extensive experience in graphic design, marketing communications, branding, typography and visual communication, alongside a sustained commitment to design education, curriculum development and academic leadership.

Michael studied BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Northumbria University before completing an MA in Marketing and Management for Design at the University of Huddersfield. This combination of design practice and marketing strategy continues to inform his teaching, research and enterprise activity, positioning graphic design as both a creative discipline and a strategic form of communication.

Before entering academia, Michael worked across agency, freelance and consultancy contexts, developing design outcomes across branding, advertising, corporate literature, exhibitions, packaging, publishing, wayfinding and digital communication. This professional background continues to shape his academic practice, particularly in relation to live briefs, client engagement, professional standards, design process and audience-focused communication.

As Course Leader, Michael contributes to course development strategy, curriculum planning, course enhancement, student support, staff collaboration and external engagement. This has included work with international partners in Prague and Vishwaniketan, India, supporting collaborative relationships and wider cross-cultural academic exchange. Graphic Design at Teesside University has achieved significant external recognition, including being ranked number one in the UK in the Guardian University Guide for three consecutive years.

He is active in developing live projects with external clients and partners, enabling students to engage with professional expectations, real-world constraints and applied creative problem-solving. His students have achieved national and international recognition through awards and accolades including the D&AD Awards, International Society of Typographic Designers Awards and Creative Conscience Awards. Graphic Design at Teesside University has also achieved significant external recognition, including being ranked number one in the UK ofr Graphic Design in the Guardian University Guide for three consecutive years (2024, 2025 & 2026).

His teaching is centred on helping students develop as confident, critically engaged and professionally aware designers. He is particularly interested in creative and critical thinking as essential components of design education, encouraging students to question, analyse, experiment, evaluate and communicate with clarity, originality and purpose.

Michael’s research interests are primarily practice-based and located within graphic design, typography, visual communication, branding, health communication, design pedagogy and creative practice. His work explores how graphic design can make complex information accessible, shape audience understanding and support meaningful communication across educational, cultural, professional and health-related contexts.

A significant strand of his research and scholarly activity has focused on health and wellbeing-related design. This includes collaborative projects using graphic design, illustration, animation, storytelling and information design to support public understanding, professional communication, knowledge mobilisation and behaviour change. Projects such as #Conversations and #Options created in collaboration with NHS Trusts and colleague, M.Diamond, have explored the role of visual communication in raising awareness of organ donation and supporting conversations between professional, family and community audiences.

Michael has also contributed to projects involving student wellbeing, public health information, healthy lifestyle communication, pregnancy-related health guidance, weight management resources and clinical communication tools. Across these projects, his role has included creative direction, art direction, visual communication strategy, student research supervision and the translation of research findings into accessible design outcomes.

His broader research interests include the relationship between design practice and audience, the role of typography and visual identity in shaping meaning, and the importance of creative and critical thinking within design education. He is particularly interested in how professional design processes can be embedded within academic learning, and how students can use research, experimentation, reflection and ethical awareness to develop purposeful and original visual communication.

This research activity connects directly to teaching, curriculum development and student experience. It enables students to engage with live contexts, external partners, research-informed briefs and socially relevant design challenges, supporting both academic development and professional readiness.

Michael has contributed to a range of knowledge exchange, enterprise and consultancy activities aligned with the University’s role in supporting regional development, innovation and creative capacity. His enterprise work has included collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises in the North East of England, helping organisations better understand the value and application of graphic design within communication, identity and development strategies.

Through Knowledge Exchange Internship projects (KEIs) and related consultancy activity, Michael has supported organisations in reviewing and developing their design provision. This has included auditing existing communication materials, supporting understanding of professional design practice, and identifying opportunities to improve branding, marketing communications, web presence and visual consistency.

Michael has also contributed to cross-disciplinary enterprise activity within the University, working as part of teams that explored organisational challenges and developed potential creative and strategic solutions. His enterprise interests are closely connected to teaching and research, particularly through live briefs, external partnerships and opportunities for students to engage with real-world design challenges.

Overall, Michael’s academic profile brings together design education, professional practice, applied research, knowledge exchange and international engagement. His work demonstrates the value of graphic design as a critical, creative and strategic discipline with relevance across education, industry, health, culture and public communication.