I had been thinking about joining a Postgraduate course for quite a while before I contacted the University of Stirling. My academic and professional background is a mixed one but from my early studies in English Literature to more recent ones in Design there has always been a constant: my interest in words, communication and storytelling; whatever form this may take, whether written or visual. Recently I had also had the opportunity to dip my toes in the waters of publishing and having designed and published four titles with very little knowledge of the industry I felt I had to learn things properly and from the experts. So, for me it felt like a natural progression to join the MRes in Publishing.

My main research interest lays in the overlaps between the written book and its visual form with a focus on the role of the designer within the publishing process. With so much recent talk in the press about the printed book undergoing a renaissance, the designer as interpreter of content and the process of book publishing as a co-operative task are at the forefront of the discussion.

Studying the Masters is helping me question and reflect on my own practice as designer and lecturer. It has also given me the opportunity to examine my aptitude for research, and once you start on a journey, who knows where it may take you? I’m open to suggestions.

You can follow my adventures @behindtheshelf