Dr Ari Chand

Dr Ari Chand is a Designer/Illustrator and practice-based researcher with experience in Secondary and Tertiary Education, Illustration Theory and Practice, Natural History Illustration, Drawing theory and Practice, Character Design and Concept Art, Design History and Theory, design research, to key areas of core teaching in Visual Communication Design and Creative Industries Education.

His research focuses on understanding the complex way a socio-cultural framework for understanding Design into the 21^st century is relevant to how humanity will undertake the complex issues of our time. Research is practice-based at the University of Newcastle and looks at the development of a theoretical framework based on the combination of seminal concepts, habitus (Pierre Bourdieu) and tacit knowledge (Michael Polanyi), to interrogate and scope out the nature of style and design process within design practice. Future key focuses include creativity research, visuospatial cognition, and decolonising design. 

"Ari Chand is shaping up as one of the 21^st century design scholars who has been deeply entangled with both design thinking and Bourdieu studies, and who in the process has adapted both to meet his own needs and understandings: to synthesise these two areas of practice, and in the process initiating new understandings of the affordances of design, and of how it fits within the field of cultural production." – Distinguished Professor of Creative Practice Jen Webb, University of Canberra. 

His illustration work is mainly comprised of traditional and digital drawing, watercolour, ink, acrylic or hybridised digital illustration. In 2019 was a finalist in the Sir William Dobell Foundation and National Art School’s Biannual 2019 Dobell Drawing Prize. 

As a Singer-Songwriter he also In 2018 released is Album 13 Track Album entitled‘ High Tide’ with Threebirds Records: https://open.spotify.com/album/0gNUOYnIaNi2kbw3OwIm23

Other Projects Include:
Interdisciplinary Research Group: CindER (Creative Industries Educational Research); Kathryn Grushka, Kristi Street, Susan Kerrigan, Rachel Buchanan. 

• Art Masters Class Program (Newcastle High School): Research Project, Newcastle high School, Dr Kath Grushka,  Rory Davis(Masters Candidate, Education).

• High Performing Students Program: Art/Science Project, DVCA Funded Longitudinal Research Project 2013- present. (Dr Kath Grushka, Dr Neville Clement, Dr Miranda Lawry, Mr Andy Devine).

Inaugural Member of the ‘Creativity in Higher Education Network’ led by Professor Philip McIntyre, Associate Professor Susan Kerrigan, Dr Janet Fulton and Dr Michael Meany. https://www.creativeresearchhub.com/chen

In 2020 He has been funded alongside Dr Andrew Howells, Dr Jane Shadbolt, Dr Caelli Jo Brooker, Mr Carl Morgan and Mr Alex Barnes-Keoghan to set up a ‘Drawing Education Network’. In 2021 he was funded by the College to Establish an International RIllustration Research Network.  Dr Ari Chand (lead), Dr Andrew Howells, Dr Chloe Killen, Mr Barnes-Keoghan, Mr Luke O'Donnell, Conjoint Professor Alan Male, Professor Mario Minichiello, and 33 academic collaborators from national and international institutions. See: www.illustrationacademics.co

Research Expertise 

Key areas of investigation include Bourdieusian Practice Theory, Cultural Production, Design Ethnography, Tacit knowledge and the Design process. Ari has also been a Research Assistant on the large-scale research project and  HEPPP funded “ Creative Industries Careers- Re-imagining Regional and Remote Student’s opportunities’.  The project supported regional and remote High School students facing the prospect of the decline in the traditional areas of farming, mining, and manufacture to re-imagine their futures and aspire to work in Creative Industries.  

Teaching Expertise 

Drawing and Illustration, Visual Communication Design History, Theory and Research. Secondary Teacher Education in Visual Art and Design Education, Visual Art, Design and Technology Pedagogy. Post graduate and undergraduate pre-service teacher education in Visual Art and Design Education. Courses taught include: Teaching and Learning in Visual Art, Design in the areas of teaching strategies, assessment, classroom practices and curriculum design. Tertiary Teaching in Design Research Methodology. 

Student Feedback on Teaching:

Student Feedback on Teaching - Drawing

• "Ari Chand's teaching was very helpful in my overall learning journey. It was cool to see how he was able to incorporate art history in with the basic foundations of drawing."
• "Enjoyed him as my teacher very much, I hope I have him again in the future for my future subjects. Very clear and solid teaching methods. I started Visual Communication Design to do graphic design but now I am considering illustration and/or concept artist."
• "Ari is very knowledgeable and refined in skill. He is a great help in learning the skills necessary to become a good drawer and artist. He is accomplished in his field and is a very engaging tutor."
• "Ari taught me numerous valuable techniques and skills I look forward to developing and refining."
• Ari acknowledged the traditional custodians of the land and announced that his course was an LGBTQIA+  friendly space in my very first lecture with him which ultimately made him stand out from the rest of my tutors and lecturers. He also attempted to get to know each and every one of his students and make us feel welcome which really helped with first-year anxiety and stress.
• Really personable lecturer and I value his criticism. His choice of examples for lectures and tutorials are also really inspiring. He remained empathetic and was also the only lecturer aside from the course co-coordinator that reminded us of counselling services during covid, which was really thoughtful!
• It's easy to see that Ari loves what he does, which is inspiring and lovely to be around. He's informative, easy to approach and always gives such insighful and thoughtful feedback. It's a pleasuring being taught by Ari.
• Ari went quite in depth and supported everyone as we transitioned online and did the best possible considering the unforeseen circumstance

Student Feedback on Teaching: Character Design

• This course was great! Ari Chand is an amazing teacher who cares about his students and therefore makes time to assist them when needed. The course encourages others to challenge themselves and experiment when possible. Overall this was my favourite class this semester!
• This course was great! Ari Chand is an amazing teacher who cares about his students and therefore makes time to assist them when needed. The course encourages others to challenge themselves and experiment when possible. Overall this was my favourite class this semester!
• University of Newcastle is lucky to have such a passionate and dedicated teacher like Ari. His everything exceeded all my expectations.
• I loved this course the assignments pushed me to improve and feedback from the tutor helped me consider points I had not previously.
• This course has been one of the most engaging courses I’ve taken.
• This course has really pushed me to improve my practice and experience what it may be like designing commercially.
• Ari was a very hands on tutor, I came in to this class with almost 0 drawing ability and he took it upon himself to provide me with all the help I needed, he did not give up on me and kept encouraging me to get through the semester.
• Ari’s creativity, lesson structure, and overall attitude for this course. It’s clear he’s truly passionate about character creation and pushed us all to take risks, rise to challenges, and embrace different styles.
• I found that during the tutorials Ari would come around and talk to every person and find out where they are up to with their character and offer advice and constructive criticism in order to help and better the character.
• The feedback Ari provided throughout the course was so helpful! His passion and interests shined in this course, making my passion increase for character design. He was willing to stay behind to help, or was only a message away if needed. I appreciate Ari's style of teaching as it aligns with my style of learning quite well.
• Ari has been very helpful as he knows what to say all of the time. The critical feedback he gives to each student is very good because his one on one chats personalise his teachings, making it even easier to learn and improve from.

Student Feedback on Teaching: Visual Communication Design, Histories and Impact


• Ari is extremely passionate about the subject matter and is very organised. He spends a lot of time preparing for lectures and tutorials. He provides a lot of reading material and examples.
• Ari was my lecturer. You could tell how passionate he is about this subject and it made me passionate as well. I felt he was always there to offer advice, even when I was in a different class of his, he always wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable and not too overwhelmed with any of the workload.
• The depth of the topics Ari went into was excellent. His passion for the topic definitely shines through.
• Ari was clearly very knowledgeable and able to draw on a wide range of sources and ideas when delivering content