Nigel Ball
Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for Graphic Design
- Phone
- +44 (0)1473 338819
- n.ball@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- School of Business, Arts, Social Sciences and Technology
- Nigel Ball ORCID
-
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Nigel is a Senior Lecturer with over 20 years’ experience as a design educator, spanning teaching, curriculum development, knowledge exchange, research and leadership across both further and higher education. Since joining the University of Suffolk, he has held roles including Head of Arts, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Graphic Design, Student Experience Lead for Arts & Humanities, and Arts representative for Ethical Research. Nigel is an External Examiner for the undergraduate Graphic Design courses at the University of Hertfordshire and Raffles College, Indonesia, and he holds an HND in Graphic Design, a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design and Illustration, a PGCE in post-compulsory education, and an MA in Arts Practice.
Nigel’s writing about graphic design, visual culture and creative education has been published widely, and his research has included outputs of self-published photobooks and texts, co-curated exhibitions and public lectures. Nigel is active in local and regional art and design organisations, and he continues to take on graphic design consultation work, dedicating his services to the cultural, public and third sectors.
Teaching
Nigel is passionate about creative education and its ability to empower self-development. He has taught Graphic Design modules in Ideas Generation, Contextual Studies, Visual Identity, Applied Ideas, Applying Critical Perspectives, Conceptual Projects, Professional Practice, Portfolio Development and Dissertation. He has also lectured about visual communication and creative education on undergraduate Photography, Digital Film Production and Education courses.
Nigel has written and been interviewed about graphic design, visual culture and creative education for a wide range of publishers, including Eye: The International Review of Graphic Design, Creative Review and Unit Editions, and he is the revision author of the second edition of The Fundamentals of Graphic Design, (2019, Bloomsbury).
Since 2018 Nigel has been the University of Suffolk’s representative on the Ipswich Conservation and Design Panel, reporting to Ipswich Borough Council, and in 2021 he was a founding contributor to The Outside Directory, a listings website for the creative industries outside London that seeks to address regional imbalances within the UK.
In 2022 Nigel co-curated the exhibition Picture Books For All with University of Suffolk colleagues Rob Ramsden and Dr Vassiliki Tzomaka, and in collaboration with Suffolk Archives. The exhibition was the first of its kind to showcase the pioneering Ipswich printer W. S. Cowell Ltd. Picture Books For All was exhibited at Ipswich’s The Hold from 20 October 2022–8 January 2023. Nigel and Rob’s research has since fed into public lectures on Cowell’s place within the history of modernism and their influence on contemporary picture book illustration.
In 2025 Nigel became a member of the board of trustees for arts organisation and charity SPILL Festival.
Nigel is currently working on a co-curated retrospective exhibition of the late Bob Linney, a graphic designer who worked in the cultural sector and who founded the Health Images charity working directly with people in developing countries to promote health education through imagery. The exhibition is due summer 2026 at The Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth, Suffolk.
Visit Nigel’s website at nigelball.co.uk
Published writing
Ball, N. (2024) Definitive enough for now. Eye: The International Review of Graphic Design (v. 27, no. 106). Eye: London
Ball, N. (2023) For the love of creative education. Ipswich.Love: Ipswich
Ball, N. (2023) Patriotic rubbish. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2022) Reader Recommends: How To Be An Artist. Unit Editions: London
Ball, N. (2020) Virtually speaking. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2020) A lockdown reading list. Unit Editions: London
Ball, N. (2020) The Graphic Design Process: How to be Successful in Design School. Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education (v.19, no.1). Intellect: Oxford
Ambrose, G. Ball, N. and Harris, P. (2019) The Fundamentals of Graphic Design, second edition. Bloomsbury: London
Ball, N. (2019) The Aesthetics of Convenience. Field Readings: Ipswich
Ball, N. (2019) The People’s History Museum. Mainly Museums: Ontario
Ball, N. (2018) Ending the war on wildlife. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2017) Proposing the Graphic Commons. Field Readings: Ipswich
Ball, N. (2016) Survival guide. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2016) Graphic Interruptions. Dubdog: Ipswich
Ball, N. (2016) Gutter press. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2015) Graphic language. EngLangBlog: London
Ball, N. (2014) Design for life. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2013) Back when the future looked bright. Eye: London
Ball, N. (2011) McJunk. Dubdog: Ipswich
Interviews and contributions
House of Common Affairs. (2023) Architecture Fringe Festival 2023, ‘CGI Fridays: urban identities through the lens of urban and graphic design. In: Minelgaite, P and Syrek, I. (ed) (2023) House of Common Affairs 3: Preventing the next blandemic. House of Common Affairs: London
Clayton, D. (2022) Still swimming against the mainstream. Media Magazine 81 English & Media Centre: London
Clayton, D. (2022) Swimming against the mainstream. Media Magazine 80 English & Media Centre: London
Suffolk Archives. (2022) Transforming the archives service for the 21st century. Suffolk Archives: Ipswich
Lilley, S. (2022) Picture Books for All. The Sarah Lilley Show (offline). BBC Radio Suffolk: Ipswich
Wright, J. (2019) Creative education. Tuesday takeover with Jon Wright, Angela and the unicorners. (offline) BBC Radio Suffolk: Ipswich
Creative Review and Dropbox. (2018) Creative Collaboration, a report. Creative Review / Dropbox: London
Stevens, R. (2013) Bridging the gap. Creative Review: London
Ecob, A. (2011) I’m leaving it. Eye: London
Eatock, D. (2008) Imprint. Princeton Architectural Press: New York
Nigel has represented University of Suffolk art and design courses at international creative education fairs and has been a competition judge for Premium Edu’s ClimArt Change awards, Romania. He is the External Examiner for the University of Hertfordshire’s Level 6 top-up BA (Hons) Graphic Design course at Raffles College, Indonesia.