Sebastian Orby Conran

Appointed November 2008. Sebastian studied Industrial Design Engineering at Central St. Martins, where he gave the Sex Pistols their first booking and designed the record sleeves and posters for The Clash. After working at corporate identity consultancy Wolff Olins and leading hard-goods development at Mothercare, in 1986 he founded Sebastian Conran Associates design studio, which he continues to lead.

Sebastian has taught furniture design at the Royal College of Art, lectures frequently, judges many international design awards (Audi, D&AD, Design Week, Dyson, Red Dot, RSA, etc.) and has written several books, articles and papers on design.

An active member of many bodies, Sebastian has worked with many design and educational institutions including: Designer in Residence, Sheffield University Science Faculty; Visiting Professor of the University of the Arts London; Chairman of Design & Technology Alliance — UK Home Office's body tackling crime with design; Chairman of the Creative Industries KTN steering group Technologies Innovation Network; Chairman Design Action in Scotland steering group Scotland's Design & Industry knowledge exchange; Trustee of the Design Council, the Conran Foundation and D&AD; Governor and Trustee of Bryanston School; Hon. Fellow, the Royal College of Art; Hon. Doctorate of Technology, Loughborough University; Hon. Doctorate of Arts, Hertfordshire University; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers; Fellow of the Institute of Packaging; Ambassador for ICAN, the children's education charity; Ambassador for ACID, the anti copying in design lobby group.