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Dr David Parkinson

Assistant Professor

Department: Northumbria School of Design

David’s experience within the design industry predominantly consists of the management of product and service development projects, handling industrial engagement and collaborations and more recently doctoral level research. In 2009, after graduating from his MA in Multidisciplinary Design Innovation he worked as a service designer on contracts looking at the provision of services by NHS ward districts in the Greater London area. 

He then went on to lead and be part of consultant design teams on new product and service development projects on a freelance basis for Unilever’s research and development plant in Port Sunlight, Liverpool. Simultaneously, he was appointed the position of Industrial Liaison Officer at Northumbria University’s School of Design, as part of the team negotiating collaborative projects  between MA students and local enterprises including; Options UK, Roman Showers, Sarabec and Percy Hedley. Armed with these experiences, he constructed a doctoral research proposal focusing on the relationship between design and storytelling.

In 2013, whilst entering into the final stages of his doctoral research programme, he joined the academic staff team at Northumbria University as a lecturer, delivering across all year groups on the Design for Industry undergraduate programme.

David Parkinson

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Embedding Authentic Feedback Literacy in Design Students: A New Model for Peer Assessment, Parker, M., Parkinson, D. 16 Jun 2022, DRS2022: Bilbao, DRS
  • Establishing Trust through Storytelling: A Model for Co-Design, Parkinson, D., Warwick, L. 2 Nov 2020, Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 3: People., Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University Press
  • A Landscape of Design: Design for Industry 2016, Hewitt, I., O'Leary, D., Parkinson, D., Forsyth, A., Scott-Harden, S., Warwick, L., Wong, R., Smith, N., Young, R. 4 May 2018
  • Animation as a Creative Tool: Insights into the Complex, Hewitt, I., Parkinson, D., Hilton, K. 1 Nov 2017, International Association of Societies of Design Research 5th World Conference on Design Research
  • How Does Storytelling Unlock the Potentialities of Communities; The Design-Client Relationship, Parkinson, D. 1 Feb 2017, Pearl Diver: The Designer as Storyteller, Milano, Italy
  • Stimulating Thinking at the Design Pitch: Storytelling Approach and Impact, Parkinson, D., Warwick, L. 28 Jul 2017, In: The Design Journal
  • Engaging Design Pitches: Storytelling Approaches and their Impacts, Parkinson, D. 23 Nov 2016, Open Design for E-very-thing: Cumulus Hong Kong 2016
  • Designer Storytelling, Parkinson, D., Bohemia, E. 2012, 14th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education

  • PhD July 15 2015
  • Design Studies MA June 30 2009
  • Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2015


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