Russell Kennedy re-elected to international design post

Russell Kennedy, senior lecturer in visual communication, has been elected vice-president of the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) for a second term.

Russell, who has a background in graphic design and filmmaking, is one of only two Australians to have served on the Icograda board. The organisation is the peak world body for graphic design and visual communication.

The election of Icograda board members by secret ballot took place during Icograda's biennial general assembly, held last month in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Russell has held the vice-presidential post since 2003 and has been active in the development of the Icograda Education Network and the deployment and promotion of worldwide educational exchange initiatives.

He has been instrumental in boosting membership of the education network - some 71 schools in 28 countries are now members, up from 42 in 2003. Monash is one of five Australian educational institutions involved in the network.

One initiative that emerged from Russell's Icograda links was the international 'Creative Waves' online student design project, conducted in May by Vince Dziekan, digital imaging course coordinator in the Department of Multimedia and Digital Arts, and Rick Bennett, founder of the Omnium Project ( Australia ) at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales .

The project, endorsed by Icograda, involved graphic design, photomedia and visual communication students from 22 countries, including four third-year design students from Monash's Caulfield campus.

Prior to joining Monash in 1994, Russell was the principal of corporate identity consultancy Russell Kennedy Design, and co-director of Onset Productions, a motion picture and documentary company.

Russell is a member of the Australian Graphic Design Association and actively promotes networking between design education and industry. He is also an international examiner/moderator for Singapore 's Temasek Design School and the Wanganui School of Design at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.