Faculty

Nadia Beyzaei is a researcher, designer, educator, and health design consultant. She addresses healthcare challenges through behavioural science and design research, communication design and service design strategy. She is Principal Designer at Bettr, leading initiatives to advance equitable healthcare. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences + Mathematics from the University of British Columbia, a Communication Design Certificate from ECU and a Master of Research in Healthcare + Design from the Royal College of Art.

Jean Chisholm’s research explores place-based and community collaborations that work towards relational, ecological and equitable ways of living. She approaches this work through collegial labour practices and collaborations with artists, designers and community organizers who hold local and Indigenous knowledge of their communities. During the summer, Jean can often be found biking around the Salish Sea and Pacific coast.

Peter Cocking is a designer and design educator specializing in typographic and editorial work. He is creative director at Page Two Books. Peter has received over 50 awards for his work, and has lectured throughout Canada and in the U.S., including at the national conferences of the AIGA and the AAUP, and to the Type Directors Club in New York. In 2013 he received the Ian Wallace Award for Teaching Excellence, and in 2017 he received the Chick Rice Award.

Natalie is a Vancouver-based art director, publication designer, brand strategist and design educator who brings brands, content and minds to life with strategic design, multi-platform publishing and clear communication style. Her professional experience is primarily focused in art direction, editorial design, and marketing in the magazine industry. When not busy designing for clients in the private sector or teaching at ECU and SFU, she is likely heading to her pottery studio to make ceramics for her small business, Nima Stoneware.

Katherine Gillieson is a designer, researcher and educator with over 20 years in higher education. She is active in writing and studio practice in addition to teaching, graduate supervision and administrative roles including Associate Dean of the Master of Design program at ECU from 2021-2024. She joined ECU in 2013 after many years in the UK, where she worked in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading.

Maria Goncharova was born in the USSR (for real) and raised in Türkiye. She loves the sun and sea, but not celery. She designs systems, experiences and resources to improve lives. She is Director of Strategy + Creative at Canvas Method and the OG Academy and senior associate of Design Thinking + Research at Bethink Solutions. She sometimes makes it to her studio to build colourful sculptural beings. She is perpetually hoping to spend half the year on a beach.

Jaz Halloran is an artist and designer focusing on graphic design and publication, influenced by his involvement in the artist’s book community. As co-director of the cultural non-profit Project Space, Jaz designed and produced marketing, publications, events and exhibitions. He was an exhibitor and presenter for the Talks & Workshops program at Capture Photography Festival’s Vancouver Photo Book Fair. And since 2017, he’s been a Communication Design instructor in the Faculty of Design + Dynamic Media at ECU.

Janine Merkl is an art director, graphic designer and artist. She has been a design lead and art director in design agencies and for global brands including lululemon and Shopify. Her work includes branding, print and packaging design, campaign rollouts and marketing, illustration and motion work. Alongside design work, she has a painting practice. Janine believes there is a fluidity across art, design and visual culture and fosters curiosity and creativity to encourage collaboration. Her research has focused on semiotics and feminist theory in early modernism, and community-based work in sustainable and equitable design for cities and communities.