David Driver

David Driver

Areas of Interest

Arts, Alumni, Media

Honorary Award

Doctor of Letters, 2001

Biography

David Driver, Head of Design at The Times newspaper, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in recognition of his outstanding contribution to design and his long association with our University.

Having studied Design and Illustration with us at Cambridgeshire College of Arts & Technology, David Driver developed an international reputation in the design of newspapers and magazines through working with a series of household name publications like Penguin Books, Radio Times, Women's Mirror and The Sunday Times.

He designed the Queen's Golden Wedding stamps in 1997 and was responsible, with Neville Brody, for the design re-evaluation of The Times - complete with new typeface - in 2006. He has been associated with our University for 40 years, returning to teach Design and Illustration as a visiting lecturer.



Citation

"Today we honour David, who is an alumnus of Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (the forerunner of the University's Cambridge Campus) and who has been associated with the University for the last forty years, through his returning to share his wisdom and enthusiasm as a Visiting Lecturer. 

David has achieved high distinction in the design of newspapers and magazines and as a designer and typographer, has developed great skill in the interplay of image and text, whilst his love of drawing is matched only by his awareness of its enormous potential for communication. Because of these skills he has been commissioned as a freelance illustrator and designer for a variety of "household name" publications, including Town, Queen, Observer Magazine and theSunday Times, besides which he re-designed Harpers Bazaar (1969) and The Listener (1980). Meanwhile, he began his career in parallel, first as Art Editor of the Thompson publication Farm and Country, later becoming Assistant Art Editor of IPC's more prestigious Woman's Mirror, after which he spent a brief period as Art Director at Cornmarket Press. Following this, he was Art Editor and Deputy Editor at the Radio Times for over ten years, during which time he was awarded both Silver and Gold Awards from the British Design and Art Directors Association for his work on the Radio Times and published (as editor, compiler and designer) The Art of Radio Times. This book accompanied the exhibition of the same name at The Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981. It was also during this time that he become Freelance Art Director at the Francis Kyle Gallery. 

Since 1981, David has been Head of Design and Assistant Editor atThe Times. He has been involved as designer for various books, including: Graham Greene Country by Paul Hogarth and Graham Greene, The Windsor Style by Suzy Menkes and The Mediterranean Shore by Paul Hogarth and Lawrence Durrell; as well as for some rather special commissions from the Royal Mail, like Royal Mail Christmas Stamps in 1991 and the Queen's Golden Wedding Stamps in 1997.

David has also been the recipient of a range of other professional awards, including: in 1987 the Editorial Award of Excellence, in 1989 the Society of Newspaper Design Award of the USA and in 1992, the Colour Newspaper of the Year Award and the Features Design Award. 

We have seen that David has a strong interest in education, as expressed through his Visiting Lectureship at APU, but he also has a similar role at Hornsey College of Art and devotes many hours in supporting work at these colleges. He has also been appointed as an External Examiner at St Martin's School of Art and The Royal College of Art in London.

Although this outstanding alumnus has not sought publicity, he has achieved a high public profile and is a great encouragement and inspiration to both students and their teachers. 

It is for these reasons, therefore, that I invite you, Vice-Chancellor, to confer on Mr David John Driver, an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree of this University."