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Currently Researching : Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence // Angry Windsocks & the Harm of Existence //

Updated 2025

Robyn Cook Rocky Boon

I am a senior lecturer in the Department of Graphic Design at Falmouth University.

Since 2022 I have worked to champion departmental research; research-integrated teaching; and doctoral projects within the department.

Prior to that, I was the Course Leader for the MA Communication Design at Falmouth, and the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Graphic Design at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa).

My research is focused on the epistemics of power in relation to design as a hyperobject, and the forms of domination (language, identity, economics, technology, education […]) that mesh the systems and objects of society.

My teaching and practice is informed by my experience as an art director and graphic designer for various agencies including Ogilvy & OgilvyAction.

I also runs The Office for Ulterior Research: part design research repository, part other-thing studio, part zero-plus-zero publisher.

For a complete résumé (committees, press, publications, exhibitions, grants, residencies); to collaborate; or anything else, feel free to get in touch.

The Speaking Machine, a collaborative digital novel where participants collectively write and illustrate a story online in real time.
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Design by TwoMuch.Studio and Harry Boyd}

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Creative director}

Unequal Stories, a collaborative research project between Falmouth University (UK) and the University of Johannesburg (South Africa) that investigates gender diversity, equality, and representation within design disciplines.
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Principal investigator}

Death X Design X Culture: Radical Re-Imaginings for the End of Life, a collaborative event between Falmouth University (UK), the Death and Culture Network, University of York (UK), the Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan (USA), and the Glasgow End of Life Studies Group, University of Glasgow (UK), exploring the role of design in critically reimagining death, dying, and disposal.
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Press}

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Design As... responding to the urgent need for furthering critical work in the field of design, this edited series is an accessible introduction to key areas of critical and cultural discourse for students, designers, educators, and scholars. Each volume presents a particular theme, practice, or concern of significance to design culture, outlining core theories and theorists, and evaluating their relevance to current and emerging academic and socio-political perspectives. Published by Bloomsbury.
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Open call

Design thinking, neoliberalism, and the trivialisation of social change in higher education, a critical examination of the increasing popularity of Design Thinking and related methodologies reveals inherent ideological and practical problems, including its proximity to neoliberalism and the potential exploitation of vulnerable communities, ultimately arguing for a more critical and situated approach to prevent it from doing more harm than good.
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Graphic Design Urgencies, a doctoral project brief, seeks radical, transformative research proposals to address design's complicity in environmental precarity and extractive capitalism, fostering new graphic design practices and discourses for disciplinary degrowth, postcapitalist subjectivities, environmental politics, and human/other-than-human relationships.
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Open call}

Sober & Lonely, is a multidisciplinary artist duo (Lauren von Gogh and Robyn Cook, formed 2011) from Johannesburg, South Africa, which functions as a mobile platform for research, experimentation, and artist residencies, often exploring unconventional and collaborative approaches to art including butter churning aerobics and experiemtns with telepathic rabbits.

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_Artner