Martin Bush BA(Hons), MA, FHEA

I am Programme Director for the BA(Hons) Creative Advertising course and Pathway Leader for MA Advertising. I am responsible for the development, organisation and day-to-day running of these programmes.

I am also a Senior Lecturer for Contextual Practices, Art and Design Foundation Studies, and the university online PG Short Course in Art and Design. I provide pastoral care for all our course students, and I am the undergraduate Year 3 tutor.

I have a career spanning 25 years as an advertising agency Creative Director, Copywriter, Art director and Graphic Designer, having worked in numerous commercial environments.

During my professional career I have been responsible for the creative output and strategy across all clients and projects for a UK top 30 advertising agency.

My areas of industry experience include idea generation, conceptualisation, copywriting and crafting client work for digital, broadcast, brand and print communications. Day-to-day duties have included attendance at film and photo shoots, recordings, audio mixes and edits in order to provide creative direction and ensure premium craft values were always achieved.

As a Creative Director I have been the creative lead for client presentations, pitches and meetings, with overall responsibility for the agency creative output. I facilitated this by problem solving, critiquing work, providing creative direction, motivation and inspiration for creative teams and agency staff. I have also worked as a freelance Creative Director.

Additional commercial responsibilities have included commissioning external creative services, agreeing budgets, organising work schedules, meeting deadlines and briefing illustrators, photographers, commercials’ directors and producers.

I have been on the judging panel of the LPA Big Poster Challenge and I have also been a visiting lecturer on the BA(Hons) Graphic Communication course at Cardiff Metropolitan University and the Advertising Design course at University of South Wales.

I joined Swansea College of Art UWTSD in 2013 where I have since developed my pedagogy and academic interests in fine art, photography and design history. I am a practicing artist and use digital photography and video to create artworks and installations.

Visit: martindbush.com

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Member of the D&AD Educational network

I teach all year groups the wide range of disciplines that are essential for students to develop for a successful career in the advertising and communications industries. My specific focus is on idea generation, creative enquiry, creative craft, writing and professional development.

The modules I currently teach across the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the faculty are:

• Copy and Type
• Ways of Thinking
• Ways of Perceiving
• Integrated Advertising
• Independent Enquiry
• Graduate Portfolio
• The Thought Experiment
• Coexistent Perspectives
• Collaborative Dialogues
• Explorative Research and Praxis
• Online postgraduate short course in Art and Design

Through teaching across undergraduate, postgraduate, contextual and foundation studies, I am interested in the cultural and philosophical aspects of idea generation, and the importance of research to inform creative work.

My industry-related research interests include storytelling, advertising craft, emerging technologies, sustainability, social media, the changing role of the creative and the changing function of advertising.

My broader research interests are around affect theory, identity, semiotics, fine art and film.

I have extensive industry experience of advertising and branding across all the major media platforms including broadcast, digital, print and social.

The clients I have worked with include: Welsh Government, BBC Wales, British Telecom, Confused.com, Cornwall Tourism, English Heritage, Euronics, Flymo, Hoover, HTV West, Media Wales Ltd, Mitsubishi Motors, Oli.co.uk, Principality Building Society, The British Army, The Central Office of Information (UK Government), The Royal Mint, Cancer Research Wales, VisitWales, Welsh Lamb and Wales Rugby Union.

I seek out opportunities for our students to work with advertising agencies, local charities, on Welsh Government initiatives, university projects, with start-up businesses, local galleries and established companies.

In doing so I provide support and creative direction, and this has led to many successful projects, placements and full-time positions being offered to our students both during, and after their course of study.

Wales NEXUS (2019). Moving from Practice to Context. Swansea: UWTSD.
https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/wales-nexus-conference-2019/abstracts-/moving-from-practice-to-context/

I am an advocate of creative education and have been a mentor to undergraduate students from Swansea Metropolitan University, Cardiff Metropolitan University and the University of South Wales.

I have also been a regular speaker at the annual Creative Futures career events at the University of South Wales. I have exhibited my art in the PAUSE 2018 Contemporary Dialogues exhibition and I have been a conference speaker at the UWTSD Wales NEXUS Teaching Conference.