https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6993-329X
Brian Cairns (b.1965, Paisley, UK) lives and works in Glasgow. Cairns is a Senior Lecturer and the Programme Leader for the Master of Design in Communication Design programme and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). His experience as an Educator in Higher Education spans 35 years, both in the UK and internationally. He is frequently invited to serve as an external examiner and to contribute to the revalidation of programmes at national art institutions in the UK. He is a member of the Illustration Educators.
His research is focused on Practice-led research, exploring materiality, craft and analogue processes, including Illustration, Print, Drawing, Printmaking, and Photography. Cairns leads the School of Design 'PRINT' research cluster.
Published papers and conference presentations include Confia (International Conference on Illustration and Animation, Portugal), 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2025, ICON (Illustration Conference, USA), 2014, 2024 and iJade (International Journal of Art & Design Education) 2020. He is a reviewer for The Journal of Illustration and has written for 3x3 magazine. Cairns has exhibited internationally in over 64 countries, and his work is included in the BBC permanent collection and the New South Wales (Australia) Design Syllabus. His work is featured in numerous publications on Communication Design and Illustration, including Typographic Sketchbooks, Handwritten, 100 Illustrators, Illustration Now 2, The Fundamentals of Illustration, Print Magazine, Communication Arts, Creative Review, Design Week, I-D, The Los Angeles Times and The New Yorker.
He has over 40 years of experience as a practitioner working with international clients such as Ridley Scott Associates, Nike, BBC, United Airlines, British Airways, Hyatt, The New York Times, Warner Brothers, Royal Mail, Penguin Books, Time Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, IDEO, Herman Miller, Channel 4, Hewlett Packard (HP), and The Observer for whom he was a weekly contributor for over 18 years. He has received numerous international awards for his work, including awards from Design and Art Direction, the Art Directors Club of New York, American Illustration, Print, Communication Arts, Creative Review, and the Society of Illustrators of New York, which awarded him a prestigious Gold Medal. As an acknowledged expert in his field, he has served on the jury for the Deutsche Bank Awards, the World Illustration Awards (AOI), the Saltire Book Design Awards, and as Illustration Chair and Black Pencil jury member for the Design and Art Direction International Professional Awards.
Practice-led research, exploring materiality, craft and analogue processes, including Illustration, Print, Drawing, Printmaking, and Photography. Cairns leads the School of Design 'PRINT' research cluster.
