Today, after a long and successful career he is one of the auto industry’s most influential design leaders, having retired from his role as Vice President for Design at Ford Motor Company after spending 20 years at the multinational automaker.
Nick Eardley is one of the BBC’s most prominent political correspondents and has reported on all of the biggest political events in recent years, including two general elections, two Scottish Parliament elections, the Brexit process and the Covid pandemic.
Kay Farrell left a secure job in administration to embark on a new career path in publishing. Edinburgh Napier’s strong industry links appealed to her, and Kay enrolled on the MSc Publishing course, graduating in 2015. Kay’s first graduate job was with Palimpsest Book Production where she was responsible for checking typeset manuscripts.
Kay is now Assistant Publisher at award-winning publishing company, Sandstone Press, where she edited the International Booker Prize-winning book, Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi.
Jeanette’s interest in interior design was ignited at an Edinburgh Napier open day. As she was led round a tour of the facilities, Jeanette was captivated by the enthusiasm and pride shown by ENU staff. She went home and completed her application straight away. She graduated from Edinburgh Napier in 1985 with a Diploma in Interior Design.
She is now the Managing Director of Indeglas - one of the UK’s most advanced internal glass specialists. Away from Indeglas, Jeanette serves as co-Vice Chair of Construction Scotland Innovation Centre where she helps steer the built environment sector forward to create infrastructure which supports human productivity and economic recovery.
Steven and David McConnachie
BDes (Hons) Interior Architecture 2011 and BDes (Hons) Product Design 2011
Founders, Double Take Projections
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2017
David and Steven McConnachie are the founders of Double Take Projections – an architectural projection mapping, interactive installation and 3D motion graphics company based in Leith, Edinburgh.
They founded the company in 2013, two years after graduating from Edinburgh Napier – David studied Product Design while Steven was trained in Interior Architecture.
Their clients have included Underbelly, RBS, Rangers and Manchester City fooball clubs and the National Lottery.
In 2019, they worked with Historic England to project an immersive visual experience onto the walls of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. This was part of Historic England’s ‘Where Light Falls’ events programme which marked 80 years since the start of World War Two.
Double Take Projections is also responsible for Scotland’s longest ever lightening project. They lit up the 1.7-mile-long Queensferry Crossing bridge in 2017 to celebrate the completion of the historic project.
In recent times, David and Steven have taken on more international projects and will be collaborating with an American music artist to create their music video. Stay tuned!
doubletakeprojections.com
Gregor McWee
BDes (Hons) Design Futures 2001
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2016
Margaret Mitchell
BA Photography 1994
Photographer
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019
Margaret Mitchell is a Scottish documentary and portrait photographer. Projects range from exploring communities and children’s worlds through to long-term projects on social environment, opportunity and inequality. Her work explores the intricacies and complexities of people’s lives with a particular emphasis on place and belonging.
She has exhibited widely including at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow; the National Portrait Gallery, London; Festival Circulation(s), Paris; FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby; and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.
Margaret has received a number of accolades including those from the Sony World Photography Awards and the Royal Photographic Society. Her book ‘Passage’ was published by Bluecoat Press in 2021. Alongside personal projects, she also works editorially for clients including the Guardian, Telegraph Magazine and Shelter Scotland. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
Margaretmitchell.co.uk
Neil Poulton
BSC Industrial Design (Technology) 1985
Principal, Neil Poulton Product Design, Paris France
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019
Neil Poulton is a Scottish-born product designer who has lived and worked in Paris, France since 1991. He is best known for tech designs like the iconic "Rugged" hard drive for LaCie - a product which has sold over 6 million units - and his many "best-seller" lighting designs for Italian company, Artemide.
Neil has won numerous international design awards. His first major solo exhibition "design by neil poulton" was held in the Glyptotheque museum in Zagreb, Croatia in 2013; his designs are included in the Permanent Contemporary Collection of Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris; his "Scopas" lamp for Artemide was inaugurated into the 1st permanent collection of V&A Dundee in 2018.
Since 2020 he has been listed in the French "Who's Who". Neil has been listed in Time magazine's "The Design 100 – The people and ideas behind today's most influential design".
Melissa Preston
BDes (Hons) Graphic Design 2012
Design Director at Thirst Craft
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2016
After graduating from Edinburgh Napier in 2012, Melissa Preston won a D&AD student design award. This led her to a career in London where she spent 6 years as a designer for Design Bridge, working with a wide selection of brands including Cadbury, Cornetto and Lipton.
Melissa’s current role is with the branding and packaging agency, Thirst Craft, in Glasgow where she designs for a wide selection of drinks brands across the world. She is also design director for Thirst Craft’s sister agency, Hunger, where the focus is on branding and packaging design for all things edible.
Dr Susanne Ramsenthaler
BA Photography 1994
Visual artist and lecturer in photography
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019
Susanne Ramsenthaler is a visual artist and lecturer in photography. Her work is largely lens-based, encompassing a wide range of practice, from antique printing techniques to video, digital imaging and computer animation.
The mixing of low-tech with high-tech, old with new, has become her signature mode of working.
Susanne’s work has been shown in the USA, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Germany, Croatia, in the UK, and at the St. Petersburg Biennale, Russia. She is represented by 511 Gallery, New York.
susanneramsenthaler.com
Paul Jan De Ridder
PG Diploma Creative Advertising 2014
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2016
Jordan D. Scott
BDes (Hons) Product Design 2011
Senior Designer, LEGO
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2017
Jordan is a Senior Designer working at The LEGO Group in Billund, Denmark. From the time of receiving his first ever LEGO set, Jordan became captivated by the toy, ultimately taking him down a path of design.
After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Product Design, he applied for a job at The LEGO Group shortly after. Since starting as a Junior Designer Jordan has worked with numerous intellectual properties, designing and building models for themes such as LEGO Star Wars, LEGO The Lord of the Rings, LEGO Jurassic World and some of The LEGO Groups’ own movies. Now, his passion for storytelling and design quality has taken him into more of a leading role within the design organization, though he still loves to build whenever possible.
Ben Sharrock and Irune Gurtubai
MA Film 2012 and MFA Advanced Film Practice 2015
Writer and Director/Producer
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2022
Ben Sharrock and Irune Gurtubai are an award-winning writing, directing and producing team. They first met at Edinburgh Napier and have gone to receive multiple accolades including Scottish BAFTAs, a BIFA Breakthrough award and BAFTA New Talent awards.
Learn more about Ben and Irune
Hannah Starkey
BA Photography 1994
Photographer
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019
Mike Wilkinson
BA Photography 1987
Editorial Photographer
Inducted into the SACI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019
Mike is a professional editorial photographer based in Scotland.
Over a 30 year period, he has gained extensive experience of working in the national media and corporate sector.
He is a former chief photographer with The Herald newspaper and photographer with The Sunday Times. His work has also regularly featured in publications such as The Times, The Scotsman, The Financial Times and New York’s Bloomberg News. Mike has covered many important UK events such as the Lockerbie air disaster, the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and many general elections and sporting occasions.
In more recent years Mike has specialised in creating photographs for a variety of prestigious international corporate clients for use in marketing campaigns, annual reports, magazines, international newspapers and online