Liam Colquhoun

Education

• Master of Design (distinction) Communication Design, RMIT, Melbourne
• Bachelor of Arts, Interior Design, Napier University Scotland

Biography

Liam graduated from Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1994 with a BA degree in Interior Design, before moving to the United States to take a position with a small specialist entertainment design firm in Florida. In 1998 Liam began working with Baltimore architectural firm RTKL Associates in the cross-disciplinary Id8 Group. Working alongside designers and artists from many different fields and backgrounds on a vastly diverse range of projects from architectural design, retail and entertainment projects to illustration, storyboarding and other, more conceptual work, had an important impact on Liam's professional portfolio and areas of interest.

This interest in cross-disciplinary design, and in particular those ‘gray’ areas where illustration, graphic design and architecture meet, has influenced subsequent professional and academic work. Liam completed his Masters of Design degree in Communication Design from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2011.

Research Interests

The research topic currently being explored by Liam reflects his interest in the collaborative, cross -disciplinary approach to retail design. In particular, Liam and Matthew Holmes-Dallimore, explore the places, structures and objects we create that help facilitate simple transactions in different cultures. This enquiry, and student outcomes from projects derived from this research, became an exhibition called Retail without Walls: Kiosk Culture, at Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art in 2012.

Publications

• Souks to Super Malls: Retail Development in the Arabian Gulf
  GlobalShop, Sands Expo, Las Vegas NV, March 2009
  ‘Trade and retail has always played a definitive role in the countries bordering the Arabian Gulf, from the souks and bazaars of the past to state-of-the-art retail developments of today. The presentation is a look at the DNA of retail design in the region and asks how the modern malls fit into the cultural landscape of these emerging cities. What considerations are being made in the creation of these new environments and what is the meaning of cultural identity in such an international context?’ - from conference literature

Presentations

• IDEC 2015 Annual Conference, Fort Worth, TX, March 2015
  Fostering Effective Collaborative Partnerships in a Retail Design Studio
• NCBDS National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Houston TX, February 2015
  Technology as Facilitator: Digital Media, Fabrication + Cross-Cultural Connection
• HICAH 2015 International Conference of Arts and Humanities, Waikiki Village Hilton, HI, January 2015
  Mobile, Adf-Hoc, Impromtu Retail Structures
• IDEC 2013 Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, February 2013
  Creative Scholarship: Retail Without Walls, Presentation of Research
• IDEC 2013 Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, February 2013
  Pecha Kucha: Retail Without Walls, Process
• GlobalShop, Las Vegas NV, March 2009
  Souks and Super Malls: Retail Development in the Arabian Gulf

Exhibitions

• Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar, April 2012
  Retail Without Walls: Kiosk Culture