Neville Brody plans name change for Royal College of Art department

Neville Brody, incoming head of the Royal College of Art’s Department of Communication Art and Design, has announced plans to rename it the Department of Visual Communications and Moving Image.

Brody, speaking at an event at the Victoria & Albert Museum on Friday night, said the move aims to shift emphasis away from traditional graphic design, to encompass digital media and other disciplines. He says, ‘It’s to do with transmedia. As well as this, organisations such as the BBC, the British Museum, Tate and others are all now digitising their archives, so there is so much information there.’

He adds, ‘In the same way that the Industrial Revolution wasn’t the steam revolution, [what we’re going through at the moment] isn’t a digital revolution but a knowledge revolution.’

A spokeswoman for the RCA says any name change is an aspiration at this stage and plans have not been finalised by the college. Brody will take on his new role at the beginning of next year.

Speaking on Friday night, Brody also announced an intention to set up an ‘Alternative Arts Council’ which would aim to channel corporate funding into UK arts initiatives and plug the gap left by cuts to Arts Council England. ACE is facing budget cuts of £100m over the next four years following the Comprehensive Spending Review last month.

Brody says he is also seeking a permanent venue for the Anti Design Festival, which was held for the first time in September as part of the London Design Festival.

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