Sebastian Conran

Sebastian Orby Conran, FRCA, FCSD, FioP, D&AD, FRSA

Born on April 5th 1956, Hyde Park Corner, London.

Managing Director, Studio Conran.

Early Life & Education

After gaining Maths Physics & Chemistry ‘A’ levels at school, he studied Industrial Design Engineering at Central College of Art & Design: he was treasurer of the Student Union and student representative on the Governing Council, when he gave the Sex Pistols their first-ever booking. Subsequently he worked with the Clash, designing record sleeves, promotional material, posters, T shirts and clothing.

Work

In 1978 Sebastian worked at Wolff Olins, a leading corporate and brand identity consultancy, where he was given creative responsibility for key corporate accounts.

Sebastian became head of product design at mothercare in 1981, a collaboration that transformed the appearance and performance of childcare equipment.

In 1986 he started “Sebastian Conran Associates”, a product and brand development consultancy that worked with a variety of international businesses to develop healthcare & consumer goods, industrial design, and luxury goods. 1992 Sebastian started a separate design & manufacturing partnership with designer Tom Dixon.

In 1999 SCA merged with the Conran Group to form Conran & Partners, which has almost 100 employees working in architecture, interiors, product & graphic design.

Studio Conran is the Brand & Merchandise development division of the Conran Group managed by Sebastian.

He has written several books, articles and papers on design: he has taught furniture design at the Royal College of Art, he lectures frequently and judges many international design awards [D&AD, Design Week, Red Dot, RSA, etc.

An active member of many bodies, he is, among others, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art, Fellow of Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the Institute of Packaging and Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers. Ambassador for the children’s education charity, ICAN and the anti copying in design lobby group ACID and a participant in the Sorrel Foundation’s Joinedupdesign for Schools initiative;

Trustee of D&AD – the international creative organisation based in LondonTrustee of the Conran Foundation the principal funders of the Design MuseumFounding Trustee of the Design Museum and member of the Design Museum’s Design Circle; Leader of Home Office’s ‘Design & Technology Alliance’ – a body with the objective of tackling crime through design in close collaboration with the Design Council.

Family

Sebastian is the son of British designer Sir Terence Conran and bestselling author Shirley Conran.