Designer, Consultant and Researcher

With over 17 years as a designer, educator, and researcher, my work spans professional practice, teaching, and scholarly inquiry. I am interested in how creative methods reveal social and cultural realities that conventional frameworks often overlook.

Portrait of Anwer Ali

01 — About

Hello World!

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art & Design at COMSATS University Islamabad, where I teach undergraduate studio courses and supervise final-year projects. My research and practice explore the intersection of design, technology, and society. With degrees in Communication Design and Art Education, I bring over a decade of experience across professional practice and higher education. Previously, I served as a Lecturer in Visual Communication Design at FADFA, University of Gujrat.

My research spans design pedagogy, generative AI, visual communication, and cultural inquiry, with published work examining reflective practice, expressive typography, and the interplay of memory and making. As a practitioner, I am committed to problem-solving through design, and my expertise in brand identity is supported by a diverse portfolio of client work.

02 — Research

Writing & publications

My design and artistic research moves between memory, qualitative methodology, and pedagogy, usually anchored to one small, specific unit, such as an event, a place, or an act that carries a larger argument.

LearnXDesign 2023 Proceedings — Futures of Design Education · Design Research Society, March 2024

Urdu Expressive Lettering

On the nuqta and other marks of the Urdu writing system as a resource for expressive, pedagogically grounded typography.

03 — Reflections

Reflections

True growth requires an honest, ongoing look inward. I treat reflection as a core tool in my toolkit, using past experiences to shape smarter, more intentional design choices moving forward. It’s a practice that defines my work as a designer, my curiosity as a learner, and my empathy as a human being.

05 — Recognition

Shows and Talks

  • 2025 Exhibited in the VCD International Poster Exhibition, NCA Triennale, Lahore
  • 2025 Nuqta 2025 Calligraphy Exhibition, COMSATS Art Gallery, Islamabad
  • 2024 The Present of a Past, Art as Research. Methods for Synthetic Reasoning, Faculty of Creative Media (MMU), Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
  • 2022 Guest speaker on reflective practice, Pedagogy for Change symposium, Department of Architecture, UET Lahore.
  • 2022 Memory & Making, Spatial Childhood Activities in Skardu at the HOME Symposium, University of Gloucestershire, UK
  • 2018 Poster Design finalist at the 2nd Nazareh Festival of Art & Culture, Tehran, Iran

Peer reviewer for Reflective Practice (Taylor & Francis), Cumulus Nantes 2025, LearnXDesign 2023, IASDR Congress 2023 and NODES 2023.

06 — Contact

Get in touch

Open to design consultation, research collaboration, speaking invitations, and peer review.