PhDs in Europe: Students

Ana Catarina Silva is a teacher and researcher. She holds a PhD in Sciences and Technologies of Communication from the University of Porto in Portugal, her thesis focusing on the design of the technical book in a hybrid editorial context. Her research projects address a variety of fields and their borders, from hybrid editions to independent publishing, typography, and illustration. Books (and their forms) are Silva’s passion. Since 2007, she has taught typography in editorial and design projects for undergraduate and graduate degree programs in graphic design and digital design at the Escola Superior de Design at the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA) in Barcelos. Silva is also a research member of CAOS (Communication, Art, Object, and Synergies)/ID+ (the Research Institute for Design, Media, and Culture) and a member of the Design Obs, a Portuguese design observatory.

Borna is a typeface designer and researcher based in London. He holds an MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading and an MA in Graphic Design from the London College of Communication. He is the designer of award-winning typefaces Lida and Lalezar, and more recently, Markazi Text which he co-designed together with Fiona Ross and Florian Runge.

He is currently undertaking PhD research at the University of Reading. This research project is supervised by Gerry Leonidas and Fiona Ross and funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under the auspices of the Design Star Doctoral Training Centre.

Sahar Afshar is a type designer and researcher from Iran. Her interest in typography during her years as a student at the University of Tehran led her to the University of Reading, UK, from which she holds an MA by Research in Typography and Graphic Communication. Afshar is currently based in London, where she works as a font developer at Dalton Maag Ltd. and undertakes research as part of her PhD on the print history of the Punjab region. As a member of the Centre for Print History and Culture, Afshar also helps to manage events and publications with a focus on the printing of various writing systems of the world.