Rate My Professor Maria Lonsdale

Professor Maria Lonsdale is Professor of Information and Communication Design and Head of the School of Design at the University of Leeds, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, serving in the latter role from 2020 to 2026. She earned a Licenciatura in Visual Communication from ESAD, Matosinhos, Portugal, in 1996, and a PhD from the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication at the University of Reading, UK, in 2006. Lonsdale began her career as a design practitioner in 1996, establishing her own design studio in partnership, and has taught design theory, practice, and research methods for design in higher education in Portugal and the UK since 1997. She joined the University of Leeds School of Design in January 2015. She founded the Professional Academy for Creative Enterprise (PACE), directing it until 2026, delivering innovative professional education, creative production, and consultancy worldwide. Lonsdale co-founded a consortium with the University of Leeds, University of Cincinnati, and North Carolina State University to publish the international peer-reviewed journal Visible Language. She serves as Academic Advisor for Luto, a global health communications and testing company.

Her interdisciplinary research focuses on information design, typographic design, visual communication design, and information visualisation, using user-centred methods such as co-design, usability testing, and experimental studies to enhance user performance and wellbeing across healthcare, national and global security, and education. Key interests include design to inform and instruct, design for healthcare communication, security information handling, educational materials, reading strategies, and participatory design. Notable publications include her book Information Visualisation: From Theory, To Research, To Practice and Back; 'Enhancing bowel cancer surgery recovery through information design' (2020); 'Information design for bowel cancer detection' (2020); 'Visualizing the terror threat' (2019); and 'Digital Innovations for Occupational Safety: Empowering Workers in Hazardous Environments' (2024). With 483 citations, her work impacts the field. She was Editor-in-Chief of Information Design Journal (2020-2024) and Visible Language (2025), and reviews manuscripts for journals like She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, Journal of Eye Movement Research, and publishers including Sage, Routledge, and Bloomsbury. Honors include Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and Member of the International Society of Typographic Designers (MISTD).