CRAIG JEFFCOTT

Phd MA MSc

RESEARCHER + DESIGNER

I am a transdisciplinary designer and researcher from Scotland, based in Portugal. My work combines speculative design, storytelling and play, service design, and participatory research to help organisations and communities imagine and create more sustainable, equitable futures.

ABOUT ME

GET IN TOUCH

craig@unrealcities.pt

EDUCATION

PhD Design with Distinction Cum Laude
2026 | IADE / Universidade Europeia

MA Interaction Design with Merit
2016 | Goldsmiths, University of London

MSc Learning Technologies
2012 | Birkbeck, University of London

MSc Science, Culture and Communication
2006 | University of Bath

MSc(MedSci) Medical Genetics
2005 | University of Glasgow

BMedSci Dental Sciences
2004 | University of Glasgow

BSc(DentSci) Pharmacology
2003 | University of Glasgow

ROLES

Creative Director
2021-Present | Unreal Cities Studio

Experience Designer
2018-2020 | Institute of Cancer Research

Instructional Designer
2011-2018 | Institute of Cancer Research

New Media Development Officer
2006-2011 | Institute of Cancer Research

TRAINING

Graphic Design | Central St Martin's | 60 hours

Typograpy for InDesign | Media Training | 1 day

Drawing | City Lit | 30 hours

Agile UX | Nielsen Norman | 1 day

User Interface Principles | Nielsen Norman | 1 day

User Experience Toolkit | User Focus | 2 days

Making an Impact | RADA | 1 dayn

MY RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Community engagement through speculative design

  • Research through design and creative practice

  • Games and storytelling as methods for participation and inquiry

  • Service and learning design in health and biomedical contexts

  • Participatory and community-led design

  • More-than-human and ecological relations in design

  • Queer ecology and queer futures

  • Biodiverse futures and ecological transition

  • Speculation, fabulation, and design fiction

  • Collaborative and liveable futures

  • Convivial heterotopias and concrete utopias

  • Transitional design and socio-technical change

  • Weird futures and alternative imaginaries

  • Design for deep time

DESIGN COMPETENCIES

  • design research

  • speculative and critical design

  • game design

  • interaction and UX design

  • service design

  • instructional design

  • graphic design and branding

DOMAIN EXPERTISE

  • biomedical sciences

    • cancer biology

    • genetics

    • pharmacology

    • human medicine

    • dental science

  • science and technology studies

  • science communication and cultural studies

  • learning technologies

  • community biodiversity activism