Top of the creative league for UCLan professor

Ben Casey heads the number one design consultancy in UK

A University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) professor’s design agency is top-of-the-league when it comes to creativity.

Leading trade publication Design Week Magazine has named The Chase, a design consultancy headed up by Ben Casey, as number one in their Annual Creative League Table.

The Design Week Creative Survey is an annual ranking of consultancies across all design sectors and is based on the number of award wins in major peer reviewed competitions throughout Europe and USA.

“It’s always been our ambition and to be top in a country which is regarded as a creative hotspot in the world makes this even more of an outstanding achievement”

As well as overall number one, The Chase has been ranked top in the individual categories of Branding and Print.

The Professor of Visual Communication in the School of Art Design and Performance, said: “For the last decade we have been consistently ranked in the top six, but this is the first time we have been at number one. It’s always been our ambition and to be top in a country which is regarded as a creative hotspot in the world, makes this even more of an outstanding achievement.”

Among The Chase’s award winning work are a calendar for BBC Wildlife, packaging for Royal Mail and a promotion for Hewlett Packard.

“The duality of my roles as Professor and creative director means in addition to my extensive knowledge and experience of teaching design, ongoing commercial design practice keeps me in touch with the world of business, employment and enterprise”

The Chase was set up by Ben in Manchester 27 years ago and now also has offices in London and Preston. More than half of its design staff are graduates of UCLan where Ben continues to teach on the BA(Hons) Graphic Design course.

He said: “The duality of my roles as Professor and creative director of a very successful and highly respected design consultancy means that in addition to my extensive knowledge and experience of teaching design, ongoing commercial design practice keeps me in touch with the world of business, employment and enterprise.”

In September 2012 he curated ‘Once in Every’, an exhibition timed to coincide with Preston Guild. It featured the current professional work of outstanding UCLan alumni and confirmed the School’s ability to equip graduates with the necessary skills to succeed in the creative industries: a sector which has become a significant contributor to the British economy.