Raffles International Admissions Thailand

Paulo Moreira
Programme Director
(Visual Communication)

Over the past eighteen years Paulo has worked as a video artist, fashion designer and graphic designer. His video art has won several awards at the International Art Biennial of Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal, for the controversial video One Time, One Place and as part of the performance and intervention group Terceira Ordem. On top of that his work was showcased at numerous international events such as the International Film Festival of Figueira da Foz and Panico Total at the Institut Francais. He has produced several fashion videos for Etiqueta’s Spring-Summer collection and World Apart’s Autumn-Winter collection featuring funk band Black Out. He was also instrumental in the launch of the street clothing brand Metal Puro for which he worked as the Head of Design before moving to UK.

After a stint in advertising as Art Director, he worked both freelance and full-time for a variety of clients such as the BBC, Design Week, Budweiser and HP, before co-founding award-winning company Bunch (London) where he was Creative Director until 2001.

He holds a BA (Hons) in Graphic & Media Design from the University of the Arts, London College of Printing (now the LCC) and a Major in Information Design and an HND in Graphic Design from the Camberwell College of the Arts.

He is currently creative partner for Bunch Design London and Bunch Design Zagreb, Croatia and has recently published Made in Bunch, the second chapter in the developing body of work of this design collective. This book was launched simultaneously in 3 cities (London, Zagreb and Singapore) and features selected projects/case studies that demonstrate their collaborative nature and the way they’ve explored, played, torn apart and reconstructed their various visual and intellectual influences.

He lectures in Diploma and Degree programmes in Singapore at the Raffles Design Institute and has been involved in the co-ordination and delivery of BA Honours Degrees from the Middlesex University, Northumbria University and currently Raffles College of Design & Commerce. He has also taken the role of Campus Degree Coordinator for RDI Singapore until the appointment of the current Academic Director. Under his guidance students have won a series of awards such as the Crowbars, FutureBrand's Future Talent Awards and international recognition in the D&AD Student Awards and book.

Bernard Walker
Senior Lecturer
(Visual Communication)

Born in the USA, Buz Walker is a visual artist with a degree from Chicago’s American Academy of Art. He was a graphic designer & illustrator for 21 years in California. Since 1995, Buz has lived in Southeast Asia where he has worked as a designer/illustrator in Indonesia and Singapore, and as an art & design lecturer at private art colleges in Malaysia.

Buz is active with Singapore figure drawing groups, and has shown his art in local fine art gallery exhibitions.

Kevin Mark Barrios
Programme Coordinator
(Visual Communication)

Having studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, as a prelude to a career in graphic design, Kevin had intensive fine art training; exhibiting several paintings and illustrations in galleries throughout New Orleans, as well as in Singapore. During his studies Kevin started a record label and production company – Flashburn Records, for which he released records, booked tours for bands and brought bands to New Orleans for gigs. Kevin also served as art director and designer for the label. During this time he began working as a draftsman for Houma Industries where he was responsible for creating technical drawings, photographing the construction process and designing ads and other promotional materials.

After returning to school to get a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication, he worked briefly as a copywriter and freelance writer for Designer Magazine. He believes that growing up in the underground music scene and skateboard culture has not only influenced who he is as a person, but also who he is as a designer and artist.

Kenji Choo
Lecturer
(Visual Communication)

Kenji joined Raffles Design Institute in June 2008. Prior to that, over the last 22 years, Kenji has worked as an Art Director and Design Production Manager in the packaging, design, advertising, publishing and printing industries.

Kenji trained in the field of packaging design in Kyushu, Japan in 1991 and, after his return, spent seven years working as an art director in a packaging design company here in Singapore, followed by a further seven years lecturing in a design college. In 2003, Kenji went back to school and received a Master Degree in Design from Curtin University of Technology. After his stint in design, he worked as a senior art director cum design production manager and led a team of 47 staff at Yellow Pages.

Besides his experience in design, he is also a print consultant and has in-depth knowledge of print management, color management and print production. Kenji believes that every student has the potential to be a good designer if they have the right attitude and aptitude.

Mohamed Rizwan
Lecturer
(Visual Communication)

Born and brought up in Tanzania, East Africa, Rizwan brings with him a rich international background that encompasses a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Communication, an Advanced Diploma in Visual Arts from Cambrian College, Canada, and secondary schooling in Africa and India. During his studies, Rizwan was nominated for the Cub Designer of the Year 2005 award by the Commercial Art Guild of India and was also the winner of the Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA) 2007 tagline contest.

Rizwan is a graphic arts professional with a vast array of design experience. He has worked with various brand name clients on various print and digital media projects targeting a wide spectrum of audiences. In these projects, in addition to his responsibilities as a designer, he also assumed leadership roles in ensuring timeliness and quality of deliverables to clients. These clients include Fusionopolis, Domicil, Ion Exchange, makemytrip.com, and Cipla among others.

In particular, Rizwan is passionate about corporate branding, marketing collateral design and photography. His design philosophy is inspired by an unlikely duo of icons: Gandhi and Google. They both embody high concepts in simple communications.

Apart from his professional interests, Rizwan is an avid marathon runner, a certified Black Belt degree karate instructor from the Academy of Indian Martial Arts, and an enthusiastic Latin dancer. He also enjoys traveling and experiencing new cultures.