Sara Jamshidi is a designer and creative strategist holding an MA in visual communication from the Royal College of Art. With a practice around participation and collaboration, she is currently redefining the work experience within enterprises as design principal at ZENDA

Sara is a research-based designer with a practice that spans between the realms of complex databases and visual communication, using human centered methodologies. With her expertise in leading teams of designers and researchers, she is currently helping teams of business, technology, and design in navigating complex business and regulatory requirements through designing processes and products.    



Independent Iranian Stamp Committee commemorates events, people and humanitarian campaigns that are neglected and banned by the Iranian government.


She was previously Director of Undergraduate Studies and assistant professor of Graphic Design at Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, at George Washington University.



Before attending RCA, Sara worked at Design Observer, where she was senior designer working on editorial and commissioned projects as well as contributing to the website as a writer including for her column, The Observers. She also served on the editorial board of Neshan magazine, program director for AIGA Connecticut, selection committee for AIGA DC’s Fellow Award. She is currently mentors at Alphabette, and is on the scholarship committe for Iranian American Academics and Professionals (IAAP).    


Sara has taught editorial design as adjunct faculty at Maryland Institute College or Art—MICA, where she was also a visiting crit for the students’ thesis class in the MA program. She was previously senior designer at Top Shelf Design, a boutique marketing and design studio in Washington DC.

She has conducted workshops in the UK and US at the RCA and other universities and schools focusing on combining graphic design and collaborative approaches with social methods of learning. 








Education
Royal College of Art
MA Visual Communication 
2018

Central Saint Martins Study Abroad
2013

University of Connecticut
BFA Communication Design
2013

Shahid Beheshti University

BSc Biology
2008
Experience
Zenda
Design Principal

2021-Present

Corcoran School of the Arts & Design—George Washington University
Director of Undergraduate Studies—Graphic Design
2019-2021

Top Shelf Design
Senior Graphic Designer 
2019

Royal College of Art
Student assistant to archives and collections manager
2016–18

Design Observer

Senior designer
2013–16

AIGA Connecticut

Programming Director
2014–16
Teaching
Corcoran School of the Arts & Design—George Washington University
Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies of Graphic Design, 2019–2021 

Maryland Institute College of Art
Adjunct Professor, Graphic Design
2018

Royal College of Art
Project Leader
AcrossRCA, Encounters with Collections
2018 University of Connecticut
Teaching Assistant
Book design with Daphne Geismar, 2015; Design Center, 2014
Workshops
GoLocal
Hove Park School in collaboration with RCA Visual Communication and Global Innovation Design,
2018

Design and Democracy
Royal College of Art, RCA Visual Communication and Sandberg Institute collaboration,
2017

10x10 Letterpress workshop
AIGA CT and University of Connecticut collaboration,
2015


Sara’s work has been exhibited internationally at Dubai Design Week, Typographic Singularity in London, and AIGA 50 Books 50 Covers in New York, among other exhibitions. Sara has received several scholarships including AIGA CT creative scholarship and was shortlisted for Art Directors Club’s Young Guns in 2016. She was awarded a grant by Magic of Persia foundation to develop her MA final project about Iranian stamps—Project M.




Analytical study of every official Iranian stamp printed after the  1979 Islamic revolution

For more information and to discuss a collaboration please contact Sara at sara.jamshidi@gmail.comMore of her commissioned work is also available on her studio’s website, Concept—Practice.



Exhibitions
Royal College of Art Graduate Exhibition,
London, 2018

Typographic Singularity—RCA, London
2017, 2018

Graphics RCA 50 Years and Beyond,
Dubai Design Week, Dubai
2018

AcrossRCA Exhibition, RCA
London 
2018
Awards
Magic of Persia Foundation
Project M, 2018

Varley Memorial Award
developing GraphicsRCA Archive, 2018

50 Books | 50 Covers 
Winner for book and cover design, 2017

Art Directors Club Young Guns Shortlisted, 2016
Selected Collaborations through independent practice
Magic of Persia Foundation
Royal College of Art
Neshan Magazine
Daphne Geismar
American Institute of Graphic Arts, Connecticut Chapter
Hove Park School
Union Square Dental Practice
University of Connecticut
Yale School of Drama Annual Magazine
Selected Collaborations
through studio projects

Yale University School of Management
New York Times
Hotchkiss School
Watson Foundation The Association for Constrction Workers Georgetown University University of Maryland
The Wine and Spirits Association of America
Institute for State Effectiveness




Mark