Mathew Kurien is a design educator, practitioner, and mentor with over 20+ years of experience across communication design, visual strategy, museum studies, and design education. He played a pivotal role in developing the Graphic / Communication Design department at MIT Institute of Design, serving as Head of Department for nine years before recently stepping down to pursue his PhD. During this period, he helped shape the department into one of its most evolved forms, earning a reputation for producing some of the finest communication designers in the country with international relevance. His teaching methodology is known for combining rigorous design drills with radically open-ended creative briefs, enabling students to build both discipline and originality.

With an academic foundation in Applied Arts and a Master’s degree in Museum Studies, Mathew’s approach to design is deeply informed by narrative, context, and cultural understanding. His early work as a museum specialist continues to influence how he frames design, not merely as problem-solving, but as meaning-making grounded in human experience.

His professional journey includes leading and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams at Dorling Kindersley, Ernst & Young, and ITC (Classmate), where he contributed to educational publishing, brand communication, and visual systems. His work spans projects for Apple Sales India, United Colors of Benetton, and public initiatives such as murals for the Ministry of Environment.

As an educator and mentor, Mathew champions studio-based, experiential learning, emphasising observation, iteration, prototyping, and reflection. He contributes to the design community as a mentor and jury member for platforms including the A’ Design Award & Competition, Global Footwear Awards, and the FICCI Book Design and Production Awards. A recipient of the CII Design Excellence Award for his book Style of India, he continues to advocate for empathetic, intuitive, and human-centred design through lifelong learning and practice