about
I am a BAFTA scholarship winner and have an enthusiasm for emerging technology and hold a PhD in VR and animation and recently have been the concept artist for Outlander Season 7. I’m tenacious with learning new creative technology and I am proficient in 3D software tools including Maya; After Effects; Premiere Pro; AutoCAD; SketchUp; Photoshop; Adobe CC and Unreal Engine 5.
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I am best known for inventiveness and synthesis of ideas, but I am equally adept at getting projects over the line, on time and in budget. I’m driven by being part of dynamic collaborations and forward-thinking teams and solving highly creative and technically complex problems.
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I began in the art departments for the feature film ‘Judge Dredd’ and in TV on ‘Pie in the Sky 3’. Whilst raising my family I worked as a freelance designer on productions for BBC Bristol and Screen South and designed architectural interiors for luxury hospitality portfolios including HandPicked Hotels, Alexander House, Wagamama, ZeroDegrees Micro-Breweries and multi-million pound health spas for Utopia Leisure.
I have a tenacity to keep pace with technological advances, and in 2022 gained a PhD in VR.
featured &
awards
Masters Prize: Animation & VFX, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design 2017
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Odd Shoe - Nominated for Best Short, Chicago International Film Festival 2008
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Design feature - Kent Life Magazine 2004
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Design feature - Sleeper Magazine 2004
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Design feature - Theme Magazine 2000
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Design feature - The Right Angle Magazine 2000
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Radio Panellist - Ideal Home Show 2000
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Finalist - Young Designer of the Year - BBC Homefront 1998
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Shaman - British Short Film & World Festival, Houston 1995
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BAFTA Scholarship - Post-Office & National Film & Television School 1991
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published
Design Journal
McSwan, A. (2021) 'Exploring Animation and Virtual Reality to Represent the Perceptual-Experiences of Art-Practitioners with Sight-Loss', The Design Journal, 24(2), pp. 315-324.
Alternate, Virtual and Augmented Realities Conference 2021
McSwan, A. (2021) 'Exploring Animation and Virtual Reality to Represent the Perceptual-Experiences of Art-Practitioners with Sight-Loss'. Online presentation at PG/ECR Alternate, Virtual, and Augmented Realities Conference 2021. Institute of Medical Humanities. Durham University: Durham.
DRHA 2020
McSwan, A. (2020) 'Exploring Animation and Virtual Reality to Represent the Perceptual-Experiences of Art-Practitioners with Sight-Loss'. Online presentation at Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts (DRHA 2020) Conference 2020. University of Salford: Manchester.