Our Faculty

Carley Hodgkinson

Carley has chaired and taught in the Graphic Design for Marketing program since 2017. Prior to teaching at KPU, Carley taught as a sessional instructor in the Bachelor of Communication Design degree program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design from 2005 to 2014, and as a guest teacher at both the inaugural Satellite Summer Institute for Teens at UNBC in Prince George and in NSCAD’s Master of Design summer intensives series. She holds a BSc with Specialization in Genetics from the University of Alberta (1997), a BDes in Communication Design (Emily Carr, 2002) and an MDes degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art + Design (2012).  

Carley has worked as an agency designer at both Kaldor and Signals studios, worked inhouse at Adbusters, Vancouver Film School and Emily Carr University, and ran her own graphic design business, with clients ranging from Artspeak, the Contemporary Art Gallery and SFU Galleries, to BC Hydro, Vancouver Opera and the Vancouver Public Library Foundation. She has a deep love for book design and classical typography, and brings this passion to the classroom. Carley’s Masters work, Designing for Experience: Socio-Technological Installation in Transitional Public Space, opened up new interests in public spaces, experience design, and urban planning, with participation in social practice exhibits in Halifax, Lisbon and Vancouver. Prior to returning to teaching full time, Carley moved from pure print design into user experience design, working as a senior visual designer at SAP on business intelligence software and big data collection. She brings her expertise in UX and UI design to the GDMA program. 

Erin Ashenhurst

Erin has taught history, culture studies, and studio courses at the Wilson School of Design since 2010. Taking a student-centered approach, she promotes visual literacy, conceptual development, and above all, critical thinking. With a background in editorial art direction and interactive design, she holds a BFA in Visual Art (Simon Fraser University), a certificate in Publishing (Columbia University), and an MA in Interactive Arts and Technology (SFU). Parts of her thesis, Snap/Shot: Identity, Memory, and the Digital Mediation of Experience, were researched while an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre.

Exploring frameworks of narrative, Erin’s interdisciplinary research focuses on themes including urban living and the built environment, celebrity, film, and memory. Her academic work has been presented at IDMAA: Digital Narrative (Vancouver, 2010), ACM SIGGRAPH Asia (Seoul, 2010), ISEA 2011 (Istanbul, 2011), The Inter-Disciplinary Network’s Monstrous Geographies I (Oxford, 2012) and Monstrous Geographies 2 (Prague, 2013), and Canadian Culinary Imaginations (Vancouver 2016). Her chapter on the depiction of the city in the television show The Real Housewives of Vancouver was published in The Fantasy of Reality, a book of critical essays.

John Belisle

Previous to joining KPU, John worked as a Senior Designer and Creative Director at Signals Design Vancouver, which was named by Applied Arts as one of Canada’s top 25 design agencies under his direction.  

His work has garnered multiple design awards in Canada and around the world. John brings a strong brand, campaign, and illustration background to his teaching approach at the Wilson School of Design. John’s work includes the Bid books for the 2010 Olympics, over 25 stamps for Canada Post, 50+ brand identities and campaigns for organizations in Canada and around the world, as well as several children’s and coffee table books. Last year John was asked to design and illustrate The Tragically Hip farewell Vancouver poster.  

John’s teachings are guided by his professional experience in brand, editorial and advertising design from working with clients including: The UN, The Open Society New York, The City of Vancouver, The Vancouver Board of Trade, The NHL, St.Paul’s Hospital Foundation, Kodak, The Vancouver Foundation, BCIT, SFU, UBC Faculty of Medicine, The Port of Vancouver, Vancouver Opera, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, Fraser Health, VGH, The British Properties, Clean Energy Canada, The BC Cancer Agency, Canada Post, The First Nations Health Authority, The BC Nurses Union, Business in Vancouver and The Globe and Mail.  

Michael Cober

A Wilson School of Design instructor since 2018, Michael’s diverse experience and thoughtful approach influences his desire to elevate the value and impact of design. As a design educator, Michael encourages his students to apply their skills to difficult problems, to develop design solutions that create value and to have a positive impact on the world. 

With over 25 years of experience, Michael has been applying his expertise in strategy and interactive design to help clients build valuable online experiences, achieve business objectives and reach brand potential. Working in agencies, Mike has developed interactive assets for the BC Government, BC Hydro, ICBC and EA Sports. In his own practice, Michael has focused on Vancouver’s action sports industry — leading and collaborating with clients that include Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Arc’teryx Equipment, Mountain Equipment Co-op, BARE Wetsuits, OXD, HCMA Architecture + Design, and the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association. A CDP™ Certified member of the Design Professionals of Canada, Michael has served on the national executive as VP Certification working on the development and implementation of an inclusive and comprehensive professional certification system. 

Matt Heximer

Matt Heximer is a graduate of the Visual Communication programme at Grant MacEwan University (Edmonton), and the Design Division at Emily Carr University of Art and Design (Vancouver). Matt has held senior design and freelance positions at various prominent design and advertising firms in Vancouver. In 2002, he  established his own design consultancy (with business partner Susan Lepard), and has designed everything from beer  packaging to museum exhibits. His work has been showcased in multiple publications and he’s received numerous design awards. 

Matt has been a guest lecturer on design at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Langara College, Capilano University, and Douglas College. He joined the faculty of Design at KPU’s Wilson School of Design in 2021, where he enthusiastically shares his knowledge of Marketing Communication Design. Matt also regularly leads Typeface Design workshops, and his typeface designs have been showcased in multiple publications. Matt enjoys apple fritters, playing guitar, and is a walking encyclopedia of useless comic book trivia. Despite being colour blind and missing half a finger, he can still cobble together a decent logo.

Marga Lopez CDP

With more than 20 years of national and international design experience with both global industry leaders and start-up companies, Marga’s extensive experience in corporate, consumer and experiential design arenas has allowed her to work with several corporations and institutions such as Danone, Procter and Gamble, Grupo Modelo (Corona Beer), Sony, American Express, ICBC, BC Hydro, Vancity, ECAD, BC Transplant, BC Housing, Vancouver Aquarium and Jewish Museum and Archives of BC.

Marga brings her experience in communication design; strategic brand communications; editorial design and print production; as well as exhibit design and project management. 

Fluent in both Spanish and English, Marga’s work has been recognized by the Mercomm ARC Awards, the IABC Bronze Quill, as well as the NAIC Nicholson Awards, and Mexico’s Premio Quorum. She is currently the National President of DesCan (Design Professionals of Canada) and volunteers as Partnership coordinator to CreativeMornings Vancouver.