My friend David Crow, who has died aged 60 from a lung infection, was a designer who worked on record cover designs for artists such as Yes, Salif Keita and the Rolling Stones. Later he moved into teaching graphic design and then senior administrative roles at institutions including Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Arts London.
David was born in Galashiels, in the Scottish Borders, to George, a builder, and Rachel (nee Dodds), a nurse. After schooling at Galashiels academy he took a degree in communication media design at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University). We met in 1983 when David became a student intern at Assorted iMaGes in London, a graphic design company I had set up in 1977.
David’s exceptional talent meant he was the only student we ever offered a job before graduation, and after getting his degree he joined us full-time in 1985 as a junior designer. In that role he helped to design record covers for Yes and the Duran Duran offshoot band Arcadia, among others.
He left Assorted iMaGes in 1989 to become art director at Island Records, where he designed record sleeves for Aswad, Jah Shaka and Salif Keita. After only a year in that position he set up his own freelance graphic design studio with a fellow ex-Assorted iMaGes designer. Garry Mouat, and together they produced the sleeve for the Rolling Stones Flashpoint LP in 1991.
With an enduring passion for encouraging talent in others, David then turned to teaching, and in 1993 closed his studio to become a lecturer, first at the University of Salford and then, in 1995, at Liverpool John Moores University, where he was head of the department of graphic arts.
In 2004 he headed back to his alma mater, Manchester Metropolitan. It was there that his quietly confident, softly spoken manner really made a mark, and he rose rapidly – almost reluctantly at times – from lecturer to dean (in 2010) and then pro-vice-chancellor.
One of his lasting legacies there was the creation of the Benzie building. Opened in 2013, with David taking care to involve staff and students in its design, it is a visionary home for interdisciplinary and collaborative learning.
In 2016 David moved to London to become pro-vice chancellor and head of Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Colleges of Art, which are part of University of the Arts London, and set about reshaping them. Earlier this year he became pro vice-chancellor for UAL’s new programme of online learning.
David was a generous and influential person, a man of principle who was loved and respected by everyone whose life he touched.
He is survived by his partner, Karen Ingram, and four children – Drew, from his first marriage, to Sarah Fanthorpe, which ended in divorce, and George, Alisa and Martha, from his marriage to Wendy Pennington, from whom he had separated – and by his mother and his siblings, Janette and George.
• This article was amended on 11 August 2022 to correct family details omitted in the editing process.
