Like many graduates, Chelsea Sheridan decided to go travelling after taking her BA in Graphic and Media Design at London College of Communication. Having spent time in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, and then working for a year in Australia, she returned to London and is now about to join the design team at Leisurejobs.
Chelsea Sheridan
Why did you decide to go to LCC?
I knew from the start I wanted to go to UAL. Chelsea, St. Martins and the other colleges have such a great reputation and since I wanted to do graphic design, LCC seemed the right fit for me. I did my foundation year there, then specialised in Graphic Design in the second and third years of my degree course.
What did you enjoy most about your course?
I’m very much a hands-on person so I was a bit worried that I might be permanently in front of a computer screen, but I was pleasantly surprised. We were really encouraged to be creative off the screen as well as on, so, for example, I got to spend a lot a lot of time in the screen printing room. There was so much opportunity to do things; to create rather than just print something off.
What were you most proud of during your time there?
I was really proud of my last major project, at the end of Year 3. I probably worked harder on that than anything else I’d done, as it went into our degree show. Again, I actually made something rather than printing it off. I created a home screen printing kit and, at the viewing of our work, I hand screen-printed my business cards as I distributed them.
Did you find your degree an asset when you left college?
Yes. Not just my degree but the whole UAL experience. You come away from University a different person; more independent and more rounded in every way. When I came back from Australia I just looked for any job, really, to get some money together. I got an admin job at Leisure People, but when they saw I had a design degree they encouraged me to help out our online team with some graphic design work. That went very well, so I’m about to move over to the design side full time. I really enjoy the job here and they’ve gone to a lot of trouble to find out what my strengths are and to make use of them.
Have you got any advice to someone considering doing your course at the LCC?
Do it, you’ll love it. Just make sure to take the time to consider what you really want to do; don’t think you have to do what’s expected of you or what other people are doing. With my skill set I initially thought about doing Fine Art or Surface Design, but I’m glad I settled on Graphic and Media Design. It’s worked out really well for me.
Find out more about the courses offered at London College of Communication here.