As we bring the year to a close, we’ve rounded up the 17 of the top stories from London College of Communication in 2017. From awards won by our diverse community of students and alumni to publications critically-acclaimed publications by our staff, it’s been a busy 12 months for LCC.
Check out some of the remarkable highlights below – including Grayson Perry visiting our Degree Shows, the thought-provoking exhibitions featured across 2017 and the multiple awards swept up by our students and alumni.
Here’s a collection of our top picks to wrap up the year…
1. MA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography Course Leader’s new book celebrates female photographers
MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography course leader Max Houghton, collaborated with a number of LCC graduates and students on her co-published new book – ‘Firecrackers: Female Photographers Now’. Celebrating a group of talented female photographers, the collection includes stories of human rights, love, loneliness, identity, political disappearance, self-harm, wonder and war.
Read more in our Q&A with Max.
2. MA Screenwriting student awarded BAFTA scholarship
John Garvey, MA Screenwriting student at LCC
John Garvey, MA Screenwriting student, won a prestigious screenwriting scholarship from BAFTA this year in recognition of his talent and potential – which saw him pair up with Peep Show and Fresh Meat screenwriter Sam Bain. As well as being awarded a financial grant, this gave John the opportunity to combine LCC’s world-class teaching and collaborative community with industry-insider knowledge.
Read our interview with John about the scholarship and life at LCC.
3. BA (Hons) Graphic & Media Design Senior Lecturer releases ‘The Visual History of Type’
The Visual History of Type by Paul McNeil.
Paul McNeil, Senior Lecturer on our BA (Hons) Graphic and Media Design course, unveiled ‘The Visual History of Type’ – a definitive survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing with movable type in the mid-fifteenth century to the present day.
Read our interview with Paul McNeil.
4. Announcing our Graduate Residency Programme with focus on diverse communities
We recently announced our pilot Graduate Residency Programme – supporting LCC graduates in the rapid development of innovative projects which have the potential for significant social or economic impact. Expect more news in 2018 on successful projects.
Find out about Graduate Residency Programme.
5. Photojournalism grad Marcus Drinkwater captures reality of refugee crisis from search and rescue vessel
Mediterranean Sea – May 18: Migrants are given life jackets by Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms sixteen miles off the coast of Libya.
BA (Hons) Photojournalism & Documentary Photography graduate Marcus Drinkwater documented a Spanish Search and Rescue vessel helping to rescue migrants off the coast of Libya. Marcus’ compelling work captured the people and places impacted over the course of a few months.
We got in touch with him for a Q&A.
6. LCC grad’s film receives global success
The Truants
Aaron Dunleavey, BA (Hons) Film Practice graduate, won 4 awards for his graduate short film ‘The Truants’, with the film also going on to receive a fantastic run on the festival circuit so far, with over 30 screenings around the world, multiple awards, praise from BAFTA award-winning director Shane Meadows and premiering at the prestigious 46th edition of the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.
Read more in our Q&A with Aaron.
7. Fastnet Film Best Documentary Award won by LCC grad
LCC Hanna Aqvilin won the Best Documentary award at Fastnet Film Festival 2017 for her portrait documentary about Fay Presto, one of London’s legendary magicians.
We interviewed Hanna to find out more.
8. MA Photography graduate recognised in Magnum Photography Award win
Ellie Davies, a graduate of LCC’s MA Photography course, won a Magnum Photography Award for her series ‘Stars, 2014-2015’. The series, which won in the Fine Art Single Image category, explores Ellie’s desire to seek balance between a relationship with the wild places of her youth and a pervasive sense of disconnectedness from the natural world.
Read our interview with Ellie about her exquisite work.
9. LCC collaborate with V&A for game design conference
© V&A, Credit: Gabriel Bertogg
Hundreds of video games fans gathered to hear leading game designers, artists, engineers and thinkers speak at Parallel Worlds – the V&A’s video game design conference in collaboration with LCC. Speakers included Nicola and Michael Place, members of the original design team for 90s classic Wipeout; John Laws, Director of Art at Frontier who worked on the hugely popular Planet Coaster, and Madiba Olivier, developer of Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan and founder of the first professional game studio in Central Africa.
Read key takeaways in our report.
10. Grayson Perry visits LCC Degree Shows 2017
Steph Francis-Shanahan and her mum meet Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry, Turner Prize-winning artist and UAL Chancellor, visited LCC Degree Shows 2017 to explore the latest trends in design and discover the new generation of leading talent. Stephanie Francis-Shanahan, BA (Hons) Illustration and Visual Media student, caught Grayson’s eye with her project ‘For Sandy, With Love’.
We caught up with some of the students that met Grayson as part of the visit.
11. Design Management & Cultures grad launches app connecting creatives
SSSHAKE mobile app by Valentine de Guidice.
BA (Hons) Design Management and Cultures graduate Valentine del Giudice’s launched new app SSSHAKE – the first mobile app dedicated to creative collaborations and a cross-disciplinary platform aimed at helping creatives from different industries to connect easily and locally in order to come up with new innovative projects.
Read our interview with Valentine.
12. World Illustration Award won by Graphic Design grad for Apple collaboration
Claudine O’Sullivan, 2013 graduate of LCC’s BA (Hons) Graphic and Media Design course, won a World Illustration Award for a collaboration with Apple. Claudine was commissioned by Apple to create artworks using the iPadPro and Apple Pencil as part of Apple’s new campaign and featured two images that are her first ever digital drawings.
Read our interview with Claudine.
13. Renowned Swiss typographer Jost Hochuli recounts his remarkable career at LCC talk
The world-renowned and hugely influential book designer and Swiss typographer Jost Hochuli delivered a sold out talk at LCC, recounting his remarkable 60 year career.
14. Industry leaders presented with Honorary Degrees
Facebook’s Vice President of Europe, Middle East and Africa Nicola Mendelsohn and renowned video game writer Rhianna Pratchett were among 12 leading figures in the creative and cultural sectors given honorary awards by UAL this year. Rhianna Pratchett and Nicola Mendelsohn were recognised for their outstanding contributions to the creative industries at London College of Communication’s 2017 graduation ceremonies.
Find out more about our Honorary Fellows.
15. Beyond Borders exhibition explored the work of refugee journalists
Beyond Borders panel (l-r): Tom Law, Abdulwahab Tahhan, chair Claudia-Liza Armah and Shahd Abusalama, Maurice A Wren. Image © Ana Escobar.
In March LCC presented Beyond Borders, a free exhibition and panel debate exploring the work of refugee journalists – including contributors involved in LCC’s Refugee Journalism Project.
Find out more about Beyond Borders.
16. ‘Ken. To Be Destroyed’ – behind the exhibition
In February and March of this year LCC exhibited ‘Ken. To Be Destroyed’, an exhibition that began with a discovery. Artist and photographer Sara Davidmann and her siblings inherited letters and photographs belonging to her uncle and aunt, Ken and Hazel Houston, from their mother Audrey Davidmann in an envelope she had marked ‘Ken. To be destroyed’. It emerged soon after they were married that Ken was transgender, with the exhibition exploring gender identity through archival materials.
Read our interview with artist Sara Davidmann and curator Professor Val Williams.
17. Students and graduates create beautiful illustrations for inspirational book celebrating women in space
Students and graduates of BA (Hons) Illustration & Visual Media partnered with Penguin Random House imprint Century to create beautiful illustrations for ‘A Galaxy of Her Own’ – an inspirational children’s book authored by Libby Jackson celebrating women in space.
See some of the illustrations from A Galaxy of Her Own and read more.