To celebrate London College of Communication's newest graduates, Louise Moore (Penguin Michael Joseph), Domenic Lippa (Pentagram) and Gary Knight (VII Photo Agency) have contributed to our Industry Leaders Collections, selecting their highlights of student work featured on our Postgraduate Showcase.
This year, our graduating class of designers, thinkers and makers have developed projects which demonstrate their ability to adapt and innovate with true creativity. Spanning both physical and digital worlds, their work reflects thoughtful and experimental approaches to creative communications, alongside their determination and resilience at overcoming the uncertainty of the present moment.
Each of our industry leaders has kindly curated their own selection of work across LCC's 3 Schools of Design, Media and Screen. Each Showcase Collection is accompanied by their curator's exploration of a chosen theme, which touches upon its significance in the wider context of our creative futures.
Starting new conversations with courage, creativity, and connectivity, Louise Moore
Louise Moore is Managing Director of Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of international publishing giant Penguin Random House. She first joined the division as an Editorial Director in 1997, rising up through the ranks to become Publishing Director in 2001 and Managing Director in 2006.
Today, she heads a talented publishing team dedicated to delivering the best commercial fiction and non-fiction titles – from women’s writing to crime and thriller, lifestyle, cookery and memoir, and with a range of acclaimed authors including Jamie Oliver, Dawn French, Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, Conn Iggulden, Stephen Fry and many more.
"With integrity, brains and talent like this, we're in good hands"
Louise's Showcase Collection, New Conversations, focuses on student work which creates new discussions with courage, creativity and connectivity.
"I have had an inspiring time, reading and viewing the exceptional body of work that MA students at LCC have been producing for their Publishing, Advertising, Journalism, and Media Communications and Critical Practice courses. It has made me feel more optimistic about humanity’s future on this planet than I have done in a while. With integrity, brains and talent like this, we are in good hands," she says.
"These projects were moving, thoughtful, thought-provoking and dazzlingly relevant to so many aspects of our lives today. I learned much from them and they left me hungry to learn more. I felt they gave me a window into so many worlds and creative ideas, and I left each one with my mind buzzing.
"Now to the difficult part...curating only a handful from an immensely strong body of work. In the end, I chose with variety in mind and those that made me personally think, feel, connect. Bravo, MA students. I salute you!"
Everything and Anything, Domenic Lippa
Domenic Lippa is an internationally recognised designer known for his work in identity, packaging, retail graphics, typography, signage and print. His clients range from Clarks Shoes and H&M to University of the Arts, London, Imperial College London, University of Sussex, and the Virgin Group.
Domenic studied graphic design at London College of Printing (now LCC), and after founding and running Lippa Pearce for 16 years, he became a partner at Pentagram London in 2006. As a prominent member of London's design community, he has been the Design Director for the London Design Festival since 2007, working with its team to develop all aspects of the Festival’s graphic output. In 2015, this led onto the creation of a new brand identity for the London Design Biennale.
Domenic has an in-depth knowledge of typography. He has co-edited and designed the international magazine baseline and sat on the executive committee of The Typographic Circle – an organisation dedicated to raising interest and standards in typography. He currently co-edits and designs their magazine, Circular, which was exhibited at the V&A in 2013. He is also a member of D&AD, Type Director’s Club, Art Directors Club, Royal Society of Arts, and the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI), and has sat on the juries of numerous competitions including D&AD and RSA awards.
"I have gravitated to a mixture - and a rich mixture there is"
Domenic's Showcase Collection, Everything and Anything, explores a range of forms, approaches and media that spark critical thought and feeling.
"Working through the projects from some of the MA courses in LCC's Design School has shown me how far design has evolved. No longer just responding to a visual or communication problem, students today are using design to solve some of society's big, life-changing issues," he says.
"Thematically, I have chosen work that has the potential to lead to dramatic changes in our lives. They will all engage and change us. Design thinking, education and execution is evolving - this can only be good for us all, but also for design as a central pillar of our development.
"I have to be honest with you, it took me time to go through these projects. The ones I have selected are not better than the others - some of them I just understood more quickly, or were drawn to the issue being challenged. And yes, some of them I chose because I liked the outcome. How the project was solved visually is still important to me. You can have a great idea but if it isn’t ‘complete’ then the design isn’t ‘complete’. In essence, I have gravitated to a mixture - and a rich mixture there is."
Explore Everything and Anything on the LCC Postgraduate Showcase.
Intimacy, Gary Knight
Photographer Gary Knight is co-founder and principle architect of the VII Photo Agency, co-founder of the VII Foundation, and founder of the VII Academy. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Frontline Club (London), co-founder of The GroundTruth Project (Boston), and founding Director of the Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice at the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University. He is also twice-Chair and President of the World Press Photo Award, a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and a Logan Non-Fiction Fellow at the Carey Institute.
"The prism of their own lived experiences"
Gary's Showcase Collection, Intimacy, considers work of particularly personal reflection from LCC's next generation of creatives.
"When our societies feel increasingly dysfunctional and dystopian, facing, as they are, existentialist political, environmental, and public health threats, many of the students expressed themselves by looking inside rather than outside," he says.
"Much of the work I have seen is intimate and deeply personal; even when the photographers were looking at large societal issues, they did so through the prism of their own lived experience or their response to what they observed around them. Most of the students placed themselves, whether it be their bodies, memories, relationships, feelings, or experiences, at the centre of their work.
"Some of it was very brave, open, and trusting, and much of the work was deeply moving, sensitive, and nuanced. Photojournalism and documentary practice is changing - it is becoming more personal. It will be fascinating to understand how the public engages with and responds to this evolution."
Explore Intimacy on the LCC Postgraduate Showcase.
Related links:
- Explore our Postgraduate Showcase.
- Learn more about the Design School, Media School and Screen School at LCC.
- Find out how we engage with industry through Business and Innovation.
