Students from London College of Communication’s Level 3: International Introduction to the Study of Design, Media and Screen course celebrated with fellow students, staff and friends to their end of year show, ‘Possible Futures’.
This one-year course course for international students is a practical and theoretical preparation for international students to progress onto undergraduate courses in Design, Media, and Screen, with students specialising in a range of pathways. Members of the public, LCC staff and students and friends explored work spanning across illustration, photography, film, graphic design, advertising and more – a reflection on the variety of routes students on the course are prepared for over the year.
We joined students on their launch night to find out more about the course and its importance in preparing students for a BA at LCC…
Xin Ning Mah
Going on to study…BA (Hons) Graphic & Media Design at LCC
How do you feel the course has prepared you for your BA?
I feel that the course has given me an insight on how things work on the BA, coming from Malaysia I didn’t have any background with art as a subject. I loved to paint from a young age and dabbled a bit with materials – but never academically, I’d actually never touched a sketchbook before coming on this course! I just drew when I felt like it, not consistently or with research, when I first came here I was really shocked.
The course has prepared me well in that aspect and also the opportunity to go to all the different workshops here at LCC has been so helpful. I feel like I have an advantage because now I’m well versed in practical aspects, for instance, I’ve done lots of screen printing on this course and I feel like when I come back next year I won’t struggle as much.
What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt on the course?
How to work together with different people – everyone on this course is from different parts of the world, I’m the only Malaysian person on this course. I love the fact that I’m in an international environment here on this course, not only do I get to learn about British culture but I also get to learn about people and their customs from all over the world. It’s nice to know how different cultures influence each individual and how they think – I’d present something and someone would say ‘oh wow – that’s like something from a game we have in China that we played when we were young’. They showed me the game and I used it as research for my project! The international influence really added to my train of thought when producing work.
Viktoria Medvedeva
Going on to study…BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Cultures at LCC
How do you feel the course has prepared you for your BA?
I feel it prepared me strongly because before this course I thought differently, my imagination was different and I had a different view on the relationship between art and life. I’m far more open-minded and I can really analyse and think critically about not just my own work but that of others as well. I feel like I got exactly what the course offers.
Did you know what you wanted to do when you started the course?
I changed my mind over and over again during the duration of this course; before the course I was absolutely sure that I wanted to go for film and film direction but then I changed my choice to photography and fashion photography. I changed my mind to fashion journalism but then actually I realised that contemporary media cultures encapsulated everything I enjoy – I could study everything I love in and this course had completely prepared me for all of it! I tried lots of different things across this course and it opened my eyes to all the different opportunities that are here at LCC for me.
What advice would you give to an International Student coming to study at LCC?
Be responsible for what you are doing and do not think that tutors will tell you what to do: you’re responsible for your work, only in this way can you can achieve something truly unique to you.
Thomas Lam
Going on to study…BA (Hons) Games Design at LCC
When you started this course did you know that you wanted to study Games Design?
When I started this course I was going to go into animation but then through my studies I was directed towards Games Design during the course of my time on this course. In animation and games design it’s about story telling but the main difference is how the story is told and through what techniques. This course gave me time to really look at that difference and really understand how I wanted to progress.
How do you feel your time on the course has prepared you for a BA at LCC?
One of main differences between high school and this course is that here and in further education you really have to take your own initiative. In high school they tell you what to do, they have solid criteria, but in this course it’s about how you want to meet the criteria yourself and in what ways – everything is up to you. It’s definitely a culture shock – you’re so used to the rigid format of high school, I found it at the start but luckily I adapted to it quickly. That’s why a year long course like this is so important, now we know how to use our initiatives, prepare amazing work and can take on a BA without that worry. It’s a paradigm shift and one year to do that is intensive but unbelievably helpful.
What is the most valuable lesson you’ve taken from the course?
I think an obvious answer would be my new found skill set but I think there’s so much more than that – the fact that this course has allowed me to find my own voice. Finding your own personality and your own voice to your work is what’s going to really make you a strong student and professional and this course gives you that.
Images by: BA (Hons) Photography student Lei Zhang.
Find out more about Level 3: International Introduction to the Study of Design, Media and Screen course