London College of Communication
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts.
It has approximately 5,000 students, and offers about sixty courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. It is organised in three schools: media, design and screen; all are housed in a single building in Elephant and Castle. It received its present name in 2004; it was previously the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts, then the London College of Printing, and briefly the London College of Printing and Distributive Trades.
The top leadership role in the college was previously known as the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of College; in 2025, this role was changed to the Provost of London College of Communication instead.
The current provost is Professor Kene Igweonu, who has been the head of college since July 2022.
History
The school was formed in 1990 by the merger of the College for Distributive Trades with the London College of Printing.The London College of Printing descended from the St Bride's Foundation Institute Printing School, which was established in November 1894 under the City of London Parochial Charities Act of 1883. The Guild and Technical School opened in the Old Daily Mirror building in Clerkenwell in the same year, but moved a year later to Bolt Court, and became the Bolt Court Technical School; it was later renamed the London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography.
Annual portfolios of student work were assembled during the years that the printing school was administered by St Bride Foundation. These, and other early documentation, form part of the permanent collections at St Bride Printing Library.
St Bride's came under the control of the London County Council in 1922 and was renamed the London School of Printing and Kindred Trades; in 1949 it was merged with the LCC School of Photoengraving and Lithography, forming the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. In 1960 this was renamed the London College of Printing. The printing department of the North Western Polytechnic was merged into it in 1969. The London College of Printing became part of the London Institute in 1986.
The Westminster Day Continuation School opened in 1921, and was later renamed the College for Distributive Trades. It too became part of the London Institute in 1986. In 1990 it merged with the London College of Printing to form the London College of Printing and Distributive Trades, which in 1996 was renamed the London College of Communication.
In 2003 the London Institute received Privy Council approval for university status, and in 2004 was renamed University of the Arts London.
Building and location
Since 1962, London College of Communication has been located in the centre of Elephant and Castle. The building expanded in 1973 to include the Design and Management School and in 2003 to accommodate the moving of the School of Media from Back Hill.The signage in the building was designed by alumni Domenic Lippa and his colleagues at Pentagram. The wayfinding design was a Gold Winner at the 2016 London Design Awards, as well as winning a Wood Pencil for Graphic Design/Wayfinding & Environmental Graphics at the 2016 D&AD Awards.
A new building is currently underway, with the current building due to be closed in 2027 and the new campus opening its doors in September of the same year. Approved by Southwark Council as part of urban development in Elephant & Castle, the building will be part of 3 lots replacing the 1960s shopping mall. The construction is built out by Multiplex, with the new university’s 45000 sqm fit-out strategy designed by architecture firm Allies and Morrison.
The first two floors of the new building will be open to the public, with a community space for events and student showcases, and will sit alongside new shops, restaurants, rental homes, and the new Elephant & Castle London Underground station entrance. The current building will be redeveloped into almost 500 new homes, retail and leisure, and a cultural centre.
Education
London College of Communication is structured into three schools: Design, Media and Screen. As well as offering undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses, the college also offers a diploma in Professional Studies. The MPhil and PhD courses at London College of Communication are a part of the University of the Arts London’s Doctoral School, based in High Holborn.Design School
The Design School originated from the Department of Design, assembled by William Stobbs during the college’s time as the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. This department established the first ever undergraduate course in graphic design to exist in Britain.At the time, the primary focus of the college was printing, with a much smaller focus on design. Staff of the original department included renowned poster designer Tom Eckersley, who later became the head of the department for 20 years, and the designer of the London Underground map, Harry Beck. Today, the Design School has grown into one of the largest departments of the current College. Ian Mclaren and Tony Pritchard’s book, Modernist Graphic Design in Britain ''1945–1980 ,'' lists the Design School at London College of Communication as one of the top influential schools for the subject of Design.
Undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the Design School come under the following streams: Branding and Design Innovation, Graphic Design Communication, Interaction Design and Visual Communication.
The current Dean of Design is Professor Brian Lucid.
Media School
The Media School moved from Back Hill to the current building in 2003. The first UAL research centre was under the Media School: the Photography and the Archive Research Centre. Founded by Val Williams, professor of the history and culture of photography at the Media School, the research centre ran until 2023.Since 2015, the official UAL student publication, Artefact Magazine, has been produced out of the Media School. Other initiatives at the school include the Refugee Journalism Project, which provides support for displaced journalists.
Undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the Media School come under the following streams: Communications and Media, Journalism and Publishing, and Photography.
The current Dean of Media is Steve Cross.
Screen School
The Screen School is the most recent school at London College of Communication, and includes a combination of both traditional and emerging disciplines in film, television, animation, games design, virtual reality, and sound arts. The school was officially launched in 2017 with a keynote by Lord David Puttnam.The school is home to Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice, one of University of the Arts London’s research centres. Established in 2005, CRiSAP supports artistic research into listening, sound, and the politics of audio cultures.
Undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the Screen School come under the following streams: Film and Television, Moving Image and Digital Arts, and Sound and Music. Recent curriculum developments have included new pathways in virtual production, game design, and immersive storytelling.
The current Interim Dean of Screen is Dr Adam Stanović.
Initiatives and projects
The Talent Works initiative runs at both the London College of Communication and Camberwell College of Arts. The initiative has provided over 200 students with paid work for a variety of creative projects at local charities, social enterprises and community groups in the past 7 years.The Digital Learning Champions initiative selects students annually to work with the Digital Learning team at the college. The cohort of 4 Champions works on 4 individual projects, as well as a joint group project.
The Refugee Journalism Project has been run out of the College’s Journalism and Publishing Department since 2016. The scheme provides support for displaced and exiled journalists and has collaborated with global organisations such as BAFTA, Bloomberg, the UNHCR, the Guardian Foundation, the Greater London Authority, and the Refugee Council.
Other projects have included partnering with NHS England on two campaigns to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, designing limited edition Woodland Trust bottles with Belvoir Farm, collaborating with Southwark Playhouse to produce a magazine, and creating fundraising campaigns for the Cinema Museum.
Publications
The college has a termly publication, Artefact Magazine, which is produced by students on the BA and MA Journalism Courses, and is the official university-wide student publication. Launched in 2014, the magazine covers topical issues in the fields of politics, art, creativity and social affairs, and is distributed around the entire university. In 2017, the publication was shortlisted for 'Student Magazine of the Year' for the Stack Awards.The secondary publication based at the College is 23 Magazine, which covers cultural issues in Southwark and is localised to the College only. Previous issues included a special on food, which featured and reviewed around 100 local restaurants in the area, and an issue in association with the UNHCR, examining the global food crisis. That issue was described as a ‘groundbreaking initiative’ to improve the public’s understanding of poverty, inequity, corporate capture and the health and environmental cost of our food system by Dr Stuart Gillepsie in his book Food Fight.
Archives, artefacts and collections
Several archives are kept at London College of Communication’s campus, including the Zine Collection, the Camerawork Archive, the Stanley Kubrick Archive, and more. The Archives and Special Collections Centre, which is based at the campus, holds over 45 archives and collections in total.The Stanley Kubrick archive was acquired in 2007, and is stored in a sterile environment in the Archive and Special Collections Centre. The archive receives around 1400–1700 visitors per annum, with the reading room accommodating up to 6 researchers at a time. The Archive has over 800 linear metres of shelving, with 19 categories listed on the online catalogue.
Artefacts at the college include a traditional Heidelberg letterpress and several relief printing presses which are the oldest mechanical machines at the university, including an Albion press dating back to 1900.