Foundation Art and Design | LCC

Photo from UAL website


I've been waiting for so long to do this post!
I have finally finished my year doing the Foundation course at LCC (London College of Communication).

I started the course at the beginning of September last year, and I was superrrr excited! One thing that did that did shock me though was that we were made to choose our pathway as soon as, like, at our enrolment. I was kinda bummed about that because I expected that we would be able to experiment with the different pathways so that we could eventually find our interests and pursue them further through the course and possibly university the following year. However, there were so many technical spaces in the university and we were often pushed to experiment with everything we could.

I ended up choosing the Photography pathway seeing as I was familiar with it (however if I had experimented with graphics before hand I probably would have picked it lol). We were given 4 projects between September and February and most had a duration of 3/4 weeks, which I thought was good! I found that I actually preferred this way of doing things than the way we did in sixth form because we were constantly creating and making new things with new concepts! It can sound extremely daunting at first, having only done 4 projects in the whole 2 years of sixth form to doing 5 in the space of one year but as long as your keeping up it becomes quite fun!
I have just finished my Final Major Project which was on Colourism. I think this was my favourite part of the course because we were all able to be so free with our ideas and final pieces. I actually ended up making something that didn't have much photography involved which I suppose was good because it showed my growth and how I've progressed to understand what I enjoy and what I don't.

LCC itself is based in Elephant and Castle (which isn't nice to be honest haha) and to be honest the outside of the building really doesn't give it much justice. Now, its no Central Saint Martins at Kings Cross haha, but its pretty decent inside it has lots of technical areas like Letter Press, Print Making, 3D, Book Making, Photography and Media spaces. My favourite has to be the Book making area because I just found it so fascinating that I could make a book at my university haha. They have amazing print facilities like letter presses that are over 10 years old.
So yeah the University itself is pretty cool!

So, before I bore you, going off on tour guide mode..

Pros:
Great University, Amazing Facilities
Great tutors (in classes as well as technical areas, the people are so friendly and will literally help you with anything you need and they know exactly what they're talking about!)
Friendly Atmosphere - It can be quite hard going to an Art School because I guess everyone is so different from each other and everyone expresses themselves in different ways. Sometimes it can feel quite hard to 'fit in' but I felt that at LCC it doesn't have that 'try hard to stand out' atmosphere, everyone is relaxed and cool (which I felt was the main difference between here and somewhere like CSM)

The foundation course actually allows you to progress through the university without having to go through interviews as you usually would. Through the amazing University Progression Scheme I was able to apply to any course I wanted to despite my portfolio (though places were subject to spaces left on the course, if a lot of people applied to a course it would slightly decrease your chances of getting in). I applied for Live Events and Television at LCC and Graphic Design at CSM and got a place for Graphic Design!
This is something that I often tell people coming out of Sixth Form or College and wanting to apply for CSM straight away,  its extremely hard to get in especially to do a degree course without a foundation. If you apply to any of the UAL colleges for a foundation you can still pursue fashion or photography or graphic design through your work and also get a better chance of getting into somewhere like CSM through the University Progression scheme!


Cons:
I have to say I thought I'd have many more cons but I don't haha! The only thing that I would say was a bit annoying was going in for classes and lectures that were pretty pointless and irrelevant. haha but I suppose school is always like that.
Oh, and a personal kind of one - Travel.
It got wayyy too expensive and I was spending up to £60 a month just on travel!!
It was no bueno..

Anyway before I babble away, I wanted to make a quick mention of our Foundation show that is currently on now (until thursday). The exhibition showcases everyone's final major projects. There are honestly some amazing ones there so its definitely worth a trip down!

Sneak peek of my own work ;)
It was originally suppose to go on the wall in a grid form but one of the tutors make the executive decision to put it on the table. I was slight bummed about it but quickly recovered when I realised it was a bit more hands on and interactive. People could pick it up and feel it which was nice and wouldn't have worked as well if people were just starring at it on the wall. I also found out that it had won a 'Best In Show' award which I was so happy about! I'm glad people understood my concept and people were able to learn something new through my work!

I must say I've had loads of fun being at LCC, its been such a great experience! I'm going to miss walking through the grubby underpass in the mornings! :') haha but in all seriousness, its been wonderful!
No regrets!

ooh also, do comment down below if you are planning to do a foundation course this year or have just done one, I'd love to hear about everyone else's experiences/expectations!

Miss Nay
xx