London College of Communication

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 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…

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,…