Lukman Ipese

About

Lukman Ipese is a graphic designer and visual communicator, deeply curious about how identity, community, and culture intersect. Based in London, he works across editorial design, photography, digital media, and participatory workshops, using storytelling as a tool for connection. His practice blends personal narrative with collective experience, shaped by collaboration and care.

His MA project, Kitted for Culture reimagines the football shirt as a cultural artefact. Rooted in Hackney Marshes, a site of personal connection, Lukman collaborated with 25 under-12 players from three local teams: Los Campos, Adamant FC, and Hackney District. Together, they designed kits inspired by their personal stories and cultural backgrounds. These drawings were translated into digital artworks and produced as real football shirts. The young designers returned for a celebratory fashion show in which each player received a fully fabricated football kit they had co-designed.

Lukman creative directed an editorial shoot and film, both captured at Hackney Marshes, expanding the project into a visual narrative. He also designed a printed publication that brought together the full scope of the project, from the young designers’ initial sketches to the final kits, alongside interviews, photography, and process work. Lukman experimented with textiles, crafting a series of hand-stitched footballs using Ankara fabric, a nod to his British-Nigerian heritage, which featured throughout the editorial shoot and film.

The project was later adapted into a one-day risograph workshop at the Young V&A.