Event Branding

THE NEED
Dozens upon dozens of student events occur each year on campus. However, event advertising did not utilize the benefits of a branded approach. I identified a solution where branding could create stronger awareness, engage students and drive turn-outs.

MY APPROACH
At a core level, the original brand guidelines of the college limited the appearance of event campaign materials where everything looked like an identical template. This approach offered no visual differentiation between events other than updating content and a photo resulting in a sterile aesthetic that did not serve event engagement well. I recognized a significant opportunity to breath life, culture and engagement into campus communications. Challenging traditional thinking, I proposed a new visual marketing strategy for all internal campus events to be approached as mini individually-branded campaigns. I took an empathetic design approach to each event, considering audiences and popular culture influences over each subject matter, to heighten visual relevance and student engagement. Uniquely themed visuals, which to a varietal extent mimicked the visual engagement one might experience browsing through thumbnails on streaming services, created a strong new level of appeal and differentiation. Event-specific efforts involved designing a look and feel carried across digital and print collateral including campus digital kiosks, HDTV displays, social media, printed posters, postcards, and large-scale outdoor banners.

THE RESULT
College events experienced heightened awareness contributing to stronger engagement and record turn-outs. One example included the Hispanic Heritage Month event which tripled attendance after the rebranding. The mini brands ultimately established a new level of event recognition for recurring annual events.

MY ROLE
Design thinking, brand strategy, event brand identity, graphic design, brand guidelines