LEAP Branding and Campaign

THE NEED
College of the Mainland was launching its LEAP initiative and was in need of campaign branding and various collateral pieces with many different dimensions. A logo would need to be created incorporating a sense of growth in a playful but professional manner resonating with college-level adults who were launching into new careers. The logo would also need to be paired with a tagline that needed to be designed and integrated. A corporate document would need to be developed and numerous pieces of collateral would need to be created for a contest (including a print poster and postcard, social media, HDTV displays and kiosks, screensaver, email masthead, a student logon page, web graphics and nine large indoor and outdoor window graphics) that would run for a two-week period engaging students to participate in the promotion. Pieces would have a very short timeframe for design creation.

MY APPROACH
With a need for strong brand recognition to readily identify the LEAP initiative, the logo design aimed to capture both an essence of leaping and feeling of advancement. Analyzing possibilities through sketching resulted in reimagining the formation of the letter “A” in gestural form. Strokes loosely mimicked the letterform while an elevating arrow crossing the center illustrated an upward trajectory overlapping the letter “P” in its ascension. Color selections utilized a calming blue and red accent. A tight timeline for collateral pressed the urgency of creating the campaign brand development. The logo was created from sketch to completion in less than three hours. The collateral required multiple levels of information hierarchies to analyze and implement for clear communication. Care was taken to establish these levels without a sense of overpowerment. Contest campaign collateral aimed to integrate the LEAP logo with an enthusiastic feel while maintaining legitmacy.

THE RESULT
Executives were pleased with the bold eye-catching LEAP logo design and collateral elements.

MY ROLE
Logo design, branding, graphic design and layout, strategic planning, project management, vendor management