U of M - College of Design

U OF M | COLLEGE OF DESIGN

This brand identity project was easily one of our most arduous and successful examples of applied design thinking. At nearly 64,000 enrolled students, the University of Minnesota is the 19th largest University in the United States, and the 12th largest public university. The College of Design (CDES) was a new college created to integrate the internationally recognized departments that all had a core design relevance. The nine individual programs and the nine individual minors that now make up CDES had previously lived under a galaxy of different departments and categories.

In order for the U of M to compete nationally and internationally for talented design students, staff, and faculty, the CDES brand had to completely reinvent itself. We had the honor of working with Department Dean, Tom Fisher to implement his visionary restricting mission to realign these departments that all focus on design, in a college named design. This rebrand included a huge style guide, signage, publications, stationery, and everything else you’d think a college of this level would need for their brand communications.

Style Guide

In addition to an in-depth hardcover bound style guide, for quick reference, we were tasked with creating a condensed version that has all the key specifics for the brand in a more easily digestible format. We opted for a double sided poster that folded up into an easy-to-carry 8.5 x 11 inch size.

The Design Process

Phase 1

We began by conducting extensive interviews with faculty, staff and students and had deep dialog with the stake holders in the brand. Replace authored the launch motto “What if” to center the design thinking around the shared “Tranformational” value of all design disciplines.