Once every year the University of Minnesota creates a new marketing campaign with billboard ads and informational magazines for new students. This concept project I created during my senior year at the U aims to make these materials more engaging and dynamic, better adapting to their young audience. I chose to abstain from the classic maroon and gold Gopher colors, and allowed myself to use a palette I believe better describes this beautiful campus. The University of Minnesota is considered to have one of the most beautiful campuses in America, so I decided to portrait some of my favorite views in this campaign. The Weisman Museum (left), the Coffman Union (center), and the downtown view from the University bridge (right) are some of the most characteristics spots on campus, and display the U of M life and vibrance on campus. Click on the images above to zoom.
The ads are usually placed in highly populated areas, such as train stations, bus stops, and throughout the campus itself; so the use of a vivid color palette with dynamic movement and a sense of depth of field help to catch the viewer's attention and guide their eye through the piece.
The informational booklets help students better adapt to their new life at the university in three different areas: Exploring the city, taking advantage of university-hosted events, and navigating campus between classes and housing safely and effectively.
The main design process I used for this project was the tracing of a picture from the desired location, then coloring it with the color palette I assembled in order to achieve the young dynamic style. The palette consists of six colors used in a variety of different opacities, juxtapositions and overlapping over each other creating some alternative results seen in the background.
