Conn. College - Admissions

Atop a 100-year-old arboretum campus, Connecticut College houses 1,900 undergraduate students and is the alma mater to 25,000 alums globally. The college markets to internal and external audiences to maintain its standing reputation.

Role Graphic Designer · Photo Editor

Work Brand Identity · Print

Tools InDesign · Photoshop

Company In-house

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The Problem

Prospective students face fierce pressure, forced to evaluate 8–10 colleges while battling the overwhelming demands of senior year. A relentless flood of marketing materials makes it nearly impossible to distinguish options. Students urgently need direct, consistent messaging that addresses their top concerns and empowers them to act swiftly in choosing the right college.

Brand Challenge: An outdated and narrow visual identity is causing confusion with UCONN and fueling persistent misconceptions that Connecticut College is undiversified, preppy, and unaffordable. This confusion directly threatens the college’s urgent need to attract a diverse and engaged student body.

How might we clearly communicate Connecticut College’s unique value, inspiring prospective students to confidently select it as their top choice?

Opportunity

  • Visual Identity Distinction: Refresh the color and type palettes to clearly differentiate Connecticut College from UCONN and improve brand recognition.
  • Brand Consistency: Establish new brand guidelines to ensure the college’s identity is consistently and effectively represented.
  • Sustainable Print Marketing: Align print marketing with the college’s environmental values, reduce production costs, and demonstrate institutional commitment to sustainability.
  • Deepen Emotional Impact: Establish an engaging admission brand that authentically showcases the college experience, deepens emotional connection, and attracts different prospective students.
  • Enrollment Growth: Accelerate application growth by 100 in the first year, streamline the application process to reduce completion time from one month to 10 days, and decrease summer melt by 10%.

Process

Research & Discovery

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Define

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Ideate

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Branding

I adapted the look and feel from the “Viewbox” produced by another agency to new and existing admission publications. Part of my strategy involved directing a lifestyle photographer to capture a vibrant campus life to tell a story through pictures, not just words.

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UX Design

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Visual Design

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Testing

Partnering with the third-party agency that designed the initial Viewbox, we tested the box of cards with prospective students in Boston. As we sat behind mirrored glass, we watched high schoolers open the box and sort the cards before consuming their content. From this process, we decided to:

  • Strengthen the visual connection between cards with a similar topic or category since we learned that students preferred to sort the cards. 
  • Reduce the number of colors and typographic styles used throughout the piece for a more cohesive look and feel overall.
  • Introduce more meaningful content about campus life and academics, explicitly using photography rather than icons to strengthen our storytelling.

Over several years, the content and imagery of the Viewbox evolved based on additional learnings, the college's forthcoming centennial, and changes in the higher-ed market.

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Impact

Outcomes

  • Institutional Visibility: Elevated the college’s profile, driving record admission application growth and enhancing brand distinction in a competitive higher-education landscape.
  • Cost Savings: Standardized publication formats, environmental policies, and waste-prevention practices, resulting in $8,000 in annual print cost savings.
  • Values-Led Design Strategy: Applied sustainability in tangible ways—including bleach-free post-consumer paper and vegetable-based inks—prompting prospective students to cite environmental values in essays.
  • Design Excellence: Earned national recognition when the in-house "Viewbox" won a 2011 American Package Design Award, confirming creative quality and strategic intent.

Learnings & Reflections

  • Visual-First Communication: Younger audiences, especially Millennials, engage more with images than dense text, emphasizing the value of visual storytelling in admissions and brand communications.
  • “Summer Melt”: We identified and filled gaps in the admissions communication journey with emotionally resonant content. This approach was especially effective during periods when peer institutions typically went quiet.
  • Sustainable Design: Environmentally responsible print production is not only achievable but cost-effective, proving sustainability can cut costs and boost reputation.
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