The Professional Lecture Series – Back and in-person!

Sarah and Nick Kennedy are a married couple (and coworkers) working together at West Monroe, a national consulting firm headquartered in downtown Chicago.

  Sarah graduated from Bradley University in 2009 with a degree in printmaking and graphic design, and went on to gain experience ranging from in-house consumer products to global advertising firms. By day, she’s a manager leading the Visual Design Team, supporting new business proposals and go-to-market materials. By night, she creates a smattering of things, from beer label designs for a local brewery to branding work.

Nick is a director at West Monroe, leading the organization change management team in Chicago. He’s been with West Monroe since he graduated from DePauw University in 2010. Nick helps organizations implement their strategic projects by focusing on the people side of change.

In 2019, Nick and Sarah departed on their Fischer Fellowship, a program through West Monroe that offers its employees an amazing opportunity to share their talents anywhere in the world for up to six months. Learn more about their experience working with a non-profit in central Chile, using their degrees to do good!

180dayssouth.com

Finally, we are able to present both in-person exhibitions and our Visual Voices guest lecture series for the Fall semester. And what better way to launch the new academic year than with a faculty exhibition – Faculty, Adjuncts and Emeritus.

We’re really looking forward to welcoming our students back to campus with this first show. It is, quite rightly, a celebration after the past year’s turmoil. However it also reflects the uncertainty about our immediate future – Are we now post-pandemic, or is it simply a lull before another outbreak ‘storm’?

Despite the incredibly difficult year we have gone through, our seniors managed to reach the finish line. We are delighted and proud of their ability to keep going and look forward to seeing them all make their mark on the industry – Good luck to each and every one of them !

Wonderful final brief of the Brand Experience class. A challenging client, having to work in a team environment, and a tight deadline – but everyone came through and we had eight really great presentations. A big big thanks to OneFire (and especially Jim).

Design and implement a plan to create a more effective web presence that differentiates MICA and attracts/converts targeted prospects, allowing them to be nurtured and
converted to customers.

MICA was built by doctors to support their uncompromising mission to protect and defend their
members, their practices, livelihoods, and personal integrity.

Mandatories (What must be included–logo, address, theme, etc.)
● Company name
● Logo update (optional)
● Company tagline (optional)
● Brand positioning, supported by messaging & imagery
● Website design
● Recommendations for an integrated marketing strategy, to include–
○ Thought leadership initiative
○ Paid online initiative–
■ Google Adwords
■ Sponsored Social Media

Continue reading “Capstone Team Branding Brief”

Brief set by 21GRAMS

In collaboration with BlackandBrownSkin

Ignorance is malignant.  Change skin cancer care.

The backstory

Search online for “skin cancer” and you’ll be greeted with a wash of moles on White skin. And the survival rate of skin cancer is around 91% for White people. But what about other skin colors? Well that’s when you start to see the survival rate plummet, for Black people especially down to 65%. The reason? Skin cancer tends to be diagnosed at a later stage, and as a result with a worse prognosis. This is because the signs are more difficult to spot thanks to not only a lack of awareness, but also systemic problems and racial disparities in medicine. 

What’s the challenge?

Develop an idea that has the ‘legs’ to work across an integrated campaign, that not only raises awareness of skin cancer, specifically melanoma, in people of color, but also helps to drive diagnosis to allow people to receive the treatments they need.

What exactly this looks like is up to you – it could be anything from a large-scale advertising campaign, through to more focused direct marketing approach aimed at specific audiences. But whatever you create needs to be tangible, realistic, and make a meaningful impact on people’s lives; and it needs to be able to do that without huge budgets.

Who are we talking to?

This is all about spreading awareness amongst a huge demographic, because that is what will make the most change. That’s people the world over whose skin-tone is underrepresented in whitewashed medical literature. But your idea should put a particular focus on young Black people around the world who spend lots of time outdoors and might not realize that skin cancer can affect them.

Know the signs

You’ll need to really understand what the main signs of skin cancer are, and especially how they can differ on People of Color and Black skin. For example, melanoma (a type of skin cancer usually identified through new moles, or changes in existing ones) most often occur on non-exposed areas of the body such as palms, in the mouth and nose, and around nails. On White skin they tend to occur in areas exposed to the sun, and this is what shapes popular understanding of the disease, when the sole of the foot is the most common site of skin cancer for black people, representing 30-40% of cases. You’ll need to make sure you research and understand these signs and think about how you can help people to recognize them.

Make an impact

Whatever your idea is, it should break the barriers to identifying skin cancer in People of Color and Black skin, allow people to recognize the signs and help people get diagnosed faster. The better it does this, the better the impact it will make.

Continue reading “Ignorance is malignant. Change skin cancer care.”

By Oscar Wilde

Directed by Dan Matisa

  Live-streamed online performances April 22-25, 2021.

 On Demand viewing April 29 – May 2, 2021.

Subtitled, “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,” Oscar Wilde’s farcical masterpiece has delighted audiences for over 100 years with its sparkling wordplay, matchless wit, dizzying plot; and gallery of unforgettable Victorians: the impish Algy and his equal in deception, Jack; their hilarious paramours, Cecily and Gwendolyn, and that icon of rectitude, Lady Bracknell, one of the greatest comic creations of all time.

You can choose any single serving meal of your choice, but it must include at least three food items to constitute a ‘meal’. It doesn’t necessarily need to be healthy, however neither should it be considered fast food. Consider its nutritional value and obviously – its appeal – It shouldn’t look out of place on the table of a restaurant. It can be a meal that can be eaten cold, or requires some basic preparation, and is most likely part of a wider brand ‘range’ on offer. I would recommend you walk around some grocery stores and look at what they have to offer as the initial part of your research (yes, this involves stepping away from Google!). This doesn’t necessarily mean you are looking for an existing single serve meal already out there – You are creating a new one here, ultimately a range.

Once you have decided on a meal (and initially you should have several options to choose from), your challenge is to create visually appealing and accurate (name, description, ingredients, logo’s etc.) surface graphics and in particular to create packaging that is in keeping with the brand, innovative, easy to carry, easy to stack on a shelf or hang in multiples. Your packaging must contain EVERYTHING required to prepare and eat that specific meal.

And perhaps most important of all – while visually appealing on the shelves alongside the competition – it should be constructed, in a way, using materials and resources, that will have little or no impact on the environment. Research recyclable, biodegradable materials (including inks, glues etc.) and look at innovative existing packaging such as the examples below. Don’t be afraid to look ‘outside the box’ (haha, get it?) by researching non-related packaging directions, such as origami.

Continue reading “Single Serving (Gourmet) Meal”