Poster Campaign 1 — Unified and Colorful

On a flood of UMass red, utilizing the full brand color palette, we’re mixing together a community of differences. Abstract community illustrations are the visuals at work. Hand drawn circles represent a people gathered together all in one place. Organized and unified. The other designs use a fabric of interlocking color bars and diagonal stripes as a flag of unity.

Poster Campaign 2 — Seeing Each Other

The full color palette pops off a white background with bold, simple illustrations. A collection of different colored eyes look at each other, a row of different colored hands reach out for one another, and a group of students move forward together. This year, at UMass, these posters are about seeing the unique features of an individual. They ask people to look at each other in the eye and really see them in order to connect on a human level.

Poster Campaign 3 — Stand Together, Everyone

We are stronger together than alone. When we honor our differences, however big or small they are, we can hold together in what binds us. The core image is a simple human shape, as if cutout of paper and stitched together. We all have hearts that beat, we all have different shapes and arrangements in our DNA that make us who we are. We’re different colors individually, but when together, we create a rainbow out of our differences. This design also creates the opportunity to tile together and create one long visual that’s never ending, because there’s always room for one more.

ADVANCE Program Artwork

Shortly after we completed the poster campaigns, UMass was awarded the ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant to develop sustainable approaches for gender equity and inclusion in STEM fields. We created a patchwork of STEM-focused visuals all working together to create a program of gender equity through collaboration. Where everyone is on the same level, facing one another in order to make this advancement happen.

What started from a simple request for a type-driven poster became something much more. The type posters didn’t end up getting used, although I still like these two. The one on the left was designed by UNO student Anthony Jackson because he simply walked into our office and asked if he could help with something. Just goes to show you, it pays off when you show up.

In the end, we turned over a host of print-ready and digital files for three visual poster campaigns. The UMass Diversity & Inclusion team took it from there. Big thanks to Anna Branch for reaching out. Bring on the school year!

2018: Education, Campaign, Illustration, Posters