What Comes Next
‘What Comes Next’ is a course-aligned event series designed to support improvement in Westminster’s Graduate Outcomes, through raising awareness and confidence in the breadth of careers that are possible and accessible to students following their degree.
What Comes Next is an event series organised by the University's Alumni Relations, in which current students learn about all the opportunities that are open for them post-graduation specifically from recent grads, who have not so long ago gone through the same experiences. Since its launch in November 2021, the event intends on running again next year from selected courses Westminster University's campuses.
Problem
Many university students are often unaware of the next stages to take when preparing for life after uni and are overwhelmed by the various different avenues they can take from their course. What Comes Next required a set of graphics, a brochure and a website landing page. Not only would this have helped enhance their visual identity but also visually communicate to students about the benefits of taking part in the event.
Solution
By creating a series of visually stimulating branding assets, the organisation will be able to generate a cohesive visual brand voice. From this, students will be encouraged to read more about.
Design process
Research
Key information/statistics on the organisation
I first began by researching and analysing key insights from the event to better understand the context of the brand and use this a framework to inform my designs.
Visualising/sketching how elements could be represented
Visualising/sketching how elements could be represented
The key things that had been specified in the brief is that diversity, network and graduation were the key things that needed to be illustrated in the branding. Therefore I decided to roughly sketch how I could represent this sensibly.
Using these rough sketches, I crafted an illustration which would help clearly showcase these key messages. By combining a series of symbols and illustrations, the organisation has generated a visually stimulating and clear brand image.
Brochure Design
Once the graphics were designed, I proceeded to design the brochure material which covered information about the key insights/stats from the events and speakers. By making the brochure visually stimulating, I was able to help simplify the key information and help the reader (student) better understand the benefit of engaging with this event.
The solution not only provided a tangible item for the students to take and gain valuable knowledge from but also helped enhance the event's visual identity so that when they run the event series the next year, more students will be encouraged to engage with the event.
Digital outputs
The next stage was to output the illustration onto the organisation's various digital platforms such as website and social media posts. This helped generate a marketing strategy to help the brand gain more exposure online through a cohesive brand image.
Impact
By creating these design solutions, the streamlined event series has been established. By creating a consistent brand voice through visual communication and visual branding, the increased exposure of the event has reassured current students from the univeristy that there is valuable information and knowledge which they can benefit from when deciding on their future ventures. As a result, the event is set to exceed their previous participation number of 202 attendees for the upcoming event in 2023.
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