2019
ASUCD Rebrand
Client
Associated Students of the University of California, Davis (ASUCD)
Description
The purpose of the ASUCD Rebrand was to create consistency among all the bodies that make up ASUCD and bring attention to our commitment in providing UC Davis students with basic services and advocacy opportunities.
Background
ASUCD was founded in 1915 with the sole purpose of catering to the needs of the growing student population at UC Davis. Over the years, ASUCD has grown exponentially offering a variety of services to students such as the Unitrans bus system, the Coffee House, and the Bike Barn shop. ASUCD is even responsible for well-known events enjoyed by UC Davis students such as Picnic Day, Whole Earth Festival, Sunset Fest, and Lawntopia.
Another aspect of ASUCD is student government. The three branches of government–Executive, Legislative, and Judicial–exist within ASUCD to manage all the units (i.e., Entertainment Council, The Pantry, The California Aggie, etc.), committees (i.e., Mental Health Initiative, DREAM, etc.), and commissions (i.e., Academic Affairs, Ethnic and Cultural, etc.).
My Role
As the Project Manager, I managed all project logistics and distributed work to the various departments within Creative Media. Additionally, I facilitated consistent follow-up communication and kept track of project deadlines. Specifically, in this project, I also took the role of secondary copywriter/copyeditor for the ASUCD Brand Guide as well as the ASUCD Viewbook/Brochure.
Objectives
In recent years, ASUCD has been plagued with internal drama, unorganized structure, and was often overlooked by UC Davis students.
In the end, this rebrand project was meant to create a clean slate for the organization and bring clarity and transparency to its structure and bodies.
Awareness
Bring greater name recognition to ASUCD through new logos and a new identity.
Inform
Educate the student body about the new brand identity.
Deadline
Introduce the rebrand by Fall Quarter 2019.
Conception
Beginning with the visual identity of ASUCD, the design team was tasked with coming up with UC Davis student personas, mood boards, and sketches for new logos. The marketing team worked closely with the design team to brainstorm values and mission statements that would represent the new voice of ASUCD.
The Associated Students of the University of California, Davis (ASUCD) improves the quality of campus life by providing resources and services to cultivate a culture of involvement and student leadership. Join us as ASUCD connects the dots between all facets of our campus and builds tomorrow, together.
Process
Logos
Afterward, the logos for the units and three branches of student government needed to be re-done. We wanted to standardize these logos so that there would be a unifying element in all of them. By doing this, it would show the connection between all the units, committees, and commissions of ASUCD.
Brand Guide
Once the visual identity for the entire association was established, the marketing and design team created a brand guide that would influence the way we visualized, verbalized, and wrote about ASUCD. Moving forward, the marketing team was then tasked to create as much content for the association and its bodies as possible. It began with the viewbook/brochure and ended once all the copy for the new website was created.
Website & Video
Our programming and multimedia teams got involved when it was time to build a website and fill it with engaging videos and photographs of ASCUCD. The multimedia team created two videos. One of them showcased the new logo changes across the association and the other one explained ASUCD’s new mission statement and voice.
Reflection
Perseverance
One of the main lessons I learned from this project is that perseverance is key. Finding the balance between pushing your team to think outside of the box and taking a break for another day, was a job I found myself in over and over.
Knowledgeable
As a Project Manager, it was my responsibility to know everything about the project. From the vision of our stakeholders to the progress of our designers, being the person that can answer all the questions was an important part of my responsibilities. My team members could worry less about finding answers to an important question and focus more on the work at hand.
Takeaway
The ASUCD brand was successfully implemented and brought increased attention to the association as a whole, rather than its pieces. Our new categorization of units, committees, and commissions brought clarity to the different parts of ASUCD and unified them visually. Our teams are confident that this brand will live on for years and draw more attention to the original purpose of ASUCD: serve the student population and enrich their experience at UC Davis.
Team Credits
- Shubha Chakravarty, Aggie Studios Executive Producer and Multimedia Team – Client Director, Photographers, Videographers, and Animators
- Saahil Patel, Creative Media Marketing Director and Marketing Team – Copywriter and Social Media Manager
- Timothea Wang, Creative Media Lead Designer and Design Team
- JJ Hsu, Creative Media Lead Programmer and Programming Team
Awards
"The American Advertising Awards (Addys) is one of the industry's largest creative competitions, attracting nearly 35,000 professional and student entries each year. The mission of the Addys is to recognize and reward the spirit of creative excellence in advertising."