STAND FIRST & last: Homecoming 2018
This past year, I worked to design (for the second time) all the branding and marketing materials for the University of Cincinnati Homecoming celebration. In doing so, I had the incredible opportunity to shape the homecoming experience for alumni, current students, and future students alike. Building upon the foundation of knowledge I gained by doing this job for the first time in 2017, I consider the 2018 Homecoming branding a great success.
To create an experience as large as UC’s homecoming, a team of planners, organizers, fundraisers, and the designer (me!) work together starting as early as April. While it’s an incredible amount of work, it’s typically all done behind the scenes. The average parade-goer or football-game-tailgater probably isn’t thinking about the committee that started planning their experience 6 months prior; only that they’re (hopefully) having the time of their life while they’re there. In that way, the opportunity to craft that week feels a little bit like performing magic for UC.
First, I’ll tell you a little bit about what my specific job of “homecoming branding” entails. In this case, it meant more than just a name and logo. As I’ve come to learn in my time at DAAP, branding can mean anything from logos, typography, brand colors, iconography, apparel, marketing, wayfinding, and experience design. In the case of an event as large as a university homecoming event (or events, as the case may be), branding means all of these things working together to create a system. When I filled this role in 2017, I came in pretty blind to what the job would ask of me. I had no expectations for what graphics would need to be created, how quickly things would need to be turned around, or how far in advance I should start planning x, y, or z. But coming back for a second round in 2018, I had a clear path forward and a timeline that guided my work. While the concept ideation occurs in the spring, many graphics have to wait until the fall to be created because that’s when the details start to fall in place. To help guide my reflection, I kept a list of all of the assets created for Homecoming week––this helped me avoid the “Oh, that wasn’t so much work” mentality that always follows a big job. It was a lot of work, and I wanted to document that. Without listing each individual graphic (because there are hundreds), they fall into the following main categories:
Beyond my career, this experience had a profound impact on both myself and, ideally, the entire UC community. By working with committee members, the Alumni Association, and community volunteers, I saw firsthand how many hands work every day to ensure that our university is successful. It’s not just students, but educators, fundraisers, researchers, and community members that make our little ecosystem thrive. If that many people are needed to create a one-week event, imagine how much work goes into running our university the other 51 weeks of the year? I’m grateful for this experience because I now have a unique perspective that not many other students have the opportunity to develop.
No matter the year, my favorite part of Homecoming is always the parade. In 2015, as a freshman who wasn’t yet very involved in campus culture, I attended the parade and admired all of the student groups and Homecoming Court girls in sashes. In 2016, I walked in the parade as a new member of DAAP Tribunal, with people I really didn’t know but would later become good friends of mine. By 2017, I had joined SAC and experienced firsthand what putting together the parade looked like, and I got to walk out front as the holder of the sign that says “Welcome to Homecoming” – that gave me chills. And this last year, I became one of the girls in sashes that I admired as a freshman, as I was in the parade as a member of the 2018 Homecoming Court. Each of my four experiences has been so special and so memorable, and I’m grateful to be in a 5-year program so that I can go for one more round.
Overall, I believe that my experience as a designer for Homecoming, and more broadly, my time in the Student Alumni Council, has shaped my experience at UC. I’ve been able to have a direct impact on the experience that other Bearcats have had, and that’s been reciprocated as an impact on my career and on my Bearcat heart.
To create an experience as large as UC’s homecoming, a team of planners, organizers, fundraisers, and the designer (me!) work together starting as early as April. While it’s an incredible amount of work, it’s typically all done behind the scenes. The average parade-goer or football-game-tailgater probably isn’t thinking about the committee that started planning their experience 6 months prior; only that they’re (hopefully) having the time of their life while they’re there. In that way, the opportunity to craft that week feels a little bit like performing magic for UC.
First, I’ll tell you a little bit about what my specific job of “homecoming branding” entails. In this case, it meant more than just a name and logo. As I’ve come to learn in my time at DAAP, branding can mean anything from logos, typography, brand colors, iconography, apparel, marketing, wayfinding, and experience design. In the case of an event as large as a university homecoming event (or events, as the case may be), branding means all of these things working together to create a system. When I filled this role in 2017, I came in pretty blind to what the job would ask of me. I had no expectations for what graphics would need to be created, how quickly things would need to be turned around, or how far in advance I should start planning x, y, or z. But coming back for a second round in 2018, I had a clear path forward and a timeline that guided my work. While the concept ideation occurs in the spring, many graphics have to wait until the fall to be created because that’s when the details start to fall in place. To help guide my reflection, I kept a list of all of the assets created for Homecoming week––this helped me avoid the “Oh, that wasn’t so much work” mentality that always follows a big job. It was a lot of work, and I wanted to document that. Without listing each individual graphic (because there are hundreds), they fall into the following main categories:
- initial branding (logo, wordmark, color palette, type styles, icons, etc)
- theme announcement (video, social media)
- apparel (t-shirt, hat)
- homecoming court graphics (voting open, top 20, top 10, all social media, Blackboard/Canopy graphics)
- fundraising (matrix, info sheet, email template)
- parade graphics (hotcard, advertisements to walk, advertisements to attend, social media)
- hotcards (weeklong events, bicentennial advertising)
- weeklong events (daily social media schedules, hotcard with info, posters)
- digital graphics (TUC screen, rec center screen, residence halls)
- extras (chalk stencils)
Beyond my career, this experience had a profound impact on both myself and, ideally, the entire UC community. By working with committee members, the Alumni Association, and community volunteers, I saw firsthand how many hands work every day to ensure that our university is successful. It’s not just students, but educators, fundraisers, researchers, and community members that make our little ecosystem thrive. If that many people are needed to create a one-week event, imagine how much work goes into running our university the other 51 weeks of the year? I’m grateful for this experience because I now have a unique perspective that not many other students have the opportunity to develop.
No matter the year, my favorite part of Homecoming is always the parade. In 2015, as a freshman who wasn’t yet very involved in campus culture, I attended the parade and admired all of the student groups and Homecoming Court girls in sashes. In 2016, I walked in the parade as a new member of DAAP Tribunal, with people I really didn’t know but would later become good friends of mine. By 2017, I had joined SAC and experienced firsthand what putting together the parade looked like, and I got to walk out front as the holder of the sign that says “Welcome to Homecoming” – that gave me chills. And this last year, I became one of the girls in sashes that I admired as a freshman, as I was in the parade as a member of the 2018 Homecoming Court. Each of my four experiences has been so special and so memorable, and I’m grateful to be in a 5-year program so that I can go for one more round.
Overall, I believe that my experience as a designer for Homecoming, and more broadly, my time in the Student Alumni Council, has shaped my experience at UC. I’ve been able to have a direct impact on the experience that other Bearcats have had, and that’s been reciprocated as an impact on my career and on my Bearcat heart.
SHOWCASE
To see a collection of work from Homecoming 2018, visit my professional portfolio at www.gracehertlein.com/first-and-last