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USC Career Center's Strategic Branding and Design Initiative
Elevating Student Confidence in Career Planning
promotional materials
rebranding
merch design
campaigning
aiding students in career search
creating a welcoming start to
an intimidating journey
the intro
+ goals.
the USC Career Center faced a problem with promoting their events and countless opportunities to students since many find talking about career intimidating. many students believed that they need to have a resume, portfolio, experiences and an exact idea of what they want to do in their future to visit the center. however, that is not the case and the center is open to students at any stage of their life.
our goal with this branding was to make it approachable, professional, and recognizable as many events will be repeated and would need to be recognizable as career events. when I started the role, Career Center relied of USC main colors and had no standout identity of their own relying heavily on illustrations and template designs. we wanted to pivot to more of a unique and professional look with a certain and distinct identity.
01.
distinct
identity
exciting
and unique
designs
recognizability
branding of
major events
long lasting and recognizable branding for various events
no need for constant rebranding
prepare all designs for the next marketing team members
02.
longevity
03.
custom
templates
implementation of
Figma as a design tool
move away from
commonly used graphics
time efficiency
promote services
and opportunities
establish presence
on campus
increase event
attendance
04.
promote
awareness
re-branding.
University of Southern California has an existing branding that departments have to use for their external and internal communications. However, the USC Career Center wanted to have a branding that would stand out but still would adhere to USC guidelines. My goal was to create a visually welcoming branding that would make Career Center not a scary place for students but an inviting and familiar. My other goals were to create longevity in the branding for school-wide events and campaigns. Something that could be used for years to come.
color palette
University of Southern California
USC Career Center
using tints of main color palette, as well as muted versions of them allows USC Career Center to have a range of graphics for variety of events. similarly, it helps the center to stand out from other departments' communications.
the main color palette from the official USC branding guidelines. the two colors are very bright and bold giving room for many interpretation. however, it is helpful to have more colors for the event graphics to stand out from each other.
#8D0505
USC
Cardinal
official color #1
#FECD08
USC
Gold
official color #2
career fair branding.
career fair events are bi-annual and have separate intended audiences: graduates, all students, and alumni. the events bring over hundreds of
potential employers and have an attendance of thousand of people. therefore, they are one of the highest priorities when it comes to advertising
and promoting. each event has countless of graphics for both internal and external communications.
i was in charge of all of the promotional graphics, as well as helping out during the event by taking photos, recording content with the marketing
team, and editing videos for social media.
Large Scale Print Out
Social Media
Internal Communications
internal communications for the career fair and other career center events include:
-
email newsletter
-
social media platforms
-
flyer print outs
-
newsletter print out
-
digital displays on TVs
the employees attending each career fair are very important and need to be advertised as much as possible. employees are interested in potential USC alumni and students are in need of work.
my job was to create newsletter spread highlighting all employees in attendances, as well as thanking the sponsors that are contributing to the events. this newsletter would be printed in the official USC newsletter Daily Trojan.
Daily Trojan Advertising
career fair uses the same tent at each event and the tent design has to stand out in the crowd of people during a busy event. the tent is meant for check-ins, lunch distribution and staff that is ready to answer any question students might have.
although each career fair has a fresh branding each year, the tent had to be used for each one and needed to stand the test of time. no dates or anything graphics that may date the tent.
social media stories leading up to the fair and during the event were an important way for us to connect with students and keep them updated.
fair preparations
map of the fair
what to bring to the fair
link for rsvp
event countdown
although i was not in charge of social media, due to my passion for video editing and content creation, i was often helping out with content.
some of my ideas included: Career Fair Fit Checks series, in which we would interview attendees and showcase appropriate ways to style
yourself for upcoming fairs based on students' majors and interests. Some other video and ideas included : "What's In My Bag" to showcase
students' preparedness, trending sound ideas and fun videos to recap the fairs and raise social media engagament.
merch design.
i created a series of merch design which included various tote bags with custom illustrations of things related to USC and Trojan spirit. One of my previous designs of the front door of the Career Center went on various sizes and colors of water bottles. I have also created pins for the alumni for the Trojan Network with social information. Not pictured: Career Center tents and backdrop, M&Ms, notebooks and folders.
key takeaways.
althought the career center cannot have its own logo, branding social media with colors, fonts and recognizable graphics helps to stand out amongst other departments and impress new generation of students.
01. importance of branding
creating long-lasting templates helps save time from remaking new designs and establishes a recognizability of the events. very important for student retention.
02. longevity of designs = recognizability
creating fun social media campaigns, short form of videos, and giveaway opportunities help in sparking an interested in existing community and bringing in more people.
03. engaging the community
04. freedom of ideas
having a structured team with freedom of bringing up and executing new ideas is important in bridging the department into a new age of communication.
gratitude.
Rachel You
for not only trusting me as a creative and an employee to do my job but for encouraging creativity and innovation.
i am grateful for having the opportunity to continue as a full-time staff post grad giving me opportunity to make the work i have done before into a cohesive branding.
Paolo Cantos
for creating a space in which my designs could grow
and expand into bigger projects. i am grateful to Paolo for always encouraging me to think outside of the box and create things i have never tried before. the marketeam has made a lot of progress in a short-time.
Career Center Staff
i am grateful to have been a part of a supporting and hard-working group of individuals who are passionate about helping others. thank you for making the Career Center a very welcoming and supportive place from day one.
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