Wolfe Day

Client: Florida International University Wolfe University Center (Student Union)
Industry: Education & Campus Programming
Project Type: Event Branding, Promotion & Content Creation for Wolfe Day

objective

To commemorate the significant accomplishments of Dr. Gregory B. Wolfe, the annual Wolfe Day event was conceptualized to educate and inform the FIU Biscayne Bay campus community. The event honors Dr. Wolfe's legacy, to which the student center was named after. Each year, the event is given a unique theme, and for the year in question, the theme was 'Travel'.

the process

As the art director, my primary responsibility was to lead a team consisting of two student graphic designers and one student marketing coordinator in the planning of the event. In addition to that, I also contributed to the coordination and ideation of various activities and the overall structure of the event.

When refining the travel theme, we decided to concentrate on the experience of navigating through an airport. I drew inspiration from popular design trends, including retro patterns, illustrations, and color schemes, to guide my art direction. As a team, we created mood boards to map out our design direction, using elements like boarding passes, luggage tags, postcards, and imagery from various destinations.

We had the idea of having FIU departments act as “terminal gates”. This led to the creation of a boarding pass system to encourage student participation.

design solutions

The primary challenge was the short timeline, resulting in the need for in-house production of materials, including printing, cutting, and assembling over 400 boarding passes, sleeves, and custom Biscotti packaging. An overwhelming attendance of over 300 people, surpassing expectations, indicated the success of the event and the effectiveness of the promotional materials. The comprehensive approach to branding, promotion, and execution was well-received, with notable appreciation for the attention to detail and the immersive 'travel' experience created for attendees.

Boarding Pass & Sleeve: A double-sided boarding pass and accompanying sleeve where students collect stickers from various department booths, called "terminal gates", to redeem for a themed T-shirt upon completion.

T-shirt Design: Leveraging FIU's blue and gold colors, a retro flat illustration was designed depicting a plane wing and clouds from a window view.

Digital Engagement: For social media, a series of travel-themed animated stickers were designed for Instagram stories.

Promotion: Posters, flyers for LCD signs inside the center, and a teaser social media campaign using, at the time, trending music from Silk Sonic, the Adult Swim commercial bump trend.

Biscotti Cookie Sleeves: Customized packaging for Biscotti cookies, commonly given as flight food, was distributed during the event.