Institute on the Environment | Saint Paul, MN
From 2017 to 2021, I worked as the graphic designer for the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment (IonE). I loved working with my small, multidisciplinary team to help support the rest of the Institute’s researchers, educators, affiliates and partners.
While on staff, I was the sole creative role, functioning to establish a robust brand system and asset library for use across the institute including affiliates beyond our brick and mortar building. The system was designed to be easy-to-use with inherently adaptable image containers that virtually anyone with a computer could utilize without direct design support and still remain on brand.
One of my initial projects at the Institute was branding the 10 year anniversary event: a celebratory night at ARIA MPLS. I helped conduct interviews and photography sessions with IonE staff and affiliates so that I could ensure the event reflected the people and the work it was celebrating.
I chose a blue palette to define the the tone of the evening which was a great backdrop for some bold goal setting statements and honoring those who had put in a lifetime of dedicated work.
As an entity within the University of Minnesota system, I had to adhere to a variety of branding obligations such as: compatibility with school colors (maroon and gold), university logo and naming conventions, and more.
It was a unique challenge that hinged on collaboration, communication, and building in a logical hierarchy within the designed elements—specifically when it came to articulating the brand, and it’s layers, to the complicated web of people and interests it represented.
Through awesome, engagement activites with students, faculty, and the public like zero-waste events, conferences, and much more, I got the chance to make a variety of collateral.
With several different programs within the Institute, I was never short of new ideas that people needed help putting a brand or a visual to.
Lastly, I’d like to show an infographic that I developed for a research proposal in collaboration with IonE affilated McKnight Professor, Sarah Hobbie and her team. I was asked to spend a brief amount of time and refine their current visuals to look nicer. However, as we worked into things it became apparent the initial figures were not capturing the nuances of the concepts being articulated.
After reassessing the proposal, I designed an alternative way to show it’s research goals and objectives. In the end, the infographic helped the team secure funding to conduct their research and answer important questions about urban ecosystems.
Initial Figure
Thanks for viewing!
— SQ