EverGREEN, the Campaign for UVU

Creative Process

Marketers across campus were charged with developing campaign theme options during the final year of the campaign’s quiet phase. Relatively new to the university, I looked to its history, story, campus, and culture to synthesize and distill its essence.

My initial inspiration for the concept came from The Roots of Knowledge, a sprawling stained glass installation on the university’s Orem campus. The 154-foot-long artwork tells the story of human innovation, bookended by bristlecone pines, which are some of the oldest trees in the world. They survive through grit, resilience, and adaptability. This echoes the story of UVU; a technical college founded during the prelude to World War II that has since grown into the state’s largest university.

When crafting the visual elements of the campaign, including the tree logo concept and patterns, I abstracted the shapes to align with existing university branding. This style references the modular buildings of the Orem campus, which are layered due to the former gravel quarry they were built on. To provide contrast within the typography, I juxtaposed the university’s industrial typeface (Stratum) with an asymmetrical, storybook font (Adelbrook). It provides warmth and is distinct from the typefaces in the university’s main branding. Grayscale images are paired with recent photos to show the evolution of UVU over time. I curated these by sorting through thousands of film negatives in the university’s archive.

In the ideation phase, over a dozen concepts were crafted for the campaign. After making the shortlist, EverGREEN was among several campaigns presented to the president before ultimately being selected for the university’s first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign.