A writers conference required rebranding to fit within university branding guidelines. I designed a new logo and created promotional materials.
Northwestern Christian Writers Conference
Northwestern Christian Writers Conference (NCWC) is a two-day event which provides a venue for published and aspiring writers to hear from successful authors, acquisition editors, and literary agents as they gain inspiration and expand professional networks. Prior to 2020, the writers conference had been hosted by Faith Radio, and with a change in sponsorship to the University of Northwestern College of Arts and Humanities, the function needed to meet university branding standards. As the primary graphic designer for NCWC, I was tasked with creating a new logo and redesigning promotional materials to university branding standards. Within the bounds of approved university colors and typefaces, I was given substantial freedom to create. Over 25 projects were delivered to the NCWC organizing committee over the course of the 2019-2020 school year.
To start the process of rebranding, the NCWC committee wanted a new logo that accurately represented their values. It took a few weeks of sketching designs and seeking feedback before the committee decided on a concept. The final logo combined an icon and a wordmark. The icon mark depicts a fountain pen with a subtle cross design within. With the final logo concept, I created vertical logos, horizontal logos, and icon marks in the Raleway typeface and UNW branding colors. After redesigning the logo, it was time to rebrand everything with the new logo. Previous designs were refreshed to a clean, modernized style. Projects highlighted include lunch tickets, programs, mugs, name tags, tote bags, and ads.
Over a nine-month period, I managed and completed over 25 projects while maintaining full-time student status and managing two additional part-time jobs. Every design decision I made was to make clean, minimal designs to modernize the conference look. It was fun to hear there were about 500 people who attended and received materials with designs I made. Throughout this process, I came to value teamwork. I attended the NCWC committee meetings where everyone discussed what needed to be done and what we needed from each other. My supervisor, an NCWC event coordinator, provided project details and gained approvals for each project. The lead copywriter provided written content needed for various designs. I enjoyed working within the team and seeing everyone’s passion for the conference shine through our group effort.
NCWC
Spring 2020
Brand Identity
Web Design
Marketing Collateral Design
Promo & Advertising Design
Publication Design
Heather Peterson – Chair & Associate Professor, Department of Literature
Melissa Clutter – NCWC Event Coordinator; Office Assistant, College of Arts & Humanities
Katy Hamilton – NCWC Event Coordinator & Copywriter; UNW Literature & Writing Alumna
My Linh Olsen – Graphic Designer; UNW Graphic Design Alumna
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Word
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft OneNote