Achieving Our Destiny was the largest capital campaign in  Wilkes University's 80-year history. The ambitious goal of $35 million dollars was reached and the Cohen Science Center was completed ahead of schedule in 2013. The campaign required a unique identity that reflected the proud tradition of scientific education at Wilkes, while also showing the University's forward-thinking intentions. 

The case statement needed to tell the stories of the brilliant students, as well as the story of the massive group of professionals dedicated to educating the next generation's scientific leaders. 

Materials needed to be nimble regarding production, so consideration to size and binding was important to ensure ease and speed in reprints. 

A college-specific publication is a staple in Wilkes University's successful communications flow to potential students. Initially, messaging was tailored to students interested in studying within a caring, mentoring community of faculty. 

Over time, as parents become more and more involved in a student's decision process, it was clear that the publication should shift to a shorter, more outcomes-based message was executed. 

The Annual Founders Gala is Wilkes University’s premiere fundraising event, having raised over $500,000 to date, for first-generation college scholarships. The nearly 400-guest event is attended by the University’s most generous donors and friends. 

The original, deco-style identity and materials harkens back to the University’s founding in 1933. Use of gold metallic ink and foil-stamp techniques on invitations pay homage to one of the University’s traditional colors and reflects the elegance of the event.

Upon his arrival at Wilkes University in 2012, president Pat Leahy worked to create a comprehensive strategic plan that would guide the University through the next five years. In 2014, Wilkes launched Gateway to the Future Strategic Plan, outlining the six driving directives that are necessary to achieve the ambitious goals set out by the administration.

To coordinate such a massive effort among nearly 500 employees, clear communication is an essential part of University buy-in. The choice to use a rendered illustration on the cover was meant to showcase the school's commitment to the university and community beyond. 

As the Wilkes Alumni Office hits the road for alumni gatherings across the country, there arose a need for invitations that would be both clever and eye-catching, as well as simple enough, from a production standpoint, to be printed in great quantity at low cost at the University Print Shop.

4.25" x 6" postcards were created, with clever messages, incorporated honoring the gathering's host city. 

In many cases, most University alumni and friends are unaware of just how far even a small gift can actually go. The challenge for this particular job was to make clear to younger alumni, with less disposable income, that no matter the size, any charitable gift to the University can make an impact. 

This custom infographic was created for use in Annual Fund publications and mailers, as well as on social media. 

Today's students are presented with endless options for role models. The Wilkes University Health Sciences Brochures were created and engineered to perpetuate "nerd pride," and give young people a piece to hang on their bedroom walls or lockers that could take place of their favorite actor or sports star. Why shouldn't the sciences be treated like rock stars?

Creating holiday messages for a private, non-denominational can present a challenge, as any and all reference to Christmas and religion can feel non-inclusive to a broad audience. Using mechanisms like cozy winter clothes and custom poems take traditional Christian messaging out of the equation. 

The annual Homecoming Celebration at Wilkes University is the schools most widely-attended event, with alumni for across the country visiting campus for three days of reunions and activities. 

When communicating the event to alumni, it is essential to evoke a feeling of nostalgia and fondness for good old Wilkes U. The cover of this self-mailer for 2013 featured original photography of artifacts from the University archives, and alumni were challenged to find the piece that was most familiar to them. The cover for 2011 was meant to be more modern and playful, to attract younger alumni back to campus, while also harkening back to Wilkes' tradition of educating U.S. Flyboys during WWII.

For the interior of the piece, the challenge was to fit three full days worth of activities into a small space while maintaing a point size that older eyes would still be comfortable reading. Brief descriptions and narrow columns create an organized structure that is clear and easy to follow. 

Safer than Salt provides an ice melt option that is safer for children and pets than traditional brands. Being a challenger brand, Safer Than Salt faced the challenge of breaking into a market with significant leaders. Close-up images of the product, combined with child and pet imagery and a circle die cut reinforce the image of a small, caring company. 

Wilkes University is fortunate to host multiple lectures featuring leaders in areas like politics, education, science, literature, law and humanities. In many cases, attendance to these lectures is driven not only by interest in the individual speaker, but by the fact that the University has a tradition of compelling lecture options. As most of these events are hosted by different areas of the University, it became clear that to take advantage of the weight of the University as a whole, it was necessary to create an identity and a comprehensive schedule publication that branded these events as broad University initiatives. 

The Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic is an institution in the arts community in Northeast Pennsylvania. The Philharmonic tapped Nancy Sanderson, who at the time was the director of the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary, to create a book for school-aged children and teens, extolling the virtues of music in one's life, and how to practically integrate music study into everyday activities. An in-kind donation of the printing of the publication dictated binding, stock and number of colors. Graphics had to speak to an audience of teens and tween, balancing a great deal of important content with dynamic imagery.

The Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary, or PAI, has long been one of the most respected summer performing arts programs in Pennsylvania. The camp attracts performers and students from around the world to Sem's Kingston, Pennsylvania campus to study music, dance and theatre with industry professionals for six weeks of intensive training. Students are granted weekly public performance opportunities as well as large-scale shows at the culmination of the program in August. 

The program being a significant investment for families, materials must communicate the value of the PAI experience, and production reflects the professional commitment of Wyoming Seminary to the performing arts community.

The logo for Phoenix Physical Therapy in Burlington, Vermont, was meant to convey a sense of success through adversity. Patients entering into physical therapy for the first time are often in difficult places in their lives, and physical therapy should offer a sense of power and hopefulness, which are imperative to healing. 

With a change in University administration, it is important for each piece to not only reflect the accomplishments of that president, but also their personal aesthetic. While the tone and feel of the work varies significantly, continuity is maintained through engineering and production specifications. 

Wilkes University's President's Report for 2001 - 2011 is meant to give a high-level view of the accomplishments of Dr. Tim Gilmour upon his retirement. With many of Dr. Gilmour's successes being of a financial and academic nature, it was important to use type and imagery in a fun and playful way, to humanize what amounted to a lot of hard data and to reflect Dr. Gilmour's jovial personality.

In contrast, the President's Report that was created for Dr. Pat Leahy in 2016 was meant to celebrate more strategic accomplishments that come with genuine and heartfelt feature-style narratives. Expressive photography was paramount in expressing Dr. Leahy's impact on the community and student success. The more subtle, tasteful design reflects Dr. Leahy's elegant aesthetic.

Working in an in-house environment is not without is challenges, and being nimble enough to work with faculty when they are presented with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities can be both frustrating and exciting. 

The English department at Wilkes University was fortunate enough to secure a lecture by Salman Rushdie. With 72 hours notice and a less-than-ideal photo provided by Mr. Rushdie's staff, making the campus community aware of this event was the number one goal of the piece. Using the provided image and textural elements that honored Rushdie's heritage, an eye-catching piece was created in record time, printed at the University Print Shop and distributed throughout the community in a matter of hours.

Wilkes University's print communications flow to potential students is substantial in its breadth (with over 50 pieces) and dynamic in its strategy. Pieces are mailed at various times to segmented groups based on where they in in the admissions process. 

The Search piece is one of the first points of significant communication to potential students. It's meant to measure interest and viability as a recruit through the student's prompted response (tear-off form to fill out and mail). This process gives the University a great deal of insight into the level of interest on the part of the student. 

Designed to adhere to the University's brand standards, the Search Piece is engineered in consideration of the high speed and vast quantity production. 

Wyoming Seminary's rich history has long been able to sustain enrollment at this 173-year-old institution. But the early 2000's found Wyoming Seminary a gem in a saturated market and starting to consider more proactive recruiting strategies. 

Though the respected brand would remain the same, new artwork and updated athletics identity manifested into more visible, personal messaging with a modern feel. To eliminate the "ivory tower" feeling some parents have towards private schools, personal names and stories were used to break the fourth wall between the piece and the viewer.

The Wilkes Fund is the general giving option for areas such as Academics, Financial Aid, Faculty Development, Student Development/Mentoring and Technology. As a result, the target audience is massive, and the deomgraphic spans over 70 years, making the messaging for this piece a complicated challenege. 

It has become clear through past results that the most successful fundraising pieces are emotional in their tone. Making connections between potential donors and either their past experience with Wilkes as well as the direct impact of their gifts. Mechanisms like direct numerical value and nostalgic physical space images scan span these connections effectively. 

Wilkes University has always valued athletics as part of a well-rounded education, especially holding true to the Student-Athlete philosophy that is common in Division III athletics. And manifesting school spirit is vital to not only the recruitment process, but to the alumni engagement at a University. Exciting branded spaces are more and more becoming the standard among all levels of NCAA competition.

From a budgetary standpoint, the desired effect was easily accomplished through paint and adhesive vinyl, making this re-design a cost-effective and highly impactful success.

Following a significant addition to Munson Field House, the expanded shared men's locker room provided a blank canvas for exciting messaging to inspire student athletes and recruit new Colonels.