Uniquely UArts: The Campaign for Creative Capital

The strategic campaign materials in this entry -- a dramatic, oversized campaign brochure; a highly textured video; and a colorful deck for use in presentations to small groups and individual donors -- were created as a fundraising communications suite for the University of the Arts in Philadelphia as it embarked on its first-ever capital campaign. The $50 million campaign represented a bold change of scope for UArts and announced the school’s aspiration to be visible on a larger stage. Yet it remained important that the creative campaign also reflect the school's scrappy, diverse, in-the-creative-trenches energy.

To accomplish these goals, we began by designing an unusual and distinctive campaign brochure. The piece has an almost leather-like cover, slightly larger than the pages within, which evokes an artist’s portfolio, and like leather, it will reflect use – we wanted it to be as beautiful when it is a little worn as it is in pristine condition. The oversized format allowed us to make the most of photography and let the visuals dominate, as is appropriate for an arts school. The center section’s red pages are unexpected, representing our campaign’s visual colorways, but also highlighting the text section with a shift in rhythm expressed through both hue and poetic typography. Overall, the three paper types used in this piece are meant to convey, even through touch alone, that this piece is something different. We believe this book represents the way an arts school should present its campaign narrative, by showing rather than telling.

The campaign video matched this approach. Very unusual for a higher ed fundraising film, this video steered clear of interviews and overt fundraising pleas, and instead was conceived as an art film, placing the emphasis on the real, lived experience of a UArts education. It was intended to capture the gritty, creative, urban energy of the school, intrigue donors, and make alumni proud.

The campaign deck was similarly designed to be a concise overview of the goals of the campaign that also captured the vibrancy of the UArts experience as it heads in a bold new direction.