THE PROJECT
The goal of this project was to create a distinct mark for Lesley University College of Art and Design in order to increase marketing effectiveness of the programs in the AICAD consortium and the national higher education art school arena. The resulting brand identity gave the college of art and design a recommended direction that works together with the current Lesley University branding.
Founded in 1912 as the School of Practical Arts and later known as The Art Institute of Boston, Lesley University College of Art and Design enjoyed a long and rich history as an independent college of art and design. In 1998, AIB merged with Lesley University, forming a partnership focused on providing broader opportunities for art and design students while maintaining the ethos of an independent art school. In 2015, the name AIB had officially changed to LUCAD, which left the school without a logo or branding. In the Spring of 2017, students were selected to participate in a special topics course with the sole purpose of rebranding LUCAD. Each student envisioned and designed their own creative solution for a new brand identity for Lesley University College of Art and Design. Included here is my proposed rebrand, which ultimately made it to the top four.
PAST LOGOS:
STAKEHOLDER SURVEY
Anyone with a vested interest was asked to answer important questions about LUCAD in order to give me a better understanding of the various opinions of the institution. These questions were helpful in determining what sets LUCAD apart from other AICAD schools, how well the current identity conveys the missions and goals of the organization, and how other people felt about the current and past school identities.
“The college feels as though it’s confined by Lesley. It needs to stand out as an art and design school. It should be able to be recognized as a sub-brand of Lesley University, but it seems to get lost and stuck even though LUCAD has so much potential to stand on its own.”
“I wish the brand identity would support and compliment the school’s personal attention while aspiring to be the greater version of who we really are. The identity lost sophistication and needs to re-establish Art and Design by leveraging the strength of the University by being allowed to lead the identity and bringing a level of intensity and engagement versus being neutral.”
“The strengths are the connections I’ve made with faculty, students and fellow artists, as well as alumni. The weakness has been starting from scratch – people knew about AIB, but not many people know what LUCAD is.”
RECOMMENDATION
After analyzing the extensive research we had conducted, I recommended that the LUCAD brand extension keep in mind what the various stakeholders had to say while staying aligned with Lesley’s current brand identity. The new identity for the school should be clearly connected to Lesley’s master brand but distinctive alone and against other AICAD schools. The brand extension should focus on Lesley’s strengths such as: location, supportiveness, and its sense of community and focus on personal attention. I also advised against the current acronym LUCAD, for it did not mean anything to people outside of the school and did'nt have an emotional draw to it like AIB did.
AIB was important to many people and it had much more brand equity. For this reason, I believed the brand extension should reference AIB’s history and reach. Visually, I believed the logo for Lesley’s brand extension should include an abstract element in order to include all parts of the art school and a modern, contemporary typeface to emphasize LUCAD’s new beginnings.
