Creative Concepts (Brand)
When the idea “Business+” was surfaced as a tagline to be used to highlight Bryant University’s different approach to a Business education, I was asked to visualize the concept for presentation to the Board of Trustees for their endorsement. These are the concepts I created for that presentation.
The “Be Bryant” video was the first “brand” video for the University. Working with a shoestring budget, I hired a writer to develop a script and we settled on the “Be Bryant” concept. Working with a videographer, we storyboarded a 3-day shoot to follow several students around campus. I then closely worked with the editor to get this final cut.
This video was a huge success. Internally the Board chair (an alum) said that he’d never seen the spirit of Bryant presented so well. In our digital marketing campaigns, this Telly Award-winning video still enjoys strong play-through rates and engagement even though it is now 3 years old.
Rebranding for success: Recruiter.com
Rebranded Recruiter.com. A start-up company that focuses on finding the right people for career opportunities needed a rebranding to reflect its mission. This project included defining a mission statement, a new logo, assets for social, brand elements, and a website redesign to re-align them in the competitive marketplace of employee recruitment.
This complete re-branding led to their IPO on NASDAQ.
Bryant University: Web
Re-designed and re-developed in Drupal in 2020, the flagship website for Bryant.edu is in constant motion. A video plays on page load -showing a variety of Bryant student experiences. Wireframes in Sketch and Figma (included here) are used to guide the in-house Drupal team to make constant improvements.
Analytics were used to define the content strategy and UX decisions to make the experience an elegant and simple-to-use solution.
This documentary-style video highlights a three-day intensive program in “design thinking”. I directed this video while participating in the program (my crew won 2nd place out of 32 teams!). A two-day intensive day of editing to get this down to a short run time. This video is presented during open-house events as a recruitment piece.
Rhode Island School of Design: Web
The RISD website was a project I lead in 2009-2010 that entailed a total revamping of the website both visually and programmatically. Working for a design institution like RISD made this project, especially high profile and it went through many design treatments to satisfy the RISD community. In addition I designed the RISD Museum site and the website for the museum’s store.
Ultimately the award-winning risd.edu website was so well received that it endured for more than eight years without significant changes.
Bryant University: Digital Ads
In 2021 I led Bryant’s first initiative in Digital Marketing. I worked with a copywriter to draft some concepts and then with our in-house designer to create the ads that you see above. Over the course of the campaign, we used analytics to refine our ads in order to maximize their impact.
These digital ads won several awards and were flighted over a two-year cycle, which led to our highest number of applications and enrollments in Bryant’s history.
The award-winning “I Chose Bryant” video campaign was a concept that I championed and implemented for Bryant’s digital marketing efforts. The focus was aimed to some degree at parents of prospective students with a strong ROI message to support the investment of a Bryant education.
There were roughly 8 students shot for this campaign and the cuts continue to get high engagement and playthrough rates in YouTube pre-roll.
Other Project Highlights
In my career, I’ve had the opportunity to craft many different types of projects. Both physical and digital media including 3D animation of a mascot logo, an identity system for a law firm that specializes in donations and gifts (and therefore a “gift box” shaped logo), a RISD Museum brochure for an exhibition on “Crisis” art, video on the art of copper etching, along with a famous jewelry designer’s museum exhibition installation.
I’m thankful to have been able to lead talented people in these successful projects.
