Founding UCSB Thrive's Branding
As the Graphic Designer for UC Santa Barbara Thrive (Formerly known as UCSB Food For All), I had to develop a brand that better serves the community at UCSB. Here, I will lead you through my brand development and identity management process for this organization. This brand identity ultimately shapes how I designed, produced, and developed content for social media, campus events, print, publications, and the website.
Visit for more organization information at food.ucsb.edu
To enable students in achieving success.
Breaking Down UCSB Thrive's Missions and Branding
After spending time with my advisor, I noted some key elements and emphases:
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Spread awareness about basic needs resources to students, faculty, and the surrounding community
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Remove the stigmas around basic needs resources
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Educate about basic needs issues and activism in society
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Create and maintain a safe space for in-need individuals
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Ensure that students and faculty have a stable environment while pursuing an education
Those key elements and emphases gave way to the branding I envisioned for UCSB Thrive:
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Colorful imagery (To make basic needs fun)
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Engaging graphics (To ensure effective communication)
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Inclusive language (To address a diverse community)
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Simple, but bold (We stand by our missions and beliefs!)
Then, I made the first draft of the UCSB Thrive brand guide based on USCB's branding.
I established the brand, and I went to work with the digital content.
First Project: Creating Promotional Graphics
Food for All was in the process of rebranding to UCSB Thrive in order to better depict what resources we offer and encompass more basic needs resources. Our designs are colorful and lively to make our content engaging.
This is an informational document that highlights all of the resources that UCSB Thrive promotes.
This is an all-inclusive resource pamphlet for the community to refer to when in need of basic needs.
Designs that Help Students:
A Reflection
Seeing my designs everywhere at the UCSB campus during undergrad and post-grad was extremely rewarding. UCSB Thrive allowed me to have immense creative freedom with how I wanted to create visual assets. While serving as a graphic designer, I learned to communicate with the diverse student body at UCSB. Learning how to develop messaging for the student body was an intricate and educated process that involved considering accessibility and empathy.
Had I designed longer for UCSB Thrive and the COVID-19 pandemic did not hit, I would've implemented accessible design for people with different abilities on campus or who lack even more resources to access these designs. I recognize that my designs at the time were incredibly hard to read due to color choices.
Working with this organization made me appreciate the diversity in management and my colleagues. Their creativity, stories, and empathy made my time meaningful. I learned a lot from them.