KAYLEE PRUNTY EDGE PROJECT
Kaylee Prunty | Cedar City, Utah | BFA in Graphic Design | Leadership Engagement Track
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DESIGNING A NEW BRAND FOR THE SUU WRITING CENTER
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I have worked at the SUU Writing Center for most of my college career. For my EDGE project, I wanted to help improve the place that had been such a good job to me. So, I decided to create and implement a fresh new brand for the SUU Writing Center. A brand is a set of visual elements and rules that create a memorable identity for an organization. I created a brand for the Writing Center by getting rid of the unprofessional posters, typography, and logos that existed in the Center, and designing new ones that were modern and clean.
After I created new visual elements for the Writing Center, I had to come up with guidelines about how they were to be used. These guidelines were put into a “Branding Style Guide”. The style guide is a physical book that tells the Writing Center the do’s and dont’s about how to visually represent themselves. Because of this new brand and the new style guide, the Writing Center’s level of professionalism improved, which generated more student appointments. It also has instructed current (and future) Writing Center’s employees and management on a smarter, more efficient way to market themselves.

Branding Materials

Style Guide
My main source of inspiration came from my branding class. In the class, I had helped a struggling local restaurant develop a new logo and brand identity. I was able to work hands-on with the manager to create something unique and special to him. As a result, the restaurant’s sales improved dramatically as did the public’s popular opinion. I wanted to do the same thing for the Writing Center.
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The main challenges I had were working within a strict time frame and being the main leader on the project. The timeframe was difficult because there are so many tasks that go into making a brand. In addition to coming up with guidelines for every conceivable visual element (such as logos, illustrations, photography, fonts, colors, etc.), I had to design a style guide that was beautiful and functional. Besides that, I was the main (and pretty much only) leader on the project. I had no one to turn to for a critique and no one to tell me when I was finished. Everything was done by my own rules, which at first may sound like a dream come true, but it was actually quite frustrating.
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This project was made for the writing center, so naturally they benefited the most from it. For example, because of the more professional branding, students are more aware of the resources the Writing Center offers. This has led to more appointments and student involvement. As a result of this increase in student interest, the Writing Center budget has expanded and allowed for even more growth to occur.
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This project has also benefited me because it’s taught me valuable lessons about leadership and productivity. I have learned that while I do enjoy leading within groups, I do not enjoy being the “top dog” on a project. I have come to appreciate the value of having someone smarter and more talented work alongside me, to guide me and help me. I have also learned that, surprisingly, I work well under tight deadlines. If I take the time to clearly plan out specific tasks, I tend to work more efficiently with the same amount of creativity.
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The Writing Center Commons