(Warning: This post is incredibly self-serving. But then again, so is this entire blog.)After harping on bloated branding exercises, busy graphic design and the oft-made tragic choices of "inclusion" over "focus," I'm happy to share a Conk Creative campaign that will hopefully bring clarity (and excitement) to an unlikely place: academia.
About four months ago, I was hired by a group at the University of Iowa called the Iowa Center for Developmental and Learning Sciences (ICDLS). Yes, despite my resume in fitness, technology, manufacturing and media, this group trusted an outsider to take on a project in the world of high-powered university research (an area no less competitive than the others, by the way).
The core membership of the ICDLS is a group of professors who know more about human learning and development than you and I can ever dream of. In their market, they're the upstart Davids in a world dominated by old-school Goliaths--the Apple trying to break the grip of the oppressive PC by exposing "nature vs. nurture" as a false choice and bringing gene worship back down to earth.
They invited me to come down to Iowa City, do interviews, learn about what they do, and develop a marketing plan. The marketing plan turned into a Brand Blueprint, and the recommendations were aggressive. Change your name. Design a new logo. Embrace a new icon. Change the way you talk about yourselves. Launch a new website. Make a video. Start a Facebook page.
To my shock and awe, they took every recommendation and re-hired me to help them execute the plan. In two months.
The result was a classic example of strong collaboration and applying creativity not only to materials, but to budgets. Not enough money for a full video? We created simple "Lessig-style" videos out of the interviews I had recorded. Can't hire out the entire website? Fine, we'll do the overall logo and graphic design and turn the buildout over to your internal staff.
As of today, the new website is live. The ICDLS is now the Delta Center. The launch party is tomorrow, and I'm headed down to IC. Feels good to walk the walk.
(Here's the website.)
