Year
2024
Client
University of Southern California (In-house)
ROLE
Brand Designer, Art Director
Scope of work
Art direction, Brand design, Editorial design, Image editing
Background
About
USC Housing's Arrival Guide publication has been the primary document incoming and returning students reference during the initial weeks of the housing process. Packed with all the most important information, the year Arrival Guide lays out the general housing guidelines, relevant contacts, locations of interests, and any tips and practices students may need.
Almost a decade's worth of copy has made extracting answers from the publication an intricate process: old addresses, photographs of housing buildings before their renovations, and outdated prices were among the many things that needed to be rewritten. Furthermore, the large amount of text found in the previous Arrival Guide publications dominated most of the spreads and has made sifting through the pages a cumbersome task.
Project
As the lead designer for the Arrival Guide brand refresh, I worked with senior members of the housing department, along with our amazing copywriter, to trim the text down to only the most essential and relevant information. As we stripped away outdated copy, I began to develop page layouts that would allow for more breathing room for each blocks of text. Images were laid out on each page to help students crucial locations around the university campus. A variety of weighted typefaces, coupled with USC's gold and cardinal, helped emphasize information within blocks of text. Maps, charts, and tables have also been recreated from scratch to ensure that students can easily navigate their way through numbers and schedules.
Two of a Kind
There a few key differences, such as housing locations and assigned student schedules, found in the undergraduate and graduate versions of the Arrival Guide; we've created two versions to prevent any confusion during the already hectic housing process. Utilizing distinct color schemes also made it easier for department staff and student volunteers to distribute the correct set of documents.
