Dornsife College is the largest school at the University of Southern California, with 80+ majors and 1,300 new students each year. This means that Dornsife is responsible for training nearly 30 percent of USC’s undergraduate population.

In order to communicate Dornsife’s message effectively, the admissions team wanted to create thoughtful and creative print collateral that tells a consistent story. Their team had a few key goals: first, they wanted to push the limits of what is possible, moving away from the typical higher education style, while staying within USC’s brand guidelines. Second, they wanted to reduce the amount of text used in previous materials and allow design elements do more of the storytelling. Finally, Dornsife College wanted to rethink the way they talk about and display their many majors.

First, we created a concept around the sky and stars. We needed shapes and concepts that were aspirational and forward-looking, evoking thoughts of hope and the future. The use of constellations gave us a system that was not only interesting but also modular and could be used across several pieces, tying everything together.

We then went to USC’s campus and photographed current students of Dornsife College in order to create our key art, which was used on the most prominent marketing assets.

Another key aspect of the design was the use of photography. Dornsife College provides students with incredible opportunities both in Los Angeles and around the world, so we wanted to use images that tell the story without using words.

In order to help the school reimagine the way they communicate their majors, we evaluated the three categories that they used historically: humanities, natural and social sciences. We strategized with their team and developed a system of five clusters focused on student interests and skills. The final result was a Major Cluster Map that called back to the constellation system used elsewhere.

In the end, we created a suite of 20+ assets that are bold, creative, and fresh. Both UNINCORPORATED and the Dornsife College team are proud of the work we produced together.