Branding Blackboard

Branding anything is difficult, universities included. How does one make the university appear fresh and modern, flavoured with conservatism, which reinforces the institution as a place of knowledge and power – is it possible to have the best of both worlds?

With any design, a lengthy refinement process grew out of my original (top banner) idea, gradually changing it to the near final result (most bottom banner).

Since these banners were being designed for the Faculty of the Built Environment, I came up with a pattern/motif that resembled folded paper – a common starting point for looking into forms and facades – one of them pays homage to the shells of the Sydney Opera House. At the risk of being too suggestive, the patterns/motifs were dropped and the team settled on a plain generic banner.