Context
Who and what is optiMize?
optiMize is a university sponsored student organization located on the University of Michigan campus. They work to fund, support, and encourage student-lead startups and motivate social innovation projects. I've been working with them since I was a freshman in 2016 and in 2017, optiMize asked me to join their paid student staff team as a Designer. Since then, I've been heavily involved with guiding the design team and improving optiMize's ever changing visual direction.
Creating a new branding direction for an upcoming milestone
I was tasked with coming up with a cohesive theme as well as creating branding and visual direction for optiMize's upcoming 5th Year Anniversary. This was a huge milestone for the org, having come from a small idea to a now university funded organization. They wanted me to break out of the simple and graphic design they've been using thus far and create something fresh, new, and appropriately celebratory. They gave me the words generation, growth, and giving to set me off on my branding adventure.
So this was optiMize's original logo...
Sleek but maybe a bit sterile for something as grand as a 5th Year Anniversary.
RESULTS
Vibrant, fun, approachable but still recognizable
This was the new logo design I came up with for the year's special anniversary. Ultimately I aimed for a fun and unique "Google Doodle"-esque approach. This meant making a logo that didn't overwrite the globe icon used in the original logo and instead coming up with a fresh young look for it that overlaid on top of the original shapes.
I felt that optiMize's own design evolution resembled the changes that were happening at places such as Google and Facebook and took inspiration from their design aesthetics. I also incorporated my illustration background to create a hand drawn feel and tapered lines that no longer felt stiff and inflexible.
I pitched for a botanical, plant, and nature based theme to the Core Team that handled the mass events at optiMize. The theme evoked generation, growth, and giving, all of the concept words they gave me initially. I felt that a plant theme could showcase how optiMize has grown over the years and was flexible in that it could display both old and new growth in a metaphorical manner.
Coming up with a fresh but flexible new color scheme
In my pitch, I introduced a new color scheme that built on top of optiMize's signature blue. I included punchy new hues for a spectrum of colors that could be used for new marketing and promotional material. The wide range of values and hues meant that there was a color for every situation, and prevented new visual content from looking too monochromatic and minimalistic like in the past.
Producing original illustrations that changed optiMize's branding forever
With my final deliverables, I included an original illustration that fit the theme I had pitched and conceptualized while embodying the vibrant and fresh feel I had created for the rest of the Anniversary's branding concept. It utilized and showcased the new color scheme and signified optiMize's first step into using illustration in their promotional content.
I had been planning on implementing illustration into optiMize's design for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity to show off the values of hand drawn illustration. Since then, optiMize has been eager to include illustration in their design choices. Through this, we've been able to attract new members, students, donors, and partnerships.
Giving the logo a 'little bounce in its steps'
Here is the logo animated for use in any video content that optiMize needed to promote the 5th Year Anniversary event. I wanted to take advantage of the new plant growth components of the logo and gave everything a youthful movement of 'springing to life'.
