The University of Wollongong (UOW) has announced a strategic brand refresh created by Frost*Design aimed at asserting its position as a leading and world-class educational institution.
The refreshed identity was developed to support aspirations in the University’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan – a visionary road map to continue building a research and learning environment that tackles society’s challenges and successfully achieve a position in the top one per cent of universities, globally.
Frost* Design was commissioned to undertake a strategic review to help tackle the challenge the University is facing in an increasingly competitive sector, to be a globally recognised, academic institution delivering agile thinkers, highly employable graduates and world-class research.
Cat Burgess, strategy director, Frost*collective said, “The client understood that if UOW wanted to assert itself as an institution of international standing, it needed to reflect its evolving character and operations.
“The brand needed to have a solid platform from which to communicate its impact on the world and one which could be translated into a design system that could forge a highly recognisable brand structure and hierarchy.”
Frost* Design worked collaboratively with UOW to develop clarity around the University’s positioning. The concept of ‘Purpose’ was the key idea identified to anchor and drive the strategic rationale and creative framework. This process has provided a comprehensive guide for the University to meaningfully contribute to its goals of leading a cohesive, influential and innovative society.
A key to the new identity is the UOW brand mark, which carries the heritage of the University’s original crest. The development of the new brand mark is reversing previous designs that had over simplified the crest thereby not asserting its prestige as authoritatively. The Illawarra Flame Tree is more clearly depicted against a navy blue background to evoke UOW’s top ranking as an established and now global institution that enjoys an outstanding reputation as one of the best universities in Australia.
“The refined crest and wordmark recapture the University’s prestigious heritage, while the flexible design system conveys the evolving spirit of a progressive, forward thinking institution,” said Ant Donovan, creative director, Frost*collective. “The combination of classic and contemporary visual themes sum up the dynamic nature of the University – world-changing innovation from years of intellectual endeavour.”
The new visual identity system addresses the University’s vast communication needs permitting a broad articulation of UOW’s thinking, endeavours and activities. The identity works across the brand’s multiple assets and has the flexibility to target a broad and varied audience base.
Professor Paul Wellings CBE, vice-chancellor, University of Wollongong said, “The thinking borne out from this collaborative process with Frost’s team has been invaluable.
“Our new look will continue to play an important role for student recruitment throughout 2016 as we aim to repeat the excellent growth we saw in 2015 and continue on our mission to be in the top one per cent of universities, globally.
“Together, our refreshed strategic plan and brand identity convey our renewed determination and sense of purpose.”
Frost* Design’s new creative solution will be applied to a wide range of touch points including its website and social media refresh, corporate collateral, student recruitment, campus signage, buses and cars, stationery and templates, merchandise, marketing collateral and other UOW locations internationally.
Frost*Design is working with the University’s Marketing Division to create an advertising campaign to be launched later this year to roll our across cinema, TV, digital, press and outdoor.
Credits
Cat Burgess – Strategy Director, Frost*collective
Ant Donovan – Creative Director
Haidee Wallace – Account Director
Ryan Atkinson – Design Director
Alex Dalmau – Senior Designer
Ryan Curtis – Designer
