Opportunity
Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world’s brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions and pressing societal challenges.I was approached with what was initially a simple task: swap out photos and copy on our existing poster that is distributed to prospective students. However, upon seeing their new copy, which consisted of 6 paragraphs highlighting their STEM divisions, I was inspired to go quite a bit further.
Before
After
Before
After
Start-up:
Once permission was given to explore a more illustrative concept, I created a mood board based off my initial idea: retro space! Rockets, stars, planets and even an atom were collected.
Build:
The initial draft explored the idea of each of the 6 divisions surrounded the orbital rings of an atom. This concept was scrapped (by me!) though I was proud of the fat that when folded, text would not have overlapped the folds. I drafted a second concept with a rocket launching from the top-right corner. A grainy texture was created using many layers of distortion in Photoshop for the background. After copy, stars, planetary bodies and the coolest retro font were added to finish it off.
Result:
The client was blown away. Great copy and a fresh, fun handdrawn design were presented and returned with minimal edits. This resulted in the client being excited to get it printed and in the hands of STEM students.