Illustrating a Campus Map & Admissions Mailing
for The College of William & Mary
Did you know that before going full time as an artist in May 2019, I worked in college admissions for 5 years? My job (for 3 of those years) as an Assistant Dean at my alma mater was such a compelling and magical one. I loved helping William & Mary to accept each new class of incoming students and welcoming them to school each fall.
One part of my role included supporting the design of print materials for the Admission team. When I decided to leave higher education to pursue art full time, I knew I would miss this team collaboration and the marketing projects we dreamed up together. Fast forward to 2020, and I had the tremendous pleasure of combining two of my loves by reuniting with W&M Admission for two marketing projects.
One of these projects is a mailing sent out to high school seniors as they start to apply to schools each fall. Due to Covid-19, the traditional college visit experience undertaken by families has changed drastically. Families are no longer able to tour campuses as they are in session, so W&M Admissions decided to create a Guide & Map to bring campus to each senior - thus sharing details about favorite campus locations, activities, and opportunities at William & Mary.
Over the course of 2 months this summer, I collaborated with the creative teams at W&M on this mailing. It took many iterations of map sketches and layouts to find the perfect way to showcase the best of the best on campus. We wanted to keep it fun, bright, and whimsical with a cohesive color palette. In the end we decided that I would paint a base map of campus, and that we would digitally insert icons of buildings, students, and activities throughout.
You can see some of our earlier map layouts as well as icon sketches in the slideshow above!!
One of my greatest tools during this project was Procreate on my iPad. The app helped me to sketch the map and icons digitally for the project and easily send the drafts back and forth to the creative team. When there are rounds and rounds of edits and changes, speed and adaptability are paramount. Working on sketches and early designs digitally - even though each final painting is done in traditional watercolor - made that so much easier.
I’m just going to be over here - still squealing and jumping around with joy about this project. Don’t mind me!
Thank you to The Office of Admission at William & Mary as well as the entire team in the Creative department for your support & collaboration!
