NSCAD Extended Studies Brand
- 6+ Years Stylesheet Unchanged
- 10+ Deliverable Types
- Live Templates in Active Use
While working as an administrator at NSCAD University, I proposed taking on the branding for the Extended Studies department, an initiative I identified, scoped, and pitched myself. The department needed a cohesive visual identity that could sit alongside NSCAD University's broader brand guidelines while feeling distinct and ownable for Extended Studies specifically.
The project required navigating multiple adjacent brand systems, the university's main identity, the Anna Leonowens Gallery guidelines, and the Extended Studies department's existing materials, and synthesizing them into something unified, professional, and genuinely usable by non-designers on staff.
What I Made
- Simplified and refined the existing Extended Studies logo, including a responsive version and a MAKE logo variant
- Established typography standards and an expanded secondary colour palette
- Designed a full suite of document templates, social media templates (including animated Instagram story templates), a Brightspace LMS template, and a Certificate template
- Developed stock image guidelines with a curated starter library
- Built a Campaign Monitor email template for department communications
- Created a comprehensive brand guidelines document written for future designers or non-designer staff
- Met weekly with the head of Extended Studies throughout the process
The Design Thinking
The central challenge of this project was durability. A brand system for an institution isn't a campaign, it has to work for years, across contexts, and in the hands of people who didn't make it. Every decision I made was tested against that question: will this hold up when I'm not here?
The answer, six years later, is yes. The stylesheet is still running. The templates are still in use. That kind of longevity means the system was built well enough for people who didn't make it to actually use it, which was always the point.
