Commencement Program Redesigns

In 2016, UC San Diego introduced a new brand identity and guidelines to redefine its communication as a world-leading research and academic institution. As part of this rebranding initiative, I was tasked with redesigning the university’s commencement collateral to ensure it fell in line with the new brand voice.

Given to attendees and guests, the All-Campus Commencement Program provides an outline of the ceremony’s schedule, profiles of keynote speakers and special guests, and features a special message from the Chancellor to the graduating class of that year.

The UC San Diego college system is divided into unique academic units, each possessing its own brand, theme, and educational requirements. Before UC San Diego’s 2016 rebrand, each college independently managed the design and production of their commencement collateral. Following the rebrand, I took on the responsibility of unifying these designs under a single umbrella, while preserving the spirit of each college. These program redesigns were among the first printed materials to implement the new brand for long-form documents.

Another important piece in the suite of collateral was the All-Campus Commencement tickets. As another implementation of the new brand, I redesigned these tickets to feature prominent color-coded sections. This allowed ushers to quickly identify seating zones and efficiently guide attendees to their specific locations during the ceremony.