This Fulbright program was designed by Damien Claudio and Victoria Flores. We wanted to create something that spoke to the mature yet young minded curiosity of Fulbright leaders as described by Mary Schmider in the executive summary. We took a very modern yet old-style approach to this program’s identity that is seen through our choice of type, color, and our symbol. Our direction came from the power words that are highlighted in the executive summary at the beginning of our program. Our use of Helvetica, Mr Eaves, and Garamond are specifically tied to those words. Helvetica and Mr Eaves gave an old yet modern feel to the entire program. It spoke to the familiarity of Fulbright because Helvetica, specifically, is very familiar to the world. Garamond brought out the academic side of the Fulbright program with its serifs and aged feel. Color choice consisted of reds, blues, and grays. These color choices were based on how we wanted the program to feel academic yet modern. The blues and grays add to the professional side of the program while the red symbolizes the love for sharing knowledge. The symbol was designed around the idea of a raindrop rippling through stagnant water. This was very significant to our entire direction because Fulbright is all about the passing on of knowledge. A ripple effect in water spreads until it can no longer. This symbolizes the Fulbright program perfectly because it is about the continuation of learning and sharing what is learned.

Damien Claudio: typography, color, and symbol

Victoria Flores: layout, illustrations, and map

How did we get to the final product? Good question!

It took a lot of drafting, researching, decision making, and compromise. Working with another designer is not a usual thing to do in our design classes at St. Edward’s but Damien and I wanted to take on the challenge because that is how it will be in the “real world”. We worked late nights in the computer lab to get this program to come to life. Tuan Phan, our design professor, told us, “You can work together but it better look like the work of two people”. That was our objective.

This was the beginning: Damien and I sorted through all the schedules, events, buildings, speakers, and other content to get to our final product. We dug through the executive summary and came to the keyword bubbles. These words gave fuel to our creative thinking for the rest of the semester.