Messiah University Accepted Student campaign

Our goal with this project was to build excitement for our accepted students and drive them to pay their deposit and attend Messiah University the next fall. We want our accepted students to feel like they are unique and welcomed into our community and that we are just as excited to have them as they are to attend.

Over the years, our team discussed creating an accepted student gift to separate the celebration of being accepted from the information the student also needs to receive and respond to. We finally got this off the ground this year. I just pitched a gift box for accepted students but the admissions team got on board quickly and we were approved for 2 gifts— Accepted students and Deposited students.

I designed a box that fit beautifully with the institutional brand and tagline. The words open up and you're in were specifically placed so they would correspond to the opening of the box. The promotional gifts the student receives are a hat and socks which connect to the head over heels messaging on the inside of the box. Once opened, the student sees a personalized postcard encouraging them to share the good news on social media, pay their deposit and what next steps they should take after acceptance. Underneath the postcard is an invitation to attend an upcoming accepted student preview day and visit campus. Once the postcards are removed, the hat and socks are revealed.

The box is followed up with an official acceptance letter that matches the style of the box and includes financial aid and any deeper information the student needs. Emails are also sent to remind students of next steps after acceptance. I designed animated email headers that match the acceptance package to capture the student's attention when they open the email communications.

We're already seeing a 10% increase in our deposited students over the same time in the past few years. I'm excited to see the impact of this on our incoming class.

Students that received the box said:

"It felt really welcoming to campus. Like Messiah truly wanted to reach out to me personally."

"It helped me feel involved in the college before I even came here. It made me feel more at home and more involved with student life."

"I was enraptured by the word play. It was such a cool box and it leveled up when I opened it. It was unique."

"It was connecting. If you saw someone with the same hat or socks, you knew they were accepted, too."

"It was a lot different than anything I got from other universities. It was much better!"

This project won a 2022 American Inhouse Design award from Graphic Design USA (GDUSA). It is a national design competition with over 7,000 entrants. This piece was among the top 10 percent. The American Inhouse Design Awards is the premier showcase for outstanding work by inhouse designers. It is a unique opportunity for inhouse design, marketing and communications departments within corporations, publishing houses, non-profits, universities and government agencies to be recognized for their creativity, for the special challenges they face, and for their contributions to their businesses and institutions.