Scenario
We previously had a 1 sided, 1 color bookmark printed and produced in house on astrobright cardstock. The bookmark listed important dates and deadlines for coursebook returns, cash for books and the return policy, but we would often find them in the trash. With the hire of a new designer we were able to dedicate spend time "jazzying up" a bland bookmark for the upcoming academic year.
Task
Develop a bookmark that customers would hold on to and refer to for upcoming dates and deadlines.
Action / Involvement
- creative direction
- some photography
- concept creation
- I came up with the concept of the bookmark as a keepsake, like a baseball card. Given it's undeveloped space, this university is also known as being under construction indefinitely (UCI). Therefore, I thought it would be nice to have a still photo of all interesting buildings throughout the campus.
- Art Direction and remaining photography was provided by a student designer.
Result
We ended up with 12 different bookmarks, each showcasing a building from every school on campus (Arts, Bio, Engineering, Humanities, Social Sciences, etc).
The bookmarks were full color, 2 sided and they were distributed with every purchase.
We rolled out different bookmarks throughout the year, and after the first week, the response was astounding. Students began asking which bookmarks were going to be released and requested other bookmarks made to commemorate other campus icons and landmarks.
This campaign was a huge success at creating awareness of bookstore policies as well as instilling pride in the unique campus.
The functionality of the bookmark became evident when people began acknowledging policies, dates and deadlines with their bookmark in hand.
At the time of this writing, many of the buildings are now named and dedicated to notable figures and donors to the school. Just another reminder of how quickly time flies and changes abound.
