We feature seven graduates improving the health of communities, locally and abroad, in our third consecutive design for the Samuel Merritt University annual report. Chosen by SMU’s Communications team, this winning direction expresses student and program vibrancy and unites diverse human interest stories with custom illustrations, hand-lettering, and design refinements throughout 54 pages. The result is a lively yet professional magazine-style read for SMU’s community of students,
faculty, alumni, donors, and partners across the country.

CDA further collaborated with the SMU Admissions team to evolve its set of eleven brochures, from dense information pieces to inviting recruitment tools. Tapping into the dynamism of the university’s programs, our design appeals to prospective students using eye-catching graphics, streamlined content, and stronger messaging. To convey the university’s progressive vision, mission, and values, we seized the opportunity to sub-brand each major degree with forward-looking, curvilinear acronyms and devised an energetic yet cohesive color palette. Altogether, we shifted the focus from academic overload to “Why choose SMU?”

SMU provides its students with a reputable, clinically-based health education – and its dated brand is seeing signs of new life that reflect the university’s promising plans for expansion. CDA’s expertise was brought in to re-create SMU’s cornerstone general brochure, along with further foundational pieces on which to build.

We modernized and streamlined the legacy logo, and provided the university’s Communications leadership with living brand guidelines moving forward. These recommendations and best practices seek to continually strengthen SMU’s image and felt experience, and express the university’s professionalism, dynamism, and relevance as they equip the next generation of health professionals to advance access and equity.

winner

2018 Graphic Design USA Health + Wellness Awards