Octavia Spriggs Design

Undergraduate Audition and Portfolio Review Day Webpage

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0500

This case study outlines the design process behind the Undergraduate Audition and Portfolio landing page on the College of Creative Arts website, a larger responsive website redesign that I completed.

The problem: Prospective undergraduate students interested in the WVU College of Creative Arts have to audition or present a portfolio review for acceptance into the majority of the programs offered. Each program has different requirements and separate application links. The multiple steps involved in the process were unclear and confusing on the previous website design, leading to many students and parents reaching out to the College recruitment office for help. This led to a loss of students in the pipeline and affected enrollment negatively. Important links were buried and hard to distinguish and the page lacked an information hierarchy.

The task:

How can we ensure that the application process is clear so that prospective students can quickly and confidently apply to their program of choice?

My contributions:

Created a new information architecture
Rewrote and organized content
Visual design
Responsive website code
Layout Design / Design System

My team:

Communications Specialist (Marketing)
Recruitment Coordinator
Assistant Dean (Recruitment)
Dean (Approval, Recruitment)
Developer, University Design System
Developer, Web Accessibility Support

Solutions: I designed a landing page for the Undergraduate Auditions and Portfolio Reviews webpage that used the University’s design system to its advantage by breaking important information out into concise, ordered sections. Each section emphasizes an important step in the process with short, informative explanations. Links for registration and portfolio/audition video uploads are indicated by buttons and more visible to the user.

Outcomes: Pain points have been reduced. The College is experiencing an increase in early applications and reduction in questions about dates at the initial registration phase. There was also a reduction in questions regarding scholarships and individual program requirements.

Exhibition Card Design and Branding

Sun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 -0500

I took cues from the main West Virginia University brand and utilized brand colors and fonts to create a sub-brand for Art Museum of WVU exhibition marketing pieces that suggests a feeling of continuity and storytelling.

The back of each card features a color-blocked header in a brand color that complements the full-bleed artwork on the front of the card. In the case that images are not allowed to be full-bleed contractually, I use brand colors to complement the artwork on that side as well.

Readers and friends of the museum can expect to receive cards in singles or multiples inside of a business envelope or find them on display as rack cards at the Canady Creative Arts Center and Museum Education Center.

My role:

Art direction
Branding
Visual and layout design
Image editing
Typography and typesetting

My team:

Art Museum of WVU (Content, Images, Approval)
University Relations Design (University Brand Standards)

Pride Practice Facility Landing Page

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:00:00 -0500

The problem: The West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band is fundraising for a new practice facility that will directly impact the student experience and make the band program competitive with its peers. The College of Creative Arts and the Bands program needed a way to provide information about the project and showcase architectural renderings to potential users and donors.

The task:

How can we inform users about the impact that the new practice facility will have on students and drive donations to the cause?

My contributions to the task:

Created an information architecture
Edited and organized content
Visual design
Responsive website code
Layout Design / Design System

My team:

Director of Development (Content, Marketing, Approval)
Director of Bands (Content, Approval)
Dean (Approval)
Developer, University Design System
Developer, Web Accessibility Support

Solution: I designed a landing page that showcased the plans for the future facility and testimonials from students that will be directly impacted from the project. All traffic is driven to the WVU Foundation, where users can donate securely online. This page is easily shared between the Development team, interested stakeholders (the Alumni Band, music alumni, and more) so they may donate directly to the project.

Museum Make It Kit Collateral

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:00:00 -0500

I designed an instructional poster, logotype, and birthday postcard for the Art Museum of WVU’s “Museum Make It” white-line printmaking kit. These were utilized in 2020 to bring art and museum concepts to students at home and in school classrooms.

When creating a logotype for the kit, I wanted to incorporate a playful feel but not stray too far from existing University branding. I combined the font with the hand-drawn look with Helvetica Neue Bold and paired it with the official museum wordmark.

I staged and photographed myself completing the craft for the images for the instruction steps one through four. I used typographic hierarchy to distinguish between information about Blanche Lazzell and educational thought-provoking questions along with instructions and the steps to complete the project.

The museum turned five in 2020, so a blank “birthday postcard” was included in the kit to allow users to practice their newfound white-line printmaking skills. The blue tab with instructions was perforated so it could be torn off to create a 6” x 4” postcard, which was pre-stamped and ready for mailing.

My role:

Content editing
Logotype design
Publication and layout design
Typography and typesetting
Photography and photo editing

My team:

Art Museum of WVU (Approval, Content, Kit Concept, Supplies, Artwork and artist images)

Curiosity Series

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 -0600

I helped create a three-tiered event structure which led to better management and cohesive marketing for more than 300 events hosted by the College of Creative Arts each year. This structure became known as the Curiosity Series, Discovery Series, and Emerging Artist Series.

The Curiosity Series is a sampling of 26 of our most widely appealing events that is marketed to the general public. The Discovery Series includes the remaining majority of the College’s recitals, lectures and group events marketed to arts enthusiasts and those who are aware of the College’s programming. The Emerging Artist Series includes our student and studio recitals and was created to enhance the student experience. The entire structure doubles as recruitment marketing to prospective students. The College continues to iterate on this project each year.

The problem: All events (big and small) were marketed with the same tactics which was confusing to our stakeholders and audiences and challenging to manage for our small marketing and production staff. Ticket sales were low in some areas while different Schools were overspending on separate advertising initiatives. Client expectations were also high given the number of constraints.

The task:

An audience at the College of Creative Arts is important for the student experience, revenue, and cultivating a donor base.

Considering our ultimate goals of recruitment and development, how can we create a better event experience for these existing users? How can we cultivate a more engaged audience within the university and Morgantown community?

The solution: Each separate event tier or Series was marketed to separate audiences using different tactics. WVU students are both a stakeholder and an audience. Prospective WVU students are always an audience to consider as well, not only for ticket sales but for our separate recruitment goals.

The Curiosity Series is marketed to the broadest audience using the largest budget for advertising and promotion. We used the WVU brand to create a sub-brand for the Series materials. This Series was marketed using a printed booklet sent to donors and alumni, billboards, paid advertising, promoted social media ads, a planned social media content strategy, landing pages on the College website, better utilization of the University calendar, digital signage around campus, email marketing to donors and patrons that signed up for our email list, and press releases written for each Curiosity event.

We marketed the Discovery Series in our normal roster of CCA and University communications, including our weekly HTML events email and university email newsletters. These communications go to audiences that are already aware of the CCA and know that we have a hefty slate of events. We also encouraged relationship-building between faculty and community members and local schools.

The Emerging Artist Series is marketed very lightly and to very specific groups, including those that are particularly interested in student produced work. We relied on a landing page on the College website to host an automatically updating room-reservation roster that listed all recitals.

Outcomes: Curiosity events had a “visible” rise in attendance. Most of our feedback initially was anecdotally from our production and dean’s office staff present at each event. Social media engagement for each event went up and traffic on our Series landing pages rose after the initial roll out and continued to experience spikes after planned communications were posted.

Internally, the Event Series structure has boosted morale of the stakeholders. Many events are now scheduled a year in advance, alleviating other pain points the College was experiencing and allowing our recruitment team to plan tours around events and for our development team to plan to bring out-of-town donors and alumni to events.

The student experience has been enhanced with masterclasses and special workshops planned around the guest Curiosity lecturers and performers.

Next steps: Moving forward we are going to forego billboards and print ads whenever possible and going to test a printed brochure rather than a 25-30 page printed booklet to alumni and donors, since this audience is already invested in what we do. The College is exploring managing their own ticket system to get immediate feedback on ticket sales.

My role:

Art direction
Planning and organization
Sketching and ideation
Content design, content editing
Typography and typesetting
Illustration
Photography, Photo editing and manipulation
Print and publication design (Booklet, programs, program covers, print advertisements)
Digital design (Info-station screens, billboards, social media graphics)
Marketing strategy

My team:

Director of Production and Facilities (Organization, Planning, Concept)
Communications Specialist (Organization, Planning, Marketing, Social Media, Ideation, Content)
Dean (Approval, Organization)
School Directors and Art Museum Director (Approval, Organization)
Faculty (Content, Images)
WVU Photography
University Relations Design (Approval, Branding)

George Hurrell Exhibition Brochure

Sun, 01 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0600

I designed this brochure for a George Hurrell photography exhibition in the gallery located at the home of WVU’s President. Content and images were supplied by the Art Museum of WVU. This was printed on 100lb cover paper with a satin finish for a timeless look and feel that showcased the contrast of Hurrell’s images.

My role:

Art direction
Visual and layout design
Typography and typesetting
Image color correction
Pre-production proofing

My team:

President's Office of Events (Approval)
Art Museum of WVU (Approval, content, image photography)

Planned Gift Brochure

Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:00:00 -0600

This brochure was designed to assist the College’s development staff with soliciting planned gifts. The first and second interior panels feature testimonials from donors who have made planned gifts with the College. The third panel of the brochure is a perforated postcard that can be torn off and sent back to our staff to indicate interest about discussing gift options further.

My role:

Art direction
Content editing and design
Functional and layout design
Typography and typesetting

My team:

Director of Development (Content, approval)
Communications Specialist (Marketing, interview content)
Dean (Approval)
University Relations Design (Branding)

Theatre Season Poster Designs

Tue, 01 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0500

I created illustrations and artwork for the WVU School of Theatre & Dance’s 2017-18 main-stage season. I selected a color palette that could work with the storyline of each performance individually and give the entire season a cohesive feel.

Before starting the series, I spoke to each performance’s director and researched the plot line of each play. I used the feedback from the director to guide me and help determine the proper feel that each poster should evoke, using key elements from each storyline. I brainstormed concepts for each poster using word association exercises and loose sketches.

I then created drafts of each poster and shared those with the director for approval. I used hand-drawn elements and lettering combined with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator techniques to create each final piece.

My role:

Research and writing
Ideation and sketching
Illustration
Photoshop manipulation
Typography and hand lettering
Digital design (subsequent Info-station screens, billboards, social media graphics)
Print design (Posters, advertisements, banners)
Pre-production proofing

My team:

WVU School of Theatre & Dance Director (Approval)
Faculty Production Directors (Approval)

Cancer Institute Gala Invitation Suite

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 00:00:00 -0500

I worked with the WVU Cancer Institute to create an invitation suite for the 34th Annual Spring Gala. The Gala was hosted at The Greenbrier, so I took cues from a rug designed by Dorothy Draper at the location to illustrate a rhododendron pattern in blue and gold as a nod to both the state flower and the colors of the University. The rhododendron pattern was used as a background element and envelope liner that helped tie the suite together.

My role:

Illustration
Pattern creation
Photoshop manipulation
Layout design
Typography and typesetting

My team:

President's Office of Events (Approval, content, art direction)
WVU Cancer Institute (Approval, content)

College View Book

Fri, 01 Jul 2016 00:00:00 -0500

The College of Creative Arts was previously using a large, separate view book for each of the three Schools under the College umbrella. This singular view book was designed with the new (at the time) West Virginia University branding to be concise, visually appealing, and informative about the unique selling points of the College. The size of the booklet (6” x 9”) made for easier mailing and featured a pocket folder on the last page to include program-specific collateral if needed.

This view book was in circulation from 2016 through 2022. Some small changes were made to program titles during that time. We changed the cover along with any internal updates to refresh the exterior, highlight a new student, and indicate to users at the College that there was a “new” version of the booklet.

My role:

Art direction
Marketing strategy
Content writing and editing
Layout and functional design
Typography and typesetting
Photo editing and manipulation
Pre-production proofing

My team:

WVU Photography
Recruitment Specialist (Content, Approval)
Associate Dean (Approval)
Dean (Approval)
University Relations Design (Branding, Approval)