Generating Excitement for a New Kind of NYC Grad School
We started working with Cornell University as they kicked off an ambitious initiative: build a new campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City, reinvent tech education at the graduate level, and redefine the relationship between academia and industry. Cornell Tech was building something different—a new kind of grad school designed to fit the way tomorrow’s tech pioneers work and think. Now we just needed to help them tell that story.
Rallying the public around a campus that doesn’t yet exist
The vision was bold. The promise was inspiring. The only problem: the campus didn’t yet exist. To convince everyone from students and faculty to tech leaders and politicians to buy in, we needed to get them excited. We centered our strategy at the intersection of the public sector and academia—inviting this diverse group of stakeholders to join us on the journey and be a part of a different paradigm in higher education.
An identity everyone can own
We created an identity that reflects the driving entrepreneurial and creative spirit of Cornell Tech’s vision. The logo is inspired by a golf twist, set at the same 39 degree angle that Roosevelt Island sits in relation to Manhattan. It’s purposefully designed to be both a window and a portal into the school, reflecting the diverse constituents involved. The visual system works with existing institutional logos and the two institutions contained within the larger school. We continued to work together as their partner to bring to life the system we created across their admissions and advancement materials.
