Haas diGITAL | online mba brand & course graphics
A custom illustration of Cafe Think, a real eatery on campus
frequented by the business students, faculty, and staff.
Technology-Enhanced Instruction
The Haas Digital team produces online classes for the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. Their mission is to enrich and expand the reach of Berkeley Haas’ world-class learning experience with innovative pedagogy and educational technology.
I joined the team of learning designers, educational technologists, and audio and video experts as a contract graphic designer with the objective to re-design the look and feel of their asynchronous course offerings in preparation for the launch of the business school’s online MBA program. In collaboration with the instructional designers and executive director, I worked out how the established (and strict) branding system of the Haas School of Business could evolve and expand to encompass the online courses, while still allowing for some creative latitude. The idea was to establish the style guides and visual language that could then be adopted and applied by their in-house design team going forward.
I designed the basic slide deck presentation that is now used as a template and basis for every course in their program. In designing the first course logos, I developed the style on which all the subsequent course logos are based. I began curating an illustration library from, at first, paid online sources that I later customized and added to, in order to build up an asset library that the instructional designers could pull from for specific course modules and lecture examples. The illustrations were uniquely tailored to evoke the instructors’ appearances, anecdotes, and even locations specific to the UC Berkeley campus. In doing so, the student could experience a sense of place while still attending the school virtually. These logos, slides, and illustrations were prepared in such a way that the video production team’s motion graphics artists could easily animate to create an even more engaging experience.
Course Logos
Working within the rigid brand guidelines of the Haas School of Business presented an interesting challenge when trying to give each course logo a unique treatment.
Logos animated for video bumpers.
Custom Illustrations
A major goal of this project was the development of an asset library of custom illustrations that could work for specific courses and also be adaptable for future ones. Every image should allow for the possibility of animation.
Slide Deck Template
Designing the basic slide deck presentation that would be adapted to each course was a straightforward yet iterative process that included input from the instructional designers and producers.
