UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

Thanks Day

A Multi-Award Winning Donor Relations Rebrand

branding

Donor Relations

Fresh creativity Needed

UT Thanks Day is an annual celebration, hosted by the Donor Relations Team, honoring donors who create opportunities for UT students. The goal is to encourage as many students as possible to come out to help say, "Thank you" to the UT donors as part of stewarding their gifts. This attitude of gratitude helps with donor retention. In 2017, Wessel Creative was tasked with enhancing the program identity and provide respective marketing materials.

Project Scope

Brand identity refresh
Print collateral
Digital marketing collateral
Video editing

2018 CASE District IV
Gold Award for
‍Design - Special Pieces

2018 CASE Circle of Excellence
Silver Award
for Stewardship

2018 CASE District IV
Silver Award
for Stewardship

The Refresh

The original look included the University of Texas Tower, which has served as the University’s most distinguishing landmark for years. The client liked this graphic identity that they had previously used, but wished it to be a bit more “humanized.” I updated the color scheme to be more bold and match the university's latest branding guidelines. This gave a much more bold look with plenty of contrast to make the elements pop.

I agreed that they already had a strong look, but felt the tower should be a secondary brand, not the primary identity. Having years of experience in higher education, I have always felt that a school's mascot should be one of - if not the most - visible figure on a college campus. Presidents, athletic directors, and coaches come and go, but a mascot is typically there to stay. Students and alumni particularly have a strong affinity for their school's mascot.

#UTThanksDay

This #UTThanksDay, we’re extending a heartfelt, Texas-sized thank you to the Campus Partners, donors, and volunteers who support @TexasULN! Your encouragement and support help our students advance their education, communities, and lives. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/PmoNggHLhX
— UT Austin SSI (@UTAustinSSI) November 15, 2017

Whoa – we signed 400 cards to acknowledge the tremendous generosity of our engineering family in 4 HOURS. A Texas-sized THANK YOU to all of our donors, students, faculty and staff! #UTThanksDay pic.twitter.com/TyddLxxxGL
— Texas Engineering (@CockrellSchool) November 15, 2017

#UTThanksDay 2017 🤝 pic.twitter.com/tZ4uDJEFXX
— IVGC (@TexasIVGC) November 15, 2017

Raine Munkens

Development Specialist for Donor Relations and Stewardship

The University of Texas at Austin

Tyler enthusiastically stepped into a role where our new team needed fresh creativity, even when we weren’t sure where to start. My work with Tyler during UT Thanks Day led to two CASE District IV 2018 Awards: Gold in “Design-Special Pieces” and Silver in “Donor Relations / Stewardship,” as well as CASE Circle of Excellence Award: Silver in “Silver Award for Stewardship."

It’s been a true privilege to collaborate with Tyler. He’s incredibly professional, thoughtful, and very easy to work with. Without his design and communications talent, attention to detail, quick turnaround, and ability to work well remotely, this campus-wide campaign would not have been so successful. Grateful for Tyler and all he does for us — I could not recommend him more!