CSU Art & Design Department Logo Redesign
As part of my role as a Smith Center Innovation Fellow Assistant, I developed a refreshed visual identity proposal for the California State University, East Bay Department of Art and Design. The project focused on creating a department logo and branded letterhead system that aligned with CSUEB’s official university standards while giving the department a clearer and more consistent identity across marketing, social media, and internal communications.
Project Description, My Role, and Outcome
This professional branding project focused on redesigning and standardizing the visual identity for the Department of Art and Design at California State University, East Bay. The goal was to create a logo and supporting branded materials that felt appropriate for a creative academic department while remaining consistent with university branding guidelines.
My role included concept development, logo design, visual refinement, brand guideline documentation, and presentation of the final proposal to department faculty and staff. I began by exploring logo directions that could represent the department’s creative identity while still working within the larger CSUEB institutional brand system. This required balancing expression with professionalism, making sure the final design could function across official documents, marketing materials, social content, and departmental communications.
The design process involved multiple rounds of feedback and revision with department faculty. I presented logo options, gathered input, refined visual directions, and adjusted the design until we landed on a final identity that met both faculty expectations and university branding requirements. This collaborative process helped ensure that the final logo felt representative of the department while remaining practical for real world use.
In addition to the logo, I created a formal branding brief that outlined official logo usage, approved typography, letterhead formats, and submission requirements for design and publication materials. The brief clarified the difference between approved university letterhead and alternative unofficial options, helping faculty and staff understand how to use departmental branding consistently and appropriately.
The final outcome was a department logo and branded letterhead system that is now being used across Department of Art and Design branding, marketing, social media, and communication materials. This project strengthened my professional experience in brand identity design, stakeholder collaboration, institutional design systems, and translating creative feedback into a polished, usable visual identity.
Project Gallery
