Role: Experiential Designer
Project Brief: Created printed assets to elevate the KCAI Commencement ceremony. Establish a new look and feel outside of the institutions brand guidelines.
Tools: InDesign, Photoshop, Adobe Firefly
Marked and printed is the theme for KCAI 2026 commencement ceremony. It celebrates the fundamentals of art that each art students learned. This big idea is beautifully design into a newspaper program.
What problem or opportunity did I discover?
A problem that I discovered when handed this project is that many people don't keep their graduation program. In previous years, the programs would go to waste or be found on the floor right after. Thats when I began to think, how can I design something thats either multi purpose and or memorable enough
to keep.
Who am I designing for?
I am designing this for graduating art schools for their commencement ceremony and their families.
Inspiration
My inspiration came from the bold type and typeset of newspapers. But with more of a modern twist, like adding illustrations to showcase the vibrancy of an art school.
Commencemt Program
The commencement program was the backbone of this project. It had to be 15 pages total which included photography, newspaper typeset, and illustrations.
My goal was to create a commencement program that people would want to frame which is the main reason why I wanted to do a newspaper look and feel. I felt that nostalgic things are making a comeback and we as a society are started to cherish textual things.
Invitation Postcard
Simple and straightforward assets that had to be cohesive to the commencement program.
Digital and printes asset.
Environmental Assets
I was also tasked with creating environmental pieces to place during commencement to elevate the experience. These pieces had to follow the look and feel of the commencement program
A few things I kept in mind when creating these was where are people already going to be looking. Also, how do I elevate the experience specially for the graduates.
Research
I took a tour around the venue to see how design could maximize the space. I photographed locations where I saw a possibility of
environment placements.
Early Designs
Design System
Bold and Colorful
I created a color palette and illustrations that felt fun and bold to celebrate this occasion. I grabbed inspiration from the KCAI color palette and slightly tweaked it to fit this theme.,
Clean and Structured
Even though I did some playful treatment with type and layouts. I still kept that clean and structured feel from the newspaper.
Final Designs
Program
Postcard
Experiential
Reflection
It was very exciting and rewarding to design my own commencement. If graduation felt rewarding this felt even more rewarding. I really enjoy students and families taking photos with their commencement. I'm glad that my design went beyond the trashcan right after commencement. Overall, great project and outcome.