Case Study: How Clayton State University Celebrated a Special Year with Renewed Pride

The Challenge

As Clayton State University’s 50th anniversary approached, their already-busy marketing team was tasked with commemorating the occasion in a meaningful way. With limited internal bandwidth available, they needed a strategic partner to embed seamlessly with their staff, and produce something unforgettable.

Strategy and Services Provided

Collaborating with the University’s internal marketing team, we concepted and designed a 60-page anniversary edition of Laker Connection magazine that raised the school’s brand to a new level of sophistication, from its newly-crafted masthead to its unique size and keepsake-quality binding. Production enhancements included an embossed foil-stamped cover, featuring the celebratory logo in metallic gold, with its radiant lines in clear, raised varnish for a huge “wow” factor. And of course, we kept it all on budget!

Services for this specific project included:

  • Print Design, Establishing Future-use Grid Layouts
  • Collaborated and Procured Image Sourcing / Photography: Kevin Liles, Erin Fender, CSU Archives
  • Brand Refresh, Contributing to New Masthead Design and Updating the Publication’s Identity Standards

The Results

The golden anniversary issue was extremely well-received by University officials, current students, and alumni alike, stoking pride and generating excitement throughout the school’s community. This project also gave the in-house design team new formatting and styling options to build on, contributing to the brand’s continuing growth.

View the anniversary edition as an online PDF here.

“Working with Rich was wonderful. The 50th anniversary of our university was an extremely busy time for the marketing department, and the magazine was a signature piece to the celebration. Rich took our input and created a new design for this special issue of the magazine. Collaborating on the design was seamless! His handling of all the layout and production was invaluable to me. The entire process was a great experience.”

— Heidi Weathersby, Senior Graphic Designer, Clayton State University

Select Assets from the Publication

A sampling of several spreads
Concepted “End of Article” Mascot-related Icon as Finishing Touch
Let's do this!