Boise State Online Digital Ad Redesign
Role: Project lead and graphic designer
Boise State Online’s digital ad templates needed a revamp and a redesign. The previous ads were causing some ad fatigue, and they were difficult to use with photos and long program names, often cutting off important parts of photos and creating awkward inconsistencies because the program names wouldn’t quite fit. I kicked off the project by conducting market research, creating a mood board, opening up the research phase to the entire marketing department, and hosting a conversation with the creative team to establish a visual direction.
Design Choices
Boise State already has a brand, so instead of reinventing it, I utilized elements that were already used throughout the brand. Aspects like the orange highlight were used sparingly from time to time and created a great solution to emphasize “online”.
The blue turf was an element that had been used before, but it was challenging to read the copy that was over it because the turf was so bright and contrasty. Instead of getting rid of it, I brought it to life by adding a gradient over it that would make it more subtle to use as a texture.
In addition to gaining inspiration from conducting market research, adding gradients and masking out the subject for some overlay effects really brought the ads to a more modern aesthetic.
Before and After
The Boise State advertisements were created before my employment, so I used this redesign as a chance to add a more cohesive and modern aesthetic. Below you will see how some of the ads looked before I joined the team and how I spruced up their look in the redesign.
Visual ads before and after:
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Text ads before and after:
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Icon ads before and after:
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Turf texture before and after:
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A Complete Guide
I put together a complete guide for the marketing department to flip through. This way, they could provide feedback and see all of the potential layout options we had in our back pocket. Because these are templates that are meant for all of our programs and images, we decided to make more versions that could accommodate the variation of program names and compositions of photographs.
See a full guide of all layouts below.
