Colorado State University Admissions

Proud to be a CSU Ram

Universities are notorious for sending out generic mailers. 74% of Gen Z individuals spend their free time online. It takes a lot for them to engage with anything that comes in the mail. Authenticity was key. These students consume a lot of content and demand transparency. We created tailor-made mailers and other print pieces with Fort Collins creatives. The design was authentic to the place and communicated CSU’s perspective on the student experience. This allowed this new generation of students get to know Colorado State beyond the screen.

Role: Art Direction, Illustration, and Design
©2018 Colorado State University

What is Your State?

This recruitment mailer was sent to high school juniors and made to hang in the lockers. Each illustration evoked the university's roots and allowed high school students to discover where they could find their state. Gen Z loves locals so we tapped local designers in Fort Collins and contributed various illustrations. This gave all the pieces a vital maker component and authentically gave students a piece of Fort Collins.

Find Your State

Research indicated that the new generation of students being recruited were seeking a University degree to align more with their passions. This might include combining concentrations from different colleges within the University system. Colorado State allows the student to combine their concentrations. It’s a place where they could discover their state and make it their own. Because of this, we gave this brochure a maker component with hand-drawn typography and interweaved those locally-made illustrations as we shared stories of student success.

Bridging our Proud to Be Campaign

With the buzz of our incoming students in the fall, we infused campus pride around the city as this new class began to roll into Fort Collins. They evoked the spirit of Admissions pieces and helped students connect with the mailers. This created an immersive experience for alumni, new students, and the Fort Collins community around town. It also helped welcome students to their new home. “Proud to Be” was introduced, CSU’s unofficial gameday chant during football game days, to show student pride to incoming freshmen, new students, and our school rivals.

In anticipation of gamedays at the new campus stadium, we created a series of animations to compliment the work we were doing on the stadium and get the crowd to sing “Proud to Be” at pivotal moments during a football game. If you’re not familiar, check out the Proud to Be a CSU RAM chant to get rowdy.

Proud to Be Commercial

Notable alumni local to Colorado were highlighted chanting our gameday chant. Generating pride during our in-state rival game and premiering on ESPN.

The Results

2022 CSU had its largest first-year class ever in the fall. 5,517 students – 7% increase.
Academic achievement rose (index 130+). 18% in the state of Colorado. 13% in Denver Metro.
Colorado Free Application Day: received the most applications of any school in CO.