In October 2019, the University of California, Irvine launched the largest comprehensive campaign in its history, Brilliant Future: The Campaign for UCI. Ambitious for an organization of only 54 years, and only the university’s second comprehensive campaign, Brilliant Future encompasses both philanthropic and alumni engagement goals for UCI. Affirming that robust alumni engagement was of equal importance to the philanthropic goal of $2 billion for the long-term sustainability of the institution, our campaign publications needed to not only generate excitement among the university’s traditional base of community donors, but also appeal to and inspire “Anteater pride” among the alumni base of 200,000. A deeply collaborative and cross-campus effort over eighteen months yielded a suite of collateral materials and content, debuted with the launch of the campaign that boldly shares UCI’s vision for how, together with alumni and donors, we can create a brilliant future for UCI and the world.
From the Judges
This publication demonstrated a clear connection between the university’s strategic plan and its campaign, Brilliant Future. The horizontal layout is interesting and we liked the varied spreads, use of full-bleed imagery and headers, and concise text. This was a more expensive piece, and the bold “surge” had both supporters and detractors in our judging panel. However, it did add brightness and energy and, by weaving throughout, contributed to an integrated story. We were impressed that this single publication unified a diverse and complex collection of colleges, schools, and units to present a cohesive message.
