Creating the design system for Graduate Showcase
Our Creative team designed a visual identity for the 2021 Graduate Showcase campaign, leading people to the platform to discover the next generation of creatives.
Refreshing the UAL Showcase design system
- Written byBrand and Creative, UAL
- Published date 08 November 2024
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UAL Showcase is an always-on global platform that provides a space for recent graduates to share their work, make connections and help shape the creative industries.
The brief
The first UAL Showcase Design System was designed by Pentagram, one of our rostered agencies, in 2020 for the platform launch. One year after the platform was launch, it was evolved in-house. Following the naming and messaging refresh of the platform in 2024, and 3 years on from the last iteration, our in-house Creative team was briefed to revisit and expand the existing visual direction.
The design process
We began with an in-depth review of the Design System, all the assets created over the past 2 years and feedback from students, colleges and colleagues. Alongside this, we re-examined the original work by Pentagram and looked to the now much larger and changed landscape of online showcasing post pandemic, including our industry peers. This helped us understand and check in on the original drivers, as well as what to keep and what needed to be changed.
We also wanted to take advantage of the time and space we were being given to check assumptions we made at the time of the early iterations, when we were moving at pace, surrounded by uncertainty, fully remotely and in the context of a global pandemic. We were responding to huge changes in the way UAL delivers key milestone moments for students, triggered by a global pandemic.
Working closely with the Showcase and Brand teams, we collectively edited down from many routes and agreed on a direction that reinforces our existing system while bringing in visual variety and giving graduates a stronger presence.
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Showcase 2024, poster scale | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024, lockup graphic featuring work by Junyu Chen, 2023 MA Commercial Photography, Central Saint Martins, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024, lockup graphic featuring work by Mia Beckhelling, 2023 BA Hair and Make-up for Fashion, London College of Fashion, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024, lockup graphic | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL
The framing device, characteristic of Showcase, remains as central to the system as well as the primary colour palette, black and white, for University-led assets with core messaging. This new iteration develops the system flexibility by introducing a secondary colour taken from featured student work to be included in College-led assets and student profiles. The updated visual language amplifies graduates' individuality and show the diverse array of disciplines and creativity to celebrate our community. This approach reinforces the existing system, giving graduates more agency and highlighting their varied practices and backgrounds.
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Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024, featured work by Jing Cai, 2023 MA Fashion Photography, London College of Fashion, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024, featured work by Jing Cai, 2023 MA Fashion Photography, London College of Fashion, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024, featured work by Jing Cai, 2023 MA Fashion Photography, London College of Fashion, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL
Campaign in numbers
The refreshed design system was rolled out across UAL digital channels and in physical shows, including posters at our different Colleges, newsletters, social media accounts and our website. It was featured in It’s Nice That and The Face.
Statistics for February-August 2024, compared to February-August 2023
- Page views: 1,136,514 (109.15%)
- Users: 159,506 (67.85%)
- New users: 71,968 (19.92%)
- QR code scans: 20,777 (75.53%)
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Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL -
Showcase 2024 | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative, UAL
Meet the design team
UAL Creative is University of the Arts London in-house design agency.
Since 2019 we have been building a team made of mostly UAL alumni, including recent graduates and occasionally students. We are a group of multi-disciplinary designers, freelance and permanent, Junior to Senior typically working on: Design strategy, Design thinking, Design systems, Campaign design—including print, digital and animated assets and Digital product design for teams and projects across the University.
We are within the Communications and Brand Department in the Social Purpose Group and based at the High Holborn campus. We also work with designers through UAL Arts Temps, our university recruitment agency and jobs board, giving UAL students and alumni the opportunity to work freelance within our team.
Head of Creative
Stephanie Feather, she/her/hers, 2008 BA Graphic Design, Central Saint Martins, UAL
Senior Designer
Daniela Di Martino, she/her/hers, 2021 MA Graphic Branding and Identity, London College of Communication , UAL
Graphic Designer
Lily Forbes, she/her/hers, 2020 BA Graphic Design Communication, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
Junior Designer (Arts Temps)
Rosie Stephenson, she/her/hers, 2022 BA Graphic Communication Design, Central Saint Martins, UAL
Junior Designer (Arts Temps)
Georgia Chambers, she/her/hers, 2021 BA Graphic Design, Camberwell College of Arts , UAL
