“I felt a little bit like Houdini at times," says DJ Stout on designing a new and comprehensive visual strategy for the University of Colorado Boulder in the US.
Renowned Pentagram graphic designer Stout, along with designers Kirsten Keiser and Stu Taylor, has updated the identity scheme for the University of Colorado to distinguish the mothership, Colorado Boulder from the university’s three other campuses. The new system conveys the distinctive personality of UC-Boulder without violating the systemwide identity guidelines.
The trick was to come up with something that expressed the unique, quirky character of the Boulder campus, while wearing the straitjacket of the new identity system, says Stout.
The designers opted for the tagline “Be Boulder” - a simple declaration with an obvious double meaning. Referencing the Rocky Mountains as well as an adventurous spirit, the tagline encourages students to “Be Boulder”, daring and open to new possibilities.
The tagline has been placed on banners and wall posts around the university campus, as well as on various memorabilia including t-shirts, car stickers and coffee mugs.
DJ Stout will take to the podium at the 2014 Design Indaba Conference.
