Calbright College
A new kind of college built around the needs of real working people.

The California Community College system was built around the idea that higher education should be available to everyone. Calbright is a digital college that focuses on careers, not credentials.

“When the California State Legislature created the new California Online Community College in the Spring of 2018, it left open the way in which the new statewide, fully online institution would be branded. Working under ridiculously tight deadlines, Steve’s team helped us to settle on our new name and identity: Calbright College, in addition to launching our new website and overview video—we wouldn’t be where we are today without Steve and his amazing team of colleagues.”

Derek Gordon, Chief Operating Officer | Calbright College
A new kind of college built around the needs of real working people

PRELIMINARY IDEAS

Scope
  • Naming
  • Brand Identity & Toolkit
  • Brand Photography & Video
  • Website
  • Copywriting
Objectives

In California, 2.5 million adults in the prime working ages of 25 to 34 have only a high school diploma or some college but no degree. Their economic insecurity and opportunities for career advancement must be addressed. While the new California online community college will focus on working adults between ages 25 and 34, an additional 6.2 million adults with the same level of educational attainment between the ages of 35 to 65 could also benefit from this college.

Exploration
Solution
The effort to brand the new college, which included naming, brand identity, brand voice, the supporting graphic language and guidelines was completed in 4 weeks. At which time we had another 3-4 weeks to collaborate with the internal team on the content, design and development of the website for launch.

Our agile nature—by virtue of a skilled virtual pool of creatives—allowed us to scale the appropriate team within a day and to begin work in 24 hours.

Because of the high profile and public nature of the state college, the Calbright brand—both name and identity—was tested with internal teams, and external adult learners and hiring managers up and down the state prior to launch. Photography: Hasain Rasheed.

Recent Works

Print & Digital Magazine

University Identity & Website

Visual Identity

25+ Years of Crafting Logos

Duty. Honor. Beer.

Visual & Verbal Identity

Russian Homestyle Goodness