I was tasked with both creating new digital assets for the launch of the Zell Lurie Institute’s Instagram page (as seen above) and reformatting existing digital assets to work across all of their digital platforms.

Creating such visually engaging material that holds the viewer’s attention and leads them to a call to action isn’t easy, which is what we learned when reviewing our statistics on user engagement. We learned that bold and simple designs work best when trying to divert their attention elsewhere, like our newsletter for example.

On some platforms, users prefer more aspirational information on Twitter (like the success story of a Umich MBA alum), whereas on Instagram they may prefer information that they can utilize here and now.

Other times, you may learn how SEO (search engine optimization) will lead you to change the tone, tags, and layout of your digital assets to reach as many potential stakeholders as possible.

One thing that we made sure not to overlook during my time with ZLI, was keeping the team internally, engaged, hopeful, and excited about the work we’re doing because the team is integral to the success of everything else. I was given the opportunity to design a potential lanyard for the team which was very exciting in and of itself.

To implement all of these digital assets, we needed to verify that all of the content created followed the brand guidelines set forth by the University of Michigan from their color palette, to their typography, to the proper use of the block M.

The importance of doing market research also should not be overlooked because we learned so much from other entrepreneurial programs at Universities across the US about how they tell the stories that students may want to be a part of. I spent time reviewing their programs across the same platforms we were looking to be a part of to learn what to do and what not to do going forward.