Laker Kickoff

For this project, I was asked to build a creative direction for the overall event brand for the Fall Laker Kickoff 2025.

The Laker Kickoff is a welcome celebration at the start of each academic year held on the Allendale campus of Grand Valley State University. This year I was made aware that there would be more food trucks, student vendors, and lawn games than in previous years and I was requested to design a wayfinding system along with the event's brand.

The client wanted a promotional package that includes; 42X72” banner that hung in our student center, posters to be posted across campus, pluggers to hand out at tabling events, social posts, a web header, and yard signs. Special deliverables for this event included; event map, wayfinding signs, and logo balloons that would be stationed next to the main stage.

For the creation of this logo I first created a mood board that was full of typography you would find on college pendants or on sports merch. With this I noticed a pattern of cursive typefaces and I locked in a legible cursive typeface to go with the staple university event typeface. For the incoming Freshman, this logo would be attached to the first event they attend in college, so I wanted the logo to be inspired by the university which is why I replaced the "I" in kickoff with the clocktower found in the center of the Allendale campus. I then attached a firework icon as I was informed it was the first year a firework show would be included with the celebration.

Before creating the poster design I was requested to include a sunset as well as a floating head concept. I decided to stray away from the floating heed concept and included a sticker collage trend that had resurfaced during Spring 2025. With this design trend I was able to still include a floating style to the photo gallery I was given, but also introduce a new trend that aligned more with the Coachella vibe the client mentioned to me. Following this theme I created a sunset as the background using a grainy gradient overlay to resemble past Coachella festival posters. I added in the event's details in a left aligned hierarchy for easy readability.

When creating the wayfinding system I wanted legibility to be top priority for the map design. I started with a simplified layout of the main lawns and student center where the event was being held. To display where each food truck, student vendor, and lawn game would be I used a dot system to keep clean navigation then add the specific names as a list at the bottom of the map. To keep the design consistent with the event brand, I included sticker style icons to signify where each section of the celebration would be. I then added in the same color palette as the rest of the promotional items.