Tools Used
- Canva
Skills Demonstrated
- Visual communication
- Messaging hierarchy
- Brand alignment
- Visual system development
- Designing for multiple ad formats and platforms
- Audience segmentation
Project Description
Building on the previous year’s digital advertising campaign, I developed a refreshed multi-channel campaign for Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. The goal remained to promote Thunderbird’s degree portfolio and drive prospective students to program landing pages, while evolving the campaign’s visual identity and audience strategy for the new fiscal year.
This campaign placed a stronger emphasis on domestic prospective students while expanding outreach to select Latin American markets, where students faced fewer barriers to studying in the United States. The visual system was also reimagined to more clearly communicate Thunderbird’s identity as a global hub for developing the next generation of leaders.
Design Considerations
A primary objective for this campaign was to strengthen Thunderbird’s visual identity while maintaining alignment with the broader ASU brand. Rather than simply refreshing the previous campaign, I developed an updated graphic system that felt distinctly Thunderbird and created a stronger sense of place across the ads.
The resulting system balances Thunderbird’s established brand elements with bold typography, photography, and graphic treatments that can adapt across degree programs, audiences, platforms, and ad formats.
Imagery
Photography became an important tool for reinforcing Thunderbird’s identity. Rather than relying primarily on environmental imagery of Phoenix and Arizona, this campaign brought the focus directly to Thunderbird’s Global Headquarters in downtown Phoenix.
I selected photographs of students within recognizable spaces throughout the building, using its distinctive architecture and globally inspired interiors as a backdrop. Featuring these spaces helped establish Thunderbird Global Headquarters as more than a campus—it positioned the school as a global hub where students from different cultures, industries, and perspectives come together to develop as leaders.
This approach also supported the campaign’s shift toward domestic and Latin American audiences by giving prospective students a tangible sense of the Thunderbird experience and the community they could become part of.
Graphic Style
The updated graphic system was designed to feel confident, contemporary, and unmistakably Thunderbird. Building on lessons from the previous campaign, I refined the relationship between photography, typography, messaging, and supporting graphics to create compositions with greater visual impact and stronger brand recognition.
The system was designed with scalability in mind, allowing individual ads to feel unique while remaining part of a cohesive campaign. Across formats, the combination of iconic Thunderbird spaces, aspirational student photography, and bold graphic treatments reinforces the school’s position at the intersection of global leadership, management, and innovation.
Results
- Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and display ads (prospecting and retargeting) for
- Undergraduate degrees portfolio (US/AZ focus)
- Undergraduate degrees porfolio (LATAM focus)
- Graduate degrees portfolio (US/AZ focus)
- Graduate degrees portfolio (LATAM focus)
The final campaign represents an evolution of the visual foundation established in the previous fiscal year. By shifting the imagery toward Thunderbird’s Global Headquarters and refining the overall graphic language, the campaign creates a stronger connection between Thunderbird’s physical environment and its identity as a global institution.
Professionally, this project gave me the opportunity to build upon an existing campaign rather than starting from scratch—evaluating what was successful, identifying opportunities for improvement, and evolving the system in response to new marketing priorities. The result is a more ownable and flexible visual direction that strengthens Thunderbird’s brand while supporting its continued recruitment efforts across domestic and international audiences.
Katie Stains 