Tools Used
- Canva
- Illustrator
- Photoshop
Skills Demonstrated
- Visual communication
- Messaging hierarchy
- Brand alignment
- Visual system development
- Designing for multiple ad formats and platforms
- Audience segmentation
Project Description
I designed a multi-channel digital advertising campaign for Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University with the goal of promoting their degree portfolio and driving prospective students to program landing pages. The campaign needed to be visually compelling, aspirational, and clearly position Thunderbird as a premier institution for global leadership and management—while thoughtfully balancing the distinct but interconnected brands of Thunderbird and ASU.
Design Considerations
A key challenge of this project was navigating the dual-brand system. Although Thunderbird is part of ASU, it retains its own legacy identity, including brand colors and typography established prior to the 2014 merger. ASU’s visual system centers on maroon and gold, while Thunderbird’s palette leans into navy, blue, and gold. I developed a cohesive design approach that elevated Thunderbird’s unique identity while remaining aligned with ASU’s broader visual framework, ensuring consistency without dilution of either brand.
Imagery
Imagery played a critical role in the campaign’s storytelling. Thunderbird places a strong emphasis on representing its real student community, so each ad prominently featured current students in confident, aspirational poses. Although a significant portion of Thunderbird’s audience is international, geopolitical tensions during the 2025 academic year limited many prospective students’ ability to travel and study in the United States. In collaboration with the marketing and recruiting teams, campaign targeting shifted toward a primarily domestic audience. To support this strategy, I selected photography rooted in Phoenix and the Arizona desert. This visual direction reinforced the idea that students can pursue a truly global career while studying in the U.S., grounding international ambition in a distinctly local setting.
Graphic Style
From a graphic standpoint, I incorporated ASU’s signature “highlight” element—bold, block-style emphasis used to elevate key messaging—into Thunderbird’s ad system. Applying this element to campaign taglines helped establish a strong visual hierarchy and created an energetic, confident tone. I paired this with supporting graphic elements derived from the iconic Thunderbird logo, using its shapes and forms as subtle framing and compositional devices throughout. The result was a set of ads that felt modern, inspiring, and differentiated from traditional academic advertising, while still fitting seamlessly within ASU’s established design identity.
Results
- Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and display ads (prospecting and retargeting) for
- Undergraduate degrees portfolio
- Graduate degrees portfolio
- Master of Leadership and Management degree
- Executive masters degrees portfolio
- Doctor of Professional Practice degree
- Contribution to a 25% year-over-year total enrollment growth in the Fall 2025 semester
- 1,721 enrolled students across all degree programs
The campaign had a measurable and meaningful impact on Thunderbird’s marketing efforts. It strengthened the school’s brand voice, clearly differentiating Thunderbird within the competitive business school landscape and reinforcing its position as a leader in global management education. Despite significant geopolitical and economic challenges affecting higher education during this period, Thunderbird achieved a 25% year-over-year increase in total enrollment. On a professional level, this project sharpened my ability to design and execute a cohesive digital advertising campaign across multiple formats, degree programs, and platforms while maintaining a consistent and scalable visual system. The success of this campaign also directly influenced Thunderbird’s next major marketing initiative: the development of a core visual system that will guide future advertising efforts and build upon many of the design principles and graphic elements established in this work.
Katie Stains 