The client
Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) is a public college of art and design, the first in our nation. They are a leader in visual art and design education.
The project
An annual fund direct mailer, created by designer Ellery Curran. The intention of the direct mailer is to raise funds and awareness for the MassArt student scholarship fund.
Design challenge and approach
MassArt presented our design company with the challenge of creating a direct mailer that would appeal and persuade donors to give. The challenge was MassArt was content heavy. The information for the appeal came in the form of a day in the life of Gus, a MassArt student. They gave us high-quality pictures that we keyed in on to inspire the design. Combining pictures in the background and a visual storyline gave this piece a depth that is not always present in annual fund appeals. MassArt also gave our designer freedom to branch out from their normal color palette. The pink we used was still one of their brand colors, but not one they typically use. The typography was consistent to their brand and kept the direct mailer consistent with the MassArt feel. Ellery designed a vibrant piece to appeal to their donors.
The next challenge was presented by including a response card and envelope into the design. The graphic designer folded and attached the envelope inside the mailer, without disturbing the format and actually adding appeal to the direct mailer. The response card is located at the bottom of the mailer and perforated so the donor can easily separate and include it in the envelope. There is always a moment of pause when the printer has to insert the variable content on the response card.
In this case it turned out beautifully and MassArt was able to customize each piece to their donor, challenge solved.
