UDIT

:education

Strategy,

Branding

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Spain

Branding and strategy to transition from a design school to the University of Design & Technology.

Art meets academia: UDIT's Bold Rebranding Journey

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Brief

UDIT, previously known as ESNE, relaunched their brand as an independent university in May of 2023. Their transformation to becoming the University of Design & Technology is a clear bet on the design education ecosystem within Madrid. They are now consolidated as the most important design school within the city, something they were looking to reflect within their new identity. We worked with the team at UDIT in order to strategically, verbally, and visually express this transformation into a fully fledged design university.

CAPABILITIES

Brand Strategy
Brand Platform
Visual Identity
Tone of Voice

Analysis

We developed extensive research on the international panorama of art and design schools from Europe, Asia, and the Americas as UDIT intends to become a preferred destination for both the Madrid and international creative community. We also interviewed alumni, professors, education professionals, and external experts that gave us diverse perspectives on the essence of the institution: its combination of transversal arts and design perspectives with hiper specialisation, as well as its academic excellence and professional connections. This qualitative analysis helped us to extract relevant takeaways to create the new brand for UDIT.

Strategy

The brand strategy for UDIT is based on the idea of “saber crear”, which roughly translates to “the know-create”, a play on “know-how”. This is the connection between thinking and skill; conception and development; design and thinking. A strategic concept that represents UDIT as an institution committed to the inspiration and mentorship of their students, in both a present and a future sense. We speak both of the real-life profession and its theoretical basis, of reasoning and its prior transition into reality, all in order to revolutionise and make things better.

Naming

The name of the new brand is UDIT as per the preliminary proposals of the project and following the acronyms used within the sector. With such a change, we recommended that the name be explained with a simple descriptor: “University of Design & Technology”. The change also required that we capitalise on the historical significance of ESNE, so we developed an endorsement that spoke about the type of change: a revolution.

Tone of Voice

We complemented the identity with a new and precise tone of voice which also incorporates creative and inspirational touches which are full of contrasts.

Visual Concept

From the strategy and the concept of “know-create”, the visual concept plays with the idea of the blank canvas and the infinite possibilities that it represents and that design offers: be it to solve a problem or to change the world. Whether standing in front of a blank page, an empty screen, or an uncut cloth, we can dive into this canvas to discover a universe of unlimited possible outcomes. This canvas weaves its way into all aspects of the identity in order to place emphasis on the most important aspect of the university: the work of its students and alumni.

Logo

The transformation of the brand begins with and centres around an iconic, confident, and impactful logo. Its main feature is this blank canvas which is opened from design towards the future in order to elevate the creative work which is key to everything the brand stands for. Within this space, various elements including images of students work, messages, and the extended name of the university itself can be seen to fit in and be celebrated as the logo adaptas to accommodate them.

Visual Identity

The brand elements embrace, frame, and elevate the work realised within UDIT. Playing with a vibrant colour palette, impactful typography, and energetic movement, a design system based on the logo’s bold shapes and the infinite universe of possibilities is used to frame various contents in order to express everything that design can achieve and its global impact.