Under the direction of Dr. Jason C. Garvey, I served as the Marketing and Communications Manager for Queer and Trans People in Education (QTPiE) research team at the University of Vermont. QTPiE is a relatively new research team and needed to develop its identity and branding to begin its outreach to scholars, academia, and the general public. When I joined the team in January 2021, we had a clear mission, vision, and goals. From there, I worked with our team to develop our branding from logos, typography, color palette, and icons that captured the passion and values of QTPiE. I also created our website and marketing materials, developed our first marketing campaign, and organized a branding resource guide. Check out more details about my work below.
Branding
Since QTPiE supports queer and trans students and research, I wanted to capture the rainbow theme that is often used to represent the queer community in the logo. Since the foundation of QTPiE is its research team, I wanted to also represent them in our branding and color scheme. After several iterations, we landed on our main logo with the "QTPiE" block text featuring a brighter rainbow palette on a complementary lavender background. I also created secondary logos to use for various marketing materials, such as our research grants, social media, and application forms.
After several iterations, I developed a complete style guide that captures QTPiE's branding. Knowing that this was a fixed-term role, I also included information such as basic website maintenance guidelines so that the team could make updates to the website, and other instructional content needed.
Branding & Style Guide Cover
Page 2: Contents; Page 3: Mission Statement
Page 4: Values & Goals; Page 5: Logos
Pages 6 and 7: Logo Placement & Examples
Page 8: Color Palette; Page 9: Icons
Page 10: Typefaces; Page 11: Examples
Pages 12 and 13: Website Guidelines
Website
Another major project was the creation of our official website for QTPiE. Since the research team is affiliated with the University of Vermont, I used the institution's WordPress platform and templates. I developed a basic concept map to outline the website after gathering input from other team members, set a timeline to complete specific pages and get feedback, and presented website updates during our weekly meetings. Since QTPiE is a small organization, I wanted to make sure that the website represented the research and work that they do without being overwhelming or requiring extensive maintenance. Our weekly meetings helped me re-design certain aspects of the website, add new pages, and incorporate the team's vision in every step of the process. I also designed icons to represent our goals and services. After two months, we officially launched our website, which you can visit below!
A brief walkthrough of a few pages from the QTPiE website.
Icons for "What We Do" - our team, publications, opportunities, and multimedia
Icons for "Our Goals" - educate, advocate, and build coalitions
Marketing
Finally, I developed a marketing campaign for the new QTPiE Emerging Scholar Grant, which coincided with the website launch. Applicants submit their grant proposals through the website on the Opportunities page, which leads them to a Google form that I created to collect application materials. I designed separate logos for two upcoming grants that aligned with the QTPiE branding and identity using Adobe Photoshop, as well as social media posts and graphics through Canva that can be updated by anyone within QTPiE.
GIF promoting the QTPiE Emerging Scholar Grant to use on Twitter and other social media.
Flyer promoting the QTPiE Emerging Scholar Grant through an email marketing campaign.