RIT College of Imaging Arts and Sciences

Situation
Facing declining enrollment and the loss of prospective students to other art colleges, RIT's College of Imaging Arts and Sciences (CIAS) sought to give new life to their current recruitment program. K2 was commissioned to conceive and produce a 15-minute multimedia piece and fully-interactive website to target prospective students and their parents.

Challenge
There are eight individual schools within CIAS. The College wished for a new cohesive brand that would incorporate each of the schools but also allow them their own unique identities. The schools had their own websites, brochures, and other collateral pieces each having their own look and design. The websites had no streamlined navigation system and linking between Schools was nearly impossible.

Solution
K2 went through an extensive Brand Management process that involved meeting with the Dean and each of the eight Chairs to fully understand the College's offerings, differentiators, personality, and mission. Using photography and art from students from each of the schools, K2 added personality to CIAS's established reputation of quality art education. The photography and artwork allowed each school to differentiate itself while keeping within the brand guidelines. A new navigation system was devised for the website that would allow for seamless transition from one school to another and to RIT's main page.

Results
Following the launch of the website and the creation of the video, several schools identified needs for new brochures. Using the established branding, K2 was able to efficiently and effectively create these pieces while keeping a unified, but unique, style. The resulting website and video are standouts within the University. Enrollment is up almost 10% from two years ago and there is now a waiting list for placement in the College.