Pittsburgh U

ART DIRECTION | CREATIVE DIRECTION | UI | ILLUSTRATION | MOTION

ART & CREATIVE DIRECTION | UI | ILLUSTRATION | MOTION

Illustrations for University of Pittsburgh Admission Office's new illustration system

Going to University is one of the most stressful of all page-turning events in our lives. Social psychologists point out that humans are deeply wired for the present and struggle with long-term plans. Yet this is what happens to anyone who chooses to go to University. Facing such a decision with long-lasting effects, it is no surprise that people look carefully at all their options, hoping to make an informed decision.

Pittsburgh University Admissions Office's mission is to allure and attract prospective students to their schools. They know firsthand how stressful a life event like this can be. To relieve doubts, they decided to overhaul their digital presence to help them make the case why Pitt would be the perfect choice for any student about to go to college.

Superfriendly's team decided to push things a little further. With a target audience that sits mostly in the Gen Z cohort, we dove into their culture, looking to borrow some of their visual tokens. Our solution was to level up the visual language, amplified by illustrated tongue-in-cheek characters representing iconic aspects of Pittsburgh and campus life.

Animated illustrations for University of Pittsburgh Admission Office's new illustration system

WEBSITE & DESIGN SYSTEM

The number one priority was clarity and ease of use. It was crucial for us that the prospect students could easily get to the content they were looking for and avoid any type of frustration or friction. On top of that we added a layer of small irreverent touches that would allow UPitt to stand from the crowd and speak to the audience in a more effective way.

Homepage design for University of Pittsburgh Admissions Office

Animated prototype for University of Pittsburgh Admission Office's new digital experience

Campus Page design for University of Pittsburgh

Majors Page design for University of Pittsburgh

Design System created for University of Pittsburgh Admissions Office

ILLUSTRATION

I developed an illustration style and system that encompassed a set of icons and characters that represented life at UPitt and the city of Pittsburg. The idea was to create something that we could layer on top of the site to give it that sense of fun without losing the seriousness of the moment. Animating these icons really brought it to life and added another dimention to the whole thing.