@mStonerinc in 2015, Part 2: Project Launches, New Team Members

For mStoner, 2015 was dynamic. Yesterday, I reported on some research and publishing initiatives. Today, I want to focus on highlights from projects we took on and launched last year and some new team members we recruited.

Clients and Partnerships

I’m always grateful for the institutions who entrust us with projects that are critical to creating an enduring and powerful impression on their many important audiences. Our work last year ranged from brand development to print to website redesigns.

Among our notable website launches in 2015 were sites for Johnson & Wales University, Loyola Marymount University, Northwestern University Qatar, Tufts University Graduate Programs, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

• Johnson & Wales University’s new site is a huge leap forward, but only step one in JWU’s continuing partnership with mStoner. Building on the JWU brand (Experience. Success.) and designed within a surprisingly short period of time, our teams launched a site that represents four unique campuses — Providence, North Miami, Denver, and Charlotte — in a fresh and engaging way. Stay tuned, there’s more to come for this one in 2016.
• Loyola Marymount University’s new homepage opens with a drone’s‑eye view of the university’s beautiful campus. A visitor can learn a great deal about the university’s academic offerings through an engaging and powerful interface that facilitates exploration of its programs. We’re now working with LMU to bring websites across campus into the university’s new templates.
• UNCSA.edu conveys a unified brand along with the incredible talent and passion for the arts in five conservatories, capturing what is apparent every day in the artist colony atmosphere of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. The site needed to make the complexity of a high school + a college + a graduate school + summer programs seem … less complicated.

In addition to launching the new site, we undertook a number of other interesting projects. We:

• Designed Rush University’s alumni magazine
• Developed a brand framework and marketing strategy for the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School
• Conducted research on Henderson State University’s brand
• Began a project for the Kline School of Law at Drexel that will encompass brand strategy, a new viewbook, information architecture (IA) changes to its website, and other communications components.

In terms of strategic partnerships, we teamed up with ExpertFile, the expert marketing platform recently adopted by many colleges and universities, including mStoner clients UC Hastings College of the Law and Loyola Marymount University

Bigger Team, Better Processes, New Identity

A great team is essential to doing great work. To better serve our clients, we undertook three major internal initiatives in 2015:

1. We restructured our approach to client services. All team members across strategy, user experience design, and technology now report to Susan T. Evans, who was promoted to vice president of client services. In turn, Joel Pattison was promoted to director of strategy and leads our strategy team. We believe the new structure will provide internal efficiencies for us and result in even better results for our clients.

2. We reimagined our approach to project management. Each project phase — strategy, creative, and technical — has its own dedicated project manager. To properly resource this new structure, we:

• Welcomed Ashley Byrd in October as project manager for creative.
• Hired Shelly Stringer as project manager for strategy.
• Added Lizzy Cyliax to our team in August. As project coordinator, Lizzy supports our project managers.

3. We invested in our user experience and visual design practice. Our designer team is larger and stronger than ever:

• Ben Bilow came on board as senior creative director in August after 10 years as the in-house creative director at Columbia College Chicago, where he managed the college brand.
• Ben Conley and Abby McLean both joined our team as user experience and visual designers this year.
• Mike Schulz, who’s been with us since 2013, was promoted to UX and visual designer.
• We’ve just hired another new designer who will join us in a couple of weeks.

Finally, we’re also in the process of refreshing our visual identity. We rolled out a new logo in November, and over the next six months, you’ll see changes in our website and other materials. Our new brand is designed to reflect our approach to design and strategy — clear thinking, deep expertise, strong craft, and a contemporary approach to strategy, content, and design. We’re curious to see how you like it!

As I said, 2015 was a dynamic year: We’re looking ahead to an even more exciting and dynamic 2016!