Alumni Communities Connection
Newsletter structure with repeated sections, action buttons, image blocks, and leader spotlight.
Portfolio project
UCLA Alumni — Brand Rollout & Visual Ecosystem
Translating a new institutional brand into web experiences, email systems, campaigns, templates, and physical applications for 660,000+ alumni.
01 · Brand rollout
From guidelines to a working brand.
UCLA Alumni was transitioning into a new visual identity. The direction existed, but the everyday system still had to be built, adapted, and scaled across real communications.
Scale
660,000+ alumni
Communications needed to feel consistent across a large, diverse alumni audience.
Channels
Web, email, print, events
The brand had to work across institutional webpages, newsletters, campaign art, flyers, banners, and physical spaces.
Challenge
New voice, real constraints
The shift toward lowercase, approachable messaging had to coexist with university-level clarity, credibility, and stakeholder expectations.
Output
A communication ecosystem
Instead of one-off assets, the work became a repeatable visual language for recurring needs.
Process view: cropped Figma systems showing reusable layouts, recurring emails, action areas, campaign variants, and template logic.
02 · Bruin Stories web
Bringing the brand into a digital storytelling platform.
I was part of the team that brought Bruin Stories into the UCLA Alumni website — a storytelling experience organized around video, audio, written stories, and short-form inspiration.
Design decision
Bruin stories start here.
The landing had to feel like a story, not a directory — so the first thing you meet is a person, not a menu.
- Lowercase headline system to make an institutional brand feel warmer and more personal.
- Full-width video hero as the entry point, setting an editorial tone from the first scroll.
- A clear "start here" cue that orients first-time visitors instantly.
System
Watch, listen, read.
Bruins consume stories differently, so the page is built from format-specific modules rather than one flat feed.
- Separate blocks for video, audio, and written stories — each format gets its own space.
- A short-form "quick inspiration" row to pull people deeper without a big commitment.
- A consistent card rhythm so new stories drop in without redesigning the page.
03 · Email system
Redesigning the most visible communication channel.
I created Figma-based email layouts for newsletters, announcements, events, fundraising, program communications, and editorial campaigns — helping the new brand work across recurring alumni touchpoints.
Email template system: flexible patterns for program announcements, newsletters, event promotions, fundraising, and story-led communications.
Reusable blocks: modular headers, event sections, CTA bands, and sponsor treatments built to scale across different sends.
Template range: current-state examples replacing the old placeholder so the page stays more visual even without legacy before/after renders.
New Bruin Send-Off
Event information, regional details, sponsor placement, and brand-aligned footer system.
Institutional announcement
High-visibility communication balancing UCLA-level formality with Alumni brand structure.
04 · Visual language
A more approachable institutional voice.
The rollout was not only about colors and logos. It meant adapting the brand into a more lowercase, story-led, action-oriented language — while keeping the clarity expected from a major university brand.
Action areas are the practical pieces: RSVP, register, give now, submit, QR codes, deadlines, and links. They are not abstract UI components; they are the recurring moments where communications ask the audience to act.
05 · Campaign range
Different personalities, one visual family.
Each campaign needed its own energy while still belonging to the UCLA Alumni brand. The work moved across banners, social, web, email, print, event graphics, and partner-facing materials.
Spring Sing 2026
Music-led visual system adapted across web, email, and social.
Entertainment Networking Night
Event identity built around cinematic references and entertainment culture.
Beat SC
High-energy sports campaign with bold composition and event presence.
iHeart UCLA
Brand adaptation with multiple stakeholder and trademark constraints.
Alumni Celebration
Soft institutional campaign look using collage, texture, and UCLA color.
Big Bruin Weekend
Sports/event graphic adapted into a familiar Bruin visual language.
Bruin Bash
Large-format event graphic with clear RSVP hierarchy.
06 · Physical applications
From screens to real spaces.
The brand also had to live beyond digital channels — as environmental graphics, signage, posters, certificates, printed pieces, and event materials.
JWAC entrance: story-led environmental graphics applied to the James West Alumni Center.
Environmental concept: large-scale brand language translated onto physical columns.
07 · Templates
Helping the brand scale beyond one designer.
Reusable Figma systems and templates helped recurring communications move faster and stay more consistent across teams, programs, and stakeholder needs.
Note: these are intentionally shown as cropped process views. They prove the system existed behind the final visuals without making the page feel like a technical product case study.
The result was not a single campaign. It was a working visual ecosystem for how UCLA Alumni communicates across web, email, print, campaigns, events, and stakeholder-led materials.
