Colby College
With Sasaki for Colby College
Location: Waterville, ME
Status: Completed
Role: Art direction, Design Development, and CD
Fee for Graphics: $85,000
Reference: Barbara Walls, Director of Creative Services. bewalls@colby.edu
The newly built facility spans over 350,000 square feet. It houses five professional-level sports venues: a 50-meter swimming pool, ice hockey arena, Division III basketball courts, a full track, and field venue, squash, gymnasium, classrooms, offices, and a physical therapy center. The graphics program covered everything from custom 300ft murals to exterior signage, custom flags, bespoke branded equipment, and wayfinding.
The challenge posed by the client and the design team was to express the Colby brand in a new, powerful way; using bold color, and large-scale photographs that merged all sports disciplines into one dynamic and artistic expression. The design team created over 5,000 square feet of custom photo-collage-murals, using Colby’s photography of their athletes in action, and blending one sport into the next within a seamless Colby-Blue color key.
Key to the project's successful implementation, the design team developed a donor signage strategy from the beginning, which resulted in an easier fund-raising process for the client.