Princeton University: A Year of Forward Thinking

Our team was working with Princeton University on a high-level branding project when the COVID-19 quarantine hit. The university’s faculty and staff began to work remotely, dispersing the vibrant Princeton community and throwing campus life into uncertainty. But the university’s response was emblematic of their expertise as problem-solvers. They asked us to dive into something entirely new: a brand and site to pull Princeton together and energize the community around forward-thinking ideas and working toward the common good.

We had to act fast. We had just a few weeks to develop a brand, site and an ‘anthem’ video to advance A Year of Forward Thinking—a call to the Princeton community to share work, make connections and engage around the complex issues that present themselves in our world. 

The messaging, during a pandemic, had to strike the right tone. The brand had to unify the university and inspire it to engage deeply around racial injustice, disease, climate change and more, without over-simplifying any of the issues or their potential solutions. 

Princeton’s mission was to create cohesive, energizing and authentic connections. Our job was to pivot proactively from a global branding project to an urgent new effort to create a branded online platform to foster this new effort.