UC San Diego Earns 12 CASE Awards

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has awarded UC San Diego top honors for outstanding work in alumni relations, design and photography, digital communications, magazines, marketing and video. The university garnered 12 awards—including five gold awards—in the annual CASE District VII Awards of Excellence, which recognizes best practices at educational institutions in the western United States.

“We received a record number of entries this year, over 600 in total, and your excellent work stood out among the best,” wrote Jane Eadie, CASE District VII awards chair, in the awards notifications. “Thank you for producing the kind of work that brings respect to our profession.”

UC San Diego’s 2017 CASE District VII Awards of Excellence winners include:

Alumni Relations

Marketing and Branding
UC San Diego Alumni
Silver: Alumni Weekend 2016

In re-branding and marketing Alumni Weekend, UC San Diego Alumni broke from tradition to give the annual event a fresh new identity, focusing on the creation of a core brand that could withstand the test of time.

New Program Initiatives
UC San Diego Alumni
Bronze: “Triton Entrepreneur Night: Where Entrepreneurial Alumni and Students Collide”

The first-ever Triton Entrepreneur Night was designed to celebrate the accomplishments of students working in UC San Diego’s undergrad incubator, The Basement. In addition, student teams displayed their entrepreneurial ideas for new products/services to mentors, alumni, supporters and community members.

Design and Photography

Invitations
Creative Services and Publications
Gold: Founders Celebration 2015 Invitations

Founders Celebration commemorates the day UC San Diego was founded in November 1960. The invitations—full of splashes of vibrant color—invited faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends to a series of events celebrating the many ways in which our scholarship, community and commitment have created a force for positive change.

Invitations
UC San Diego Alumni
Bronze: Alumni Celebration

Hosted by UC San Diego Alumni, the annual Alumni Celebration gala recognizes noted members of the Triton Family, while offering guests a unique and immersive experience. The 2016 event invitation implemented design themes that would set the stage for the entire event experience—a modern, clean approach with an elegant metallic overlay.

Multi-Page Publications
UC San Diego Health Sciences Advancement
Bronze: Jacobs Medical Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Program

Named in recognition of $100 million in gifts from Joan and Irwin Jacobs, the 245-bed medical and surgical specialty hospital opened in fall 2016. The 10-story facility combines renowned physician-scientists and care teams, precision medicine, clinical trials and creative arts and culinary offerings to provide an extraordinary healing experience for patients and families.

Multi-Page Publications
Creative Services and Publications
Bronze: Chancellor’s Associates Solicitation Packet

Chancellor’s Associates are a dedicated community of champions whose generosity helps UC San Diego spark discovery, advance the frontiers of knowledge and transform society. The solicitation packet was developed to engage prospects and encourage them to join this visionary group.

Excellence in Photography
Erik Jepsen – Creative Services and Publications
Silver: Photos for This Week @ UC San Diego

With nearly 150,000 subscribers, This Week @ UC San Diego serves as the campus’s go-to digital newsmagazine. Readers can learn about the latest research breakthroughs, how faculty and students are making a difference in the world, and what’s new at the university. Photography is integral to this digital periodical’s ability to convey the top stories.

Digital Communications

Institutional Websites
University Communications and Public Affairs
Gold: UC San Diego Website Refresh

As part of UC San Diego’s new branding effort, the main website was refreshed to encompass the colors, elements and messaging described in the new branding guidelines. It shares how UC San Diego is different and why what we do matters.

Magazines

General Interest Magazines: Circulation more than 75,000
UC San Diego Alumni
Silver: Triton Magazine

Triton magazine, a publication of UC San Diego Alumni, built upon the success of its redesign in 2015 with three issues that reflect both the university’s research enterprise and the unique spirit of its alumni, with topics ranging from nanomedicine and robotics to disability advocacy and social justice through drama.

Marketing

Advertising: Campaigns
University Communications and Public Affairs
Gold: Break Things Better

A comprehensive advertising campaign was launched to reinforce the new UC San Diego brand. The campaign needed to be perceived as interesting, differentiating and unique and would showcase how UC San Diego breaks from the ordinary to do breakthrough work.

Branding Programs
University Communications and Public Affairs
Gold: The Making of the UC San Diego Brand

With a $2 billion capital campaign scheduled to launch publicly in spring 2017, university leadership realized that increased visibility for the campus needed to be generated. To do that a fresh perspective was needed on the UC San Diego brand – something that could share how we drive innovation by pushing boundaries, challenging expectations and redefining conventional wisdom.

Video

PSAs and Commercial Spots
University Communications and Public Affairs
Gold: Break Things Better Video

Video assets were developed as part of UC San Diego’s digital engagement strategy, featuring the campus like it’s never been seen before. Using a surreal, animated approach, they speak to the imagination and out-of-the-box thinking that makes our campus so unique. Everyone in the videos is a UC San Diego student, faculty or staff member and the music overlay was composed, performed and edited by UC San Diego music faculty.

See the CASE District VII awards for a complete list of the 2017 Awards of Excellence winners.