Westfield State University

One of the guidelines for Westfield State’s photography and rebranding was to focus on its welcoming community-based approach to education. The theme was “What path will you take?”. We shot custom photography, created a new design look and feel, and produced involving content—the concept focused on the school’s most accomplished students.

The portraits were photographed with a medium-format camera, then color-corrected, giving the images a saturated look that would print well on uncoated paper. It would also differentiate them from their peers. Most viewbooks use photography from a variety of sources, resulting in varying quality that might be sufficient for the web, but not for printing. In this case, the quality would be created in the beginning and carried through with expert retouching and color correcting.

Some portraits were scripted for a specific location, and others just looked right in the moment. A few were used in the school’s printed materials—like the young artist standing in front of the black-and-white paintings and the tattooed video artist asked to sit for a few moments on a large stage ladder.

The photography drove the look and feel of the campaign and has continued to do so over the last year and a half. On a recent visit to the campus, we found that even the banners on campus lamp posts were still using the photography. Those are examples of some simple, cost-effective branding touches that create effective touch points within a branding system.

Robert worked with Westfield State University on our last round of admission publications. His photography, composition, and artistic concepts were outstanding. The imagery was exquisite and captured the emotion of the subjects and the Westfield spirit. Our admission recruitment pieces are extraordinary, distinguishing us from our sister schools by highlighting what makes Westfield special. Robert was a pleasure to work with, and I look forward to collaborating again in the future.