Wheaton College Graduate School: Clear Strategy, Effective Communcation

A year ago Wheaton College Graduate School discovered through research something that it already knew through practical experience—the prospects most interested in the school were also the exact type of individuals which the school desired to attract. That sounds like a formula for success. The problem was that Wheaton, being as most schools are a bureaucracy, had not been able to capitalize on this in targetted communication until the data convinced all the necessary parties. This year Design Corps had a mandate: to develop both style and content suggestions with the following audience in mind: college-graduate adults who have a passion to serve Christ.
For their 36 page overview booklet, we shed the emphasis on high gloss and bright colors to give their materials the rougher, earthier look of an adventure guide book using parchment backgrounds, hand-drawn graphs, and hand-written text. Object art was used to symbolize finding one’s direction in pursuing one’s calling, such as a sextant, a compass, and a road-sign. We also suggested a greater emphasis on testimonials and inspirational quotes from God’s Word on following one’s calling.


This theme was continued in an advertising campaign that included a general ad stating “Never settle for a job…when you have a calling,” and testimonial ads for individual degrees with the headline “Living Out the Calling.”


Once again a CD was produced to be included in the guidebook or handed out at conferences. It carried over the style of the guide book and had extra pages using the symbolic tools guiding prospects to seek a higher calling, to choose a direction, and to download information to start the application process.


Finally, we also produced several extra elements such as a three banner display for trade shows, and a desktop encourager to be shipped as a polybag insert with Charisma magazine.

Overall the response internally has been fantastic. But that can only be ascribed to the fact that Wheaton College Graduate School had a clear marketing strategy to offer to its primary prospects the very message they were desiring to hear. With a clearly defined message we were able to come up with visual forms that clearly and creatively met their objective goals.

Copyright 2007 © Design Corps, (630)761-9650

The Treasure Seeker’s Study Bible: creating an adventure for kids

There is a time when a child will hang on a parent’s every word—and then there is the rest of growing up when they “want to do it themselves”. This Bible was created to enable kids to have a wonderful adventure while teaching them the foundational principle that God’s Word is full of riches—truths that can help a person throughout life by establishing a rich relationship with God through Christ.

Design Corps was asked by The Livingstone Corporation to develop visuals for this new concept to help sell the project. Originally what was requested were several samples of different insert items placed in a two color design of the interior for several sample pages.
But, as the project began, Design Corps realized it just wasn’t enough to design a few extra background images. This was a kids’ Bible, and kids don't like boring. And it was also a project we believed in. Design Corps had caught a bigger vision. To get the point across required lots of illustrations. This was necessary in order to convey the continuity of style as well as the richness of diversity of images.

We did illustrations for different types of study notes (archaeological, historical, etc.). Then we added realistic types of coins, stamped with nine different traits we gleam from reading God’s Word. The largest insert art was for the title page of each book of the Bible.

Finally, to make sure that the client knew we were really talking ADVENTURE, Design Corps designed a cover that would really POP on the shelf with the same type of illustration and richness of style that was found in the interior, but in full color.

Copyright 2007 © Design Corps, (630)761-9650