UCCS Orientation Guide & Calendar

Role: Graphic Designer
Scope: Information Design, Editorial Layout
Industry: Higher Education

Helping Students Navigate Campus Life from Their First Steps Through the Academic Year

The Orientation Guide & Calendar helps incoming students navigate everything from housing and parking to important deadlines and next steps. I took over the publication during its final years of production and worked to make it more organized, approachable, and aligned with the university brand.

Projects like this remind me that good design isn’t always about adding more, it’s often about making information easier to understand.

Scope
Information Design
Editorial Layout
Publication Design
User Experience (UX) Design
Print Design
Content Organization

UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar 2023 and 2024 Covers
UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar Inside – Seven Steps Spread
UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar Inside – Financial Aid and Housing Spread
UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar Inside – Prepare for Classes and Pay Your Bill Spread
UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar Inside – July Calendar Spread
Old Orientation Guide and Calendar that was created by someone else

The Challenge

The publication contained a large amount of content created over time by different contributors, making it difficult for students to quickly find what they needed.

The challenge was reorganizing complex information into a format that felt intuitive, approachable, and easy to navigate.

UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar Inside – May Calendar Spread
UCCS Orientation Guide Calendar Inside – Walking Map Spread and Back Cover

The Approach & Impact

I focused on improving hierarchy, content organization, and layout systems to create a more user-friendly experience for incoming students.

By restructuring information and simplifying visual presentation, the guide became easier to use while feeling more cohesive and aligned with university branding.

This project felt like stepping into a puzzle that someone else had started and finding ways to make all the pieces fit together more clearly. I would have loved the opportunity to continue evolving it further.

Orientation Guide and Calendars that I have worked on through the years
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