When Emmanuel prepared to bring students back to campus in spring 2021, the College needed more than a list of COVID-19 guidelines—it needed students to feel invested in keeping their community healthy and their campus open. The resulting Be In Boston, Stay In Boston (Be in/Stay in Boston) campaign was developed by students in Emmanuel’s Health Communication course, with the Office of Marketing Communications helping bring their ideas to life.

I developed the campaign’s visual identity, translating the student-generated concept into a flexible system that could work across a wide range of touchpoints. I created the logo, color palette, typography and illustration style, then extended the identity across the campaign website, social media, posters, on-campus graphics and merchandise.

The campaign needed to feel informative without feeling institutional, and serious about public health without losing the energy of college life. The visual system gave the student-led message a recognizable personality while making it easy to adapt as new content, events, challenges and resources were added throughout the semester.

Be In/Stay In Boston gave Emmanuel a student-driven way to turn a complicated and rapidly changing public health situation into something more personal, approachable and actionable. Students, faculty and staff used the campaign across campus and digital channels to reinforce the idea that keeping Emmanuel open was a shared responsibility.

The campaign was recognized as a 2022 Best of CASE District I Award winner, earning the top honor in the Marketing: Microsites (Other) category. The recognition reflected not only the strength of the campaign’s creative execution, but the effectiveness of its student-centered approach to communicating during an unprecedented moment.

Amy Stewart, Senior Content Strategist

Jon Jaszek, User Experience Design Manager

ENGL3806 Health Communication students, taught by Associate Professor of Communication & Media Studies Mark Flynn, Ph.D.