Washington Potato Growers
If you had french fries or hashbrowns anywhere in the U.S. this year, chances are it came from Washington potatoes.
The state of Washington grows more potatoes per acre than any other place on earth. And it does so with higher quality, better consistency, and with fewer inputs (pesticides, et al) largely thanks to decades of partnership between growers and public research.
Washington State University celebrated this partnership with this ode to potato growers. The ones who looked at the barren desert of the Columbia Basin and saw a fertile and abundant food supply for the world.
WSU “Big Ideas” campaign
Washington State University launched the public phase of its $1 billion capital campaign during the depths of the Great Recession of the late 2000s, immediately following several rounds of downsizing its in-house marketing communications team. After the previous consulting partner firm parted ways, the Recraft team was tasked with ideating an original visual pattern and message for the campaign’s existing tagline: The World Needs Big Ideas.
The results were the “Wave the Flag” campaign seen here: by associating the Washington State banner with geographically-dispersed landmarks, the campaign highlighted the institution’s real-world impact on every region of the state of Washington.
By its conclusion in 2015, the campaign inspired thousands of new gifts totaling $1.065 billion.
Washington Grain Growers
The rolling fields of Eastern Washington have the distinction of being the most productive wheat-growing ground per acre in the entire world. Decades of collaboration between growers, horticulturists, and researchers have resulted in hearty strains of grain grown in quantities unimaginable 50 years ago. The end product of soft white wheat is transported down the Snake and Columbia River system for export worldwide.
Washington State University celebrated this inspiring collaboration with the state’s grain industry by commissioning this video.
Paul Allen tribute
Paul G. Allen was a man of many interests and tastes. But before dropping out of college to become the co-founder of Microsoft, Allen was a student at Washington State University. Honoring your most successful dropout is a sensitive task by itself, but it is made all the more complex when there is virtually no photography or visual proof of the alumnus’ time on campus!
This tribute video celebrates Paul and his impact through the eyes of the people who knew him, highlighting his work with his favorite fraternity, his foundation’s support of young STEM students, and his endowment to his eponymous school for Global Animal Health.
What I do at WSU
Sometimes a lighthearted approach is the best way to make a first impression.
This project dovetailed off the 2012 “What I do” meme, contrasting six different caricatures of student life. The video was played to an audience of mostly 18-20-year-olds during University Convocation. It caused the university president to nearly fall off his chair in laughter the first time he saw it.
National Community College Impact Study
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) commissioned Economic Modeling Specialists International (Emsi) to quantify the impact of a student’s education on their earning potential, as well as the rate of return on the taxpayer’s investment.
The Recraft team conceived the concept and narrative of the video, plus produced the motion graphics and infographics of the piece.
Economic Developers: Prospering Communities
This is Emsi
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Campaign for Logos School
Logos School in Moscow, ID has the distinction of being one of the pioneers in the Classical Christian school movement. Today, hundreds of like-minded schools around the world look to Logos as a thought leader and resource hub for curriculum and teacher training.
When Logos began fundraising for its new campus in 2016, a purposefully external advancement tone was called for. Rather than focusing solely on the school’s local impact, Recraft conceived of a sweeping visual metaphor: a fertile wheat field, overflowing with abundance and exporting its bounty en mass to the world.
San Bernardino impact study
San Bernardino Collumity College District (SBCCD) encompasses two major colleges in the Inland Empire, plus several training centers and a TV station. SBCCD contracted with Recraft to help reinvigorate its image with the public by illustrating the real-world benefit they bring to the local economy.
