Unlock Learning Campaign

Sheridan College

Oakville, ON

Sheridan College required a bold, strategic brand campaign that could reposition the institution as a destination for creative, purpose-driven education while responding to rapid changes in the postsecondary landscape. The campaign needed to launch in September 2024 to align with the academic recruitment cycle, capital campaign planning and post-pandemic reengagement. The team explored multiple naming conventions, eventually aligning on “Unlock Sheridan” as a brand platform that was flexible and active. A visual design system was developed to support both central marketing and individual faculties, incorporating custom photo treatments and brand frames; a refreshed colour palette and typographic system and a new visual marker known as the “S Flag” to compliment a type-based logo. The campaign was used for student recruitment, internal engagement, event promotions, government relations and fundraising. Early impacts highlight increased social media performance including year-over-year increases in total followers (+6%), post engagement (+180%) and video views (+7,078%).

Judge’s Pick

“I selected this piece because there was a lot of thought put into the process before getting to the design stage. Learning about your audience is integral to the process, and the team did this through their research. I also appreciate that they’ve used KPIs to show the impact of the work, because it can be often be overlooked. The design itself is creative, it meets the project brief objectives and it's vibrant and engaging. I loved the behind-the-scenes short video demonstrating how they created the "S" with colour bursts. Great work all around!”

— Emineh Babayan