The Maroon Brick Road
A six-week alumni engagement campaign guiding McMaster’s Class of 2021 from student to alumni through illustrated storytelling across email, social, and print.
The Challenge: Strengthening the Student to Alumni Pipeline
Illustration System
At the heart of the campaign was a series of custom illustrations inspired by McMaster landmarks, traditions, and colours. The nostalgic artwork and warm colour palette encouraged graduates to reflect on their university experience while looking ahead, transforming informational emails into a cohesive and celebratory visual story.
The Maroon Brick Road was adapted into a series of Instagram Stories posted during graduation week, adapting the campaign’s illustrations and visual language into a bite-sized format that reinforced key alumni messages and maintained consistency across digital channels.
The campaign transformed a series of alumni communications into a cohesive visual story that celebrated graduates' McMaster experience while introducing them to their new alumni community. Extending the campaign across email, social media, and print created a consistent experience throughout graduation and gave graduates a tangible keepsake from McMaster to take with them into their next chapter.
Postcard
The Result: Digital & Physical Touchpoints
The Maroon Brick Road was also brought into the physical graduation experience through illustrated postcards included in each graduate’s convocation package. Featuring campaign artwork, the postcards served as a simple, tangible extension of the campaign during graduation week.
McMaster's Class of 2021 spent a significant part of their university experience disconnected from the institute due to COVID-19. Graduation was therefore a key touchpoint to strengthen their connection to McMaster and introduce them to the alumni community. The goal was to make that transition feel personal, engaging, and memorable, rather than simply communicating information about alumni benefits and resources.
The "Maroon Brick Road" is a symbolic journey through campus representing the transition from student to alumni. Each weekly email represented a new stop along the journey, introducing graduates to different aspects of alumni life through a combination of storytelling, custom illustration, and informational content.