UMSI Expo Badges
A badge system for the UMSI Expo: one family, hundreds of student posters.
- Timeline
- 2 weeks
- Role
- Graphic Designer
- Team
- Solo
- Tools
- Illustrator, Procreate, Figma
The UMSI Engaged Learning Office commissioned a set of pictogram badges to identify award categories at the UMSI Exposition on April 20, 2026. The badges live on hundreds of student posters, across digital communications, and on event signage. They had to help audiences find what to look at, help judges spot which posters were under consideration, and feel like a moment, not a label.
Four constraints, one system.
Create visual interest
Catch the audience's attention and draw them into the key themes presented on each poster.
Ease of identification
Inform visitors about the award categories and help judges spot which posters are under consideration.
Provide cohesion
Every badge had to read as one family. Consistent color, type, and style across the set.
Enhance the event
Match the celebratory atmosphere of Exposition. Feel like a moment, not a label.
The colors I had to work inside.
UMSI’s brand palette is fixed: two primaries (Maize, Blue) and three secondaries (Ross Orange, Wave Field Green, Angell Hall Ash). The badge system pulls from all five so it can sit beside any U-M asset.
Maize
PMS 7406
C0 M18 Y100 K0
Blue
PMS 282
C100 M60 Y0 K60
Ross Orange
PMS 1595
C0 M71 Y100 K3
Wave Field Green
PMS 398
C14 M6 Y100 K24
Angell Hall Ash
PMS 877
C0 M0 Y0 K40