UC Irvine Humanities: The Power of Imagination

HUMANITIES THE POWER OF IMAGINATION

Imagination isn’t a luxury, especially in a world that faces the environmental, political, ethical and educational challenges at our doorstep. Imagination is a necessity to think beyond the expected. To ask questions that push at the boundaries of the status quo.

The Power of Imagination is a call to action to the broader UC Irvine community to draw upon their imagination as a way of knowing, and acting in, our world. Students in the humanities utilize imagination to understand histories and imagine futures. Students also further develop their imaginative capacities through studying the humanities, better positioning them to consider different perspectives, develop more and better solutions to problems, and communicate more effectively. To imagine is to inspire, in oneself and others.

We think imagination is power.

The campaign includes 24 vertical banners installed throughout the School of Humanities, and includes 6 wayfinding banners that identify particular humanities buildings and programs. The graphic designs are artfully abstract, and use a modernist approach to depict themes from art, language and media to ethics, nature and the environment. The style of the designs invite viewers to think beyond what they’re seeing (direction to user: imagination required!). All banners have a social media call to action at the bottom.

The Power of Imagination Banners

Wayfinding Banners

Launched alongside UC Irvine’s rebranding, the Power of Imagination campaign integrates the new UC Irvine color palette, wordmark and typography for consistency with brand recognition. Instead of focusing only on the primary UCI colors, all of the colors are used together in an innovative way to create a vibrant and dynamic campaign that pops on campus and feels completely different from other schools.

Primary Colors

Secondary & Accent Colors

Bridge Banner

Beyond the campus-based physical banners, the Power of Imagination campaign includes new social media series that use imagination as a starting point for conversation and intellectual exploration. The first series to be launched (on YouTube and Instagram) is Imagination In Research, and spotlights faculty research – but framed for the undergraduate audience. These research “interviews” are dynamic media stories that invite students into serious (but fun!) humanistic research in a way that makes clear how the research is connected to contemporary issues. We have also created a series of striking bookmarks to engage with students, alumni, staff and faculty around an activity that is at the heart of the humanities: reading.

This campaign is designed to speak to big, bold thematics that cross disciplinary boundaries and generational divides. As students move through the space of the humanities, we hope that the abstract designs will speak to students who are not yet humanities students. How might a pre-med student imagine her field of study alongside humanistic questions around ethics (Imagination in Ethics)? How could cultural or societal concerns influence the work of a biology student working on climate change (Imagination in Culture/Imagination in Society)? And online, our digital campaign will reach alumni, friends of the humanities and our colleagues across the globe.

“I imagine, therefore I am...”