Auraria Campus Rebrand

Auraria is a historic neighborhood in the heart of Denver which was transformed into a college campus in the 1970s. Auraria uniquely houses three state schools: the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver. Though the three schools are individual entities, they share grounds and facilities, resulting in a large urban campus equipped with modern labs and classrooms, an expansive shared library, health center, state-of-the-art theaters, and more—in essence, a campus that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Auraria Higher Education Center was created to manage and maintain all of these shared facilities.

After nearly 50 years in existence, the Auraria Higher Education Center was due for a rebrand and a new website. Now known as simply Auraria Campus, their new identity focused on vibrancy and connection to the rest of Denver while respecting their origins as a historic neighborhood. After receiving the new logo and brand guidelines, I was responsible for creating assets to accompany the unveiling during the back-to-school season of 2024. This included designing the landing page of the new website, creating a new business system, and making a splash on campus and in nearby downtown with flags, banners, and signage.

I focused on a few main colors and graphics to maintain cohesion through the brand unveil and develop a sense of recognition with students, faculty, and staff. This included the primary color palette of navy, white, and royal blue, as well as a lime green accent; the map of Auraria and its surrounding neighborhoods, which was used as a background texture; and the “A” from the logo, which was used as a graphic element.