Brand Campaign for University for the Creative Arts
Does UCA’s campaign imply design is only for rebellious teens?
Hingston Studio collaborated with the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) to create a bold campaign that repositions creative education as a vital investment in the UK’s future. The campaign combines manifesto-style messaging, vibrant color, and urgent typography with authentic student portraits to celebrate individuality and the power of creativity.
Insights
- The campaign’s manifesto tone can read like it’s branding design as “rebellious teenager” territory—but Hingston’s strategy is the opposite: reframing creative education as a serious, future-ready investment tied to jobs and national growth.
- Hingston Studio built a new visual language for UCA: bold, manifesto-style typography paired with a vibrant palette anchored by UCA’s signature green, designed to “demand attention” across outdoor print, digital, and TV motion.
- Type is used to telegraph urgency and hierarchy: Garage Gothic for the main voice (to “evoke a sense of urgency”) with Suisse Int’l handling secondary messaging—turning the system into something flexible without losing the punch.
- Art direction is explicitly student-led and portrait-driven: real students were cast by Hingston, photographed by Julian Broad, and styled in their own wardrobe (supported by stylist Harris Elliot) to “hero” individuality rather than polish them into generic stock “creative” stereotypes.
- Context matters: the work “arrives at a pivotal moment” as UK universities face financial and political pressure; the campaign’s core message links creativity to cultural, social, and economic importance—positioning UCA as “the UK’s leading arts and creative university” while arguing the sector needs protecting.
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