For a new university, the UOIT campus can be remarkably lacking in wayfinding and environmental graphics in many of its existing buildings. By the time that I left, there did at least seem to be signs of improvement in the process, with the new Software and Informatics Research Centre (SIRC) including wayfinding and environmental graphics throughout the building planning stages.
In the older buildings however, it was down to me to push creativity and maximize tight budgets to extend the university’s brand across campus whenever the opportunity arose.
Often, this would happen after a faculty or department moved into a new space, or when new leadership wanted to distinguish their faculty’s renewed purpose and direction within the growing institution.
For me as a designer, this was an opportunity to work closely with the deans and heads of departments to enhance the environments that their students and staff worked in every day, building the brand into the fabric of the campus itself.