A prospectus is often the first impression a University makes to students. As such, it’s hugely important for a University’s reputation and for student recruitment. We were very excited for the opportunity to create the University of Birmingham’s 2024 undergraduate prospectus.
Photography
As a general rule, once students see the University’s redbrick campus, they are sold on studying with us. The impressive Old Joe clock tower, alongside ivy-covered college buildings and a bustling student community helps UoB feel like a ‘true’ campus experience. That’s why it was key to showcase the campus with great photography in our prospectus.
Creative Media’s new photography sub-team pulled together to moodboard the prospectus imagery. Over three days, the sub-team pinned down the selling points: the redbrick architecture, the attractive ‘Green Heart’ of the campus, and the city – just a short hop away on the train.
Amy went on location to shoot the student accommodation photography. This included re-dressing the student rooms to display them in their best light. The team also commissioned drone photography to take in the scope of campus. Amy then digitally stitched together these images to create the photograph you see on the prospectus cover.
Design
Last year, Creative Media worked on the University’s student recruitment ‘playbook’, which sets the look and feel of all materials aimed at potential students. This introduced a new colour palette – a mature navy blue and a gold to symbolise the premiere experience and success. It also introduced colour gradients and triangular motifs as design elements.
Our content producer Adriana drew on the playbook when creating the prospectus. The familiar blue and gold hues were present throughout, and student quotes were marked out with the triangle motif. This leant the prospectus a consistent and familiar look.
Creating the prospectus was a collaborative process between Creative Media and the team at Student Recruitment. Adriana would create spread options and share these with the client before they progressed to the final stage. Adriana also tested the gold foil that made up the ‘2024’ on the cover with the printers, to ensure it was as eye-catching as we hoped. Overall, the project was a great success and one that we’re very proud to see go out into the world.
What comes next?
We’ve already got our mind on where the future will take prospectuses. Generation Z expect a personalised experience, and this expectation extends to student recruitment. Prospectuses, particularly in the digital space, will need to intuitively understand user wants and needs. Expect prospectuses to change a lot over the coming years as Universities continue to adapt for the Gen Z cohort.
