Design
Our award-winning team of graphic designers within Marketing & Creative Services are passionate about using their creative energies to fuel university marketing initiatives that attract attention, support your messaging goals and remain in line with university visual identity standards and guidelines.
Designing across print and digital mediums, we create marketing solutions for our partners, including print and editorial design, web and social media graphics, motion graphics and still illustrations, and merchandise design. Projects can vary from a simple trifold brochure to an integrated marketing campaign.
The Design Project Process
Our goal is to collaborate with our academic and administrative partners in creating compelling print and digital marketing collateral. Please reference this page for what to expect from the design process.
Submit a Project Request
To get started, submit a project request. Every new project needs a new request, so please submit even if you’re already working with a marketing specialist or designer on a different project.
Let's Get Started
A member of the marketing specialist team will reach out to gather information about your project needs and goals. After the initial meeting, we will determine whether you will work with a marketing specialist or directly with a member of the graphic design team.
Next you’ll need to send an edited, proofread, and finalized Word document (or a marked up PDF using the “Comment” tab in Adobe Acrobat) with your text for the project. Please also share any photos you want to use. If you need us to use photos from our University Photo Library, please let us know what you’re looking for.
If there are print components to your project, we will work with you to determine the best printer to print the project with. Our office does not have any in-house printing capabilities.
Design & Proof Review Commences
First Proof
Depending on the scope of your project, you may work directly with the designer from this point forward. We typically need 7-10 days to turn around a first proof, and the designer will share it with you directly when it’s complete.
Proofing Process
Please review the proof carefully. You are responsible for reviewing all text, graphics, and photo content for correctness and consistency. Follow our proofreading tips to understand what to look for. The designer will make any requested content or design modifications and send you an updated proof to review again. Most projects require less than three rounds of proofs before being approved.
Please allow 1-2 working days for the designer to make small edits or 2-4 working days for more extensive edits. If you’re working on a larger scale project or have a number for extensive edits, please consult with your marketing specialist on reasonable time expectations for the next proof. If you have a firm deadline, please let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate it.
How To Provide Edits
We greatly appreciate your making edits on the PDF proof itself. You can do this by downloading and opening the PDF file with Adobe Acrobat, opening the “Comment” tab and making comments or mark-ups on the PDF. Then save and send that file back to us. Please do not use the “Edit” tab in Adobe Acrobat. This helps streamline our design process and gets our designers working on your piece faster. Please also make sure you’re providing the mark-ups in Adobe Acrobat and not in the Dropbox comments field.
Final Approval
The project will be considered approved once you have carefully reviewed the final proof and verified that all text and graphic elements are correct. Let your marketing specialist know that the proof is approved.
If the final project is digital-only, we will provide you with a final file in the format requested and the project will be considered complete.
Printing and Fulfillment
Our team will support clients in working directly with print vendors. Upon final approval of a project that needs printing, the designer will create a print-ready file package. That package will then be sent directly to the printer or to the client (it depends on who is managing the printing process). The vendor will then send a proof back for approval before production begins. The proof may be digital or hard-copy. The proof approval process should be discussed with your marketing specialist.
Once you the print vendor’s proof is approved, the job is placed in production with the vendor and delivered according to instructions provided.
Billing
We do not charge for design time or mark up the cost for anything that is printed. Final invoices will be paid by our office and allocated to your banner index code as an expense or a final invoice will be shared with you to be paid directly with the vendor.
Design Highlights
1 of 8Our team designs a number of publications showcasing life within the wider university community, including the GW magazine, GW Research, GW Business, Museum Magazine and GW Nursing.
2 of 8Take our designs off the page or screen and let us help you brand your space! This environmental design project included vinyl wall applications in the Spirit Shop. 
3 of 8We can help you design and source merchandise while using the university’s brand elements in creative ways. The logo on this reusable shopping bag is made of beloved GW icons.
4 of 8Our graphic design and video teams can collaborate to create animated video effects. This text overlay is used in the video on the university main site’s homepage. 
5 of 8We can design print pieces ranging from the simple to the complex. This admitted student packet included a custom envelope, folder, brochure and custom stickers.
6 of 8Looking for a totally original graphic for your publication, print piece or website? Our team created this custom illustration for the Fall 2017 GW Nursing Magazine. 
7 of 8Web design services begin with initial mockups and continue with full design of site graphics. For the main site, we developed this look for the intro video in the hero space.
8 of 8Our designers can bring unexpected emphasis and fun to your site with video and animated graphics. This design was used on the LHWC site to show the diversity of fitness offerings.
