Engineering recruitment 2024

The Engineering Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment team approached the Creative Studio (CS) with a request for a takeaway piece that would resonate with prospective students. Their original idea? A straightforward 4″ x 6″ postcard and a sticker featuring program details for each of the Engineering faculty’s fifteen programs—handy for recruitment events and open houses. 

Understanding the audience is key, and the Creative Studio conducted a focus group to understand student preferences. Focus group feedback is always enlightening and sometimes surprising. Hearing a student say, 'Photos are for my parents, I want to see illustrations,' directly influenced this project. Students see photography as 'for parents' and prefer illustrations—viewing them as modern, fresh, and dorm-room-worthy. 

With two decades of experience crafting standout recruitment materials, we knew we could level up the concept. Instead of a postcard, we proposed creating a custom illustration that reflected all fifteen programs. The main Engineering poster showcased the full illustration, while each of the fifteen program posters highlighted the section relevant to their specific program. This approach ensured that every poster and laptop sticker was unique, making them even more engaging for students. The poster would blend program details with striking visuals, along with a QR code for easy access to more info later. 

The Engineering Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment team was all in. They immediately set out to brief an illustrator to bring this vision to life. 

To capture the unique essence of each Engineering program, we needed an artist who could translate technical concepts into compelling visuals. Enter Kathleen Fu, a School of Architecture alum we had previously worked with on Waterloo Magazine and the Report on Giving. 

The CS team played a key role in shaping the illustrations, facilitating feedback between Kathleen and the Engineering team. After a few refinement rounds, the final artwork was approved—fifteen unique program illustrations, plus a Faculty of Engineering poster bringing them all together.

While the illustrations were in progress, we got to work on the poster layout. The backside would house essential program details in a structured and visually engaging format. Once content was finalized, we adapted the design across all fifteen program posters and an overarching Faculty of Engineering version. 

Once we had all the art, the front side was designed to highlight each program’s illustration while the back side held that program’s information. The artwork was different for each program as we placed the corresponding illustration for that program in the center of the poster!  

We also made some 3″ x 3″ stickers with the corresponding illustrations for each program as fun takeaways for students.

With all the elements in place, the final design came together seamlessly. The front of each poster highlighted its program’s custom illustration, while the back delivered key program insights. 

To add to the fun, we introduced an interactive element with 3″ x 3″ laptop stickers, designed to be saved and become a talking point among peers.

The response? Overwhelming. The posters and stickers flew off tables at recruitment events, with students eager to collect them all; some students even traded to complete their sticker set.

Faculty, staff, and even current students showed strong interest, and the Dean of Undergraduate Studies requested extra copies for distribution across departments. Demand was so high that the posters and stickers were reprinted for the March Open House 2025.

Thoughtful design and a student-first approach turned a simple request into a must-have recruitment piece. And sometimes, a little bit of fun (and collectability) goes a long way.