University of Denver - Graduate School of Social Work

Denver, Colorado

Dedicated, supportive, and compassionate faculty, staff, students, and community members have all kindly donated to the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) at the University of Denver. Appreciating this generosity, GSSW wanted an elegant donor recognition program that would honor their memories and contributions. Donations provided to the school ranged in value so the donor program needed to visually illustrate and recognize the different monetary levels of the gifts. With limited funds and GSSW’s desire for a high visual aesthetic, the design solution required a sophisticated and economical approach that could efficiently recognize all of the large gift, space, group and individual donor contributions.

Leaf pattern designs are used on all the donor elements which pays homage to GSSW’s signature window of a graphic tree design that symbolizes human growth and change. The leaf patterns are incorporated into a variety of materials such as frosted glass, vinyl, and free-form metal cut-outs. Donor recognition is applied with metal or vinyl lettering, depending on level of donation. Utilizing the combination of different economic materials, the donor signage creates an eloquent solution whose visual aesthetic provides a great tribute to its donors by respecting the amount of their gift.