Carlbrook School
01 | Client/Company:
Named for the property for which it was located, Carlbrook School was a coeducational, independent, college preparatory boarding school located on over 200 acres in southern Virginia. The school’s academic community was designed to challenge and inspire students of high aptitude and potential who had struggled in previous educational environments. The school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Virginia Council on Private Education, and was a member of the Secondary School Admissions Testing Board, Educational Records Bureau, and Small Boarding Schools Associations. The school closed in December of 2015.
02 | Project Goal/ Objective:
As a graphic designer at Carlbrook, I was directly involved in all marketing and creative projects with every
department — working through each project from beginning to end. While there were many projects I was a part of, the most challenging one which I was most proud of was the Admissions Viewbook. The Admissions department was looking to upgrade their marketing materials that were mailed to prospective students and educational consultants. They needed not only a viewbook which best represented the school, but also a complete student application and other necessary documents to include with the viewbook in a comprehensive packet. Ultimately, the goal of the project was to increase new student enrollments.
03 | Creative Process & Outcome:
The project was no doubt a challenge, especially as the only member of the creative department. While I appreciated the freedom I was given on the art direction of the project, I was
at a disadvantage because there weren’t other creative staff to sound-board off of. I spent a fair amount of time researching viewbooks from many colleges, as I felt these offered the best examples of how to represent the school’s brand. I was not only responsible for the design and layout of the viewbook but of the 105 photographs included, I took one-fourth of them personally.
In the end, the project gave me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of how the printing process works as I worked closely with them to deliver the final design. The admissions viewbook and the admissions documents that accompanied the book turned out better than I imagined. The viewbook resulted in an increase of applications which gradually led to a steady increase in enrollments. I believe it served its purpose and represented the school well.