ILR Messaging: The Story That Works

ILR’s website is the front door to our online experience and plays a key role in establishing our identity to the world. Since it is such an important component of our digital strategy, it is the first place that we will express the brilliant work that IDEO did for us earlier this year.

The first phase of the redesign, which we’re calling a “reskin” – think painting a room versus remodeling it – allows us to introduce elements of the brand as we prepare for the deeper redesign and updated content strategy that will roll out over the course of the next 12 months.

A sample of ILR’s new visual and verbal style is featured in the new edition of Advance magazine, which will be delivered to your office soon. The concepts you’ve been hearing about come to life on a two-page spread introducing the look and feel of the branding. This is an early expression of our branding and messaging framework that represents a flexible system for the entire ILR community—everyone on our campuses, in the institutes, and out in the world—to come together and find common ground.

Jump in! Take an easy step in utilizing one of ILR’s brand tools by creating a new email signature. It takes seconds, literally. And, the signature reflects the look and feel of the fresh, bold branding you’ll learn more about in the coming weeks.

Thanks to you and many others, ILR has a bold new way to talk about what we do in the world. Starting this summer, we’re rolling out our new brand expression.

"You should be proud of where you came from, but it shouldn't limit where you go." An ILR alumni said that, and it's been a touchstone for the IDEO team tasked with designing a brand that will bring ILR into the 21st century.

Cadging Inspiration in New York City - Three weeks of heavy qualative research. One week of synthesizing all the data. Culminating in five Insights that the IDEO team presented to the ILR community. Each Insight led to a design principle, which, taken as a set, will push the way ILR tells its story to the world.

Research Wraps & Synthesis Begins - Snow, the enemy of Open Houses, returned with a soggy vengeance—but it was no match for the dedicated faculty and staff who work at ILR’s 34th Street campus.

Last week, the IDEO team returned to Ithaca for a slew of one-on-one and group interviews with undergrads and MILR candidates—often deploying a menagerie of toy animals.

Despite a crushing blizzard, which forced the NYC Open House to be postponed and the storied Work It! project space to go dark for a day, the IDEO team spoke with nearly twenty people to gain perspective on the city-based professional programs and ILR’s status in the world.

“To change the status quo, you’ve got to have passion.” That’s how one parent described the quintessential ILR student during a group interview. Participants were asked to identify the top two factors that make ILRies different, and it was unanimous: brains and heart. “They’re smart and they care.”

Project “Work It!” Officially Kicks Off - This past week, ILR alums, faculty, and staff joined IDEO at the Statler Hotel to ask, “How might we face the future without abandoning our past?” Those gathered rose from their chairs to share perspectives and stories. Said one participant, “This banquet carpeting has never seen so much action.”

Last week the IDEO team arrived in snowy Ithaca to learn what makes ILR such an extraordinary place. Despite a wintry snowscape, they encountered a community united by fiery passions—for worker well-being, for social justice, and for the brilliant students who come here.

Last week, the ILR School began a process to re-evaluate how we articulate who we are and the value we bring to the world.  This project will include a comprehensive review of our existing messaging and visual identity, in addition to several other aspects of our internal and external communications efforts.