Universities, colleges and research
Maps, identities and explanatory drawings for academic institutions
Colleges and research teams often need to explain themselves to people who don’t know them yet: prospective students, visitors, alumni, schools and the public. I make maps, illustrated identities and explanatory drawings that do that clearly, and with some character.
Where illustration helps
Visitor and campus maps
For Lincoln College, the campus map is a navigation tool for visitors who don’t know the college, and a welcome gift for new and prospective students. For Wolfson College, the map shows the college as a community set in its landscape, rather than a plan of buildings.
Outreach and access programmes
An illustrated logo for Lincoln College’s Pathfinders programme, which wants students with academic ambitions to feel confident about applying, along with stickers to give to students and visitors.
Research communication and public engagement
The illustrated website for Oxford Health Histories gives historical context about health in Oxford in an accessible way. For Aberystwyth University I illustrated characters, buildings, a map and a diagram for learning resources used in Welsh primary schools.
Alumni and development communications
Editorial illustrations on sustainability and equality for Oriel College’s alumni magazine, where the drawings had to carry ideas rather than places.
Working with academic teams
Research projects need accuracy, and colleges need work that will last.
I usually work with a small group: a communications or outreach lead, a researcher or archivist who knows the subject, and sometimes a committee that signs the work off. Pencil roughs give the subject experts a chance to check content early, and the approval dates go into the timeline from the start.
Assets from a map or identity are usually delivered separately too, so the college can use them in its own marketing. At Lincoln College, individual illustrations from the campus map were requested for exactly that.
What others have to say
“Kati has been an utter delight to work with and her illustrations have already become a treasured part of our College community. Now, with the map, we have a lovely (and very useful!) souvenir to give our visitors!“
Maryanne Saunders
Lincoln College
Get in touch
Ready for a chat?
Tell me a little bit about your project and we can take it from there.
