Graphic Design
True North Winter Festival
Building a visual identity for a brand-new campus tradition, from concept to collateral.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Event
Client :
CSB+SJU
Project Overview :
The True North Winter Festival was a first-of-its-kind event at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University — a month-long celebration of winter running from early February through March 1, 2026. Rather than treating the Minnesota cold as something to endure, the festival reframed it as an opportunity for community: pond hockey, broomball, ice fishing, a Luminary Walk across frozen Lake Sagatagan, a Sauna Village, and the return of the Snow Ball Dance Party, among other events spread across both campuses.
Because this was an inaugural event, there was no existing visual identity to work from. Everything needed to be built from the ground up, on a real deadline, for a real launch.
The Work :
The festival's creative concept was developed by Art Director Dominic Maas. From there, my role was to take that concept and build out the full campaign — giving it a visual system that could stretch across a wide range of formats and every individual event on the calendar.
That meant developing custom illustrations for each festival event, creating the banners, and concepting and producing the full suite of collateral. Each event got its own visual treatment while remaining cohesive within the larger festival identity, so that whether someone saw a social post about the Snow Ball or a banner for the Sauna Village, it read as part of the same thing. I executed this work alongside a student worker, directing and managing their contributions throughout the project.
My Role:
Creative Director · Graphic Designer · Project Manager In-house, CSB+SJU Athletics — 2023–2024
I led this project from concept through completed installation as a largely one-person creative team. My responsibilities spanned the full scope: design strategy, photo sourcing and curation, custom vinyl and signage design, vendor coordination, and installation logistics in collaboration with the SJU Facilities team. I worked closely with the Athletic Director throughout to ensure the final result matched his vision — and pushed it further.
Deliverables :
Event illustration suite — custom illustration for each festival event
Banners and physical signage
Social media graphics
Full collateral suite across print and digital formats
Student worker direction and production management
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
More Projects
Graphic Design
True North Winter Festival
Building a visual identity for a brand-new campus tradition, from concept to collateral.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Event
Client :
CSB+SJU
Project Overview :
The True North Winter Festival was a first-of-its-kind event at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University — a month-long celebration of winter running from early February through March 1, 2026. Rather than treating the Minnesota cold as something to endure, the festival reframed it as an opportunity for community: pond hockey, broomball, ice fishing, a Luminary Walk across frozen Lake Sagatagan, a Sauna Village, and the return of the Snow Ball Dance Party, among other events spread across both campuses.
Because this was an inaugural event, there was no existing visual identity to work from. Everything needed to be built from the ground up, on a real deadline, for a real launch.
The Work :
The festival's creative concept was developed by Art Director Dominic Maas. From there, my role was to take that concept and build out the full campaign — giving it a visual system that could stretch across a wide range of formats and every individual event on the calendar.
That meant developing custom illustrations for each festival event, creating the banners, and concepting and producing the full suite of collateral. Each event got its own visual treatment while remaining cohesive within the larger festival identity, so that whether someone saw a social post about the Snow Ball or a banner for the Sauna Village, it read as part of the same thing. I executed this work alongside a student worker, directing and managing their contributions throughout the project.
My Role:
Creative Director · Graphic Designer · Project Manager In-house, CSB+SJU Athletics — 2023–2024
I led this project from concept through completed installation as a largely one-person creative team. My responsibilities spanned the full scope: design strategy, photo sourcing and curation, custom vinyl and signage design, vendor coordination, and installation logistics in collaboration with the SJU Facilities team. I worked closely with the Athletic Director throughout to ensure the final result matched his vision — and pushed it further.
Deliverables :
Event illustration suite — custom illustration for each festival event
Banners and physical signage
Social media graphics
Full collateral suite across print and digital formats
Student worker direction and production management
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
More Projects
Graphic Design
True North Winter Festival
Building a visual identity for a brand-new campus tradition, from concept to collateral.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Event
Client :
CSB+SJU
Project Overview :
The True North Winter Festival was a first-of-its-kind event at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University — a month-long celebration of winter running from early February through March 1, 2026. Rather than treating the Minnesota cold as something to endure, the festival reframed it as an opportunity for community: pond hockey, broomball, ice fishing, a Luminary Walk across frozen Lake Sagatagan, a Sauna Village, and the return of the Snow Ball Dance Party, among other events spread across both campuses.
Because this was an inaugural event, there was no existing visual identity to work from. Everything needed to be built from the ground up, on a real deadline, for a real launch.
The Work :
The festival's creative concept was developed by Art Director Dominic Maas. From there, my role was to take that concept and build out the full campaign — giving it a visual system that could stretch across a wide range of formats and every individual event on the calendar.
That meant developing custom illustrations for each festival event, creating the banners, and concepting and producing the full suite of collateral. Each event got its own visual treatment while remaining cohesive within the larger festival identity, so that whether someone saw a social post about the Snow Ball or a banner for the Sauna Village, it read as part of the same thing. I executed this work alongside a student worker, directing and managing their contributions throughout the project.
My Role:
Creative Director · Graphic Designer · Project Manager In-house, CSB+SJU Athletics — 2023–2024
I led this project from concept through completed installation as a largely one-person creative team. My responsibilities spanned the full scope: design strategy, photo sourcing and curation, custom vinyl and signage design, vendor coordination, and installation logistics in collaboration with the SJU Facilities team. I worked closely with the Athletic Director throughout to ensure the final result matched his vision — and pushed it further.
Deliverables :
Event illustration suite — custom illustration for each festival event
Banners and physical signage
Social media graphics
Full collateral suite across print and digital formats
Student worker direction and production management
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign