Four graphic design students from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History & Design helped re-brand StarTran, the Lincoln bus system, when they launched new routes in November, as part of a project for Jacht Ad Lab.
Carlos Velasco helped with the initial research and the rider guide last spring and fall. Michael Johnson worked on the rider guide last summer. Collin Rasmussen designed the signage for the bus routes this fall. And Alex Mabry designed a bus wrap this fall. All four were part of a larger team for Jacht that also worked on ridership research, branding and social media for the bus system. In addition, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Colleen Syron served as the faculty creative director for Jacht last summer.
Through the College of Journalism and Mass Communications’ Jacht Ad Lab, students learn the ins and outs of running an advertising agency by handling the accounts of a variety of real-life clients. They offer creative services such as strategic branding, integrated marketing communications, campaign concepts, social media strategy, print design and public relations with the supervision of faculty adviser Amy Struthers, professor of advertising.
StarTran approached Jacht about a year ago to develop a plan to increase ridership. After conducting research, the Jacht team focused on getting more millennials to ride the bus as another option in their transportation options.
“Obviously we’re not going to be able to get them to ditch their cars,” said Mabry, a senior art major from Lincoln. “But this is a viable alternative if you don’t want to pay for parking or it’s raining or your car is in the shop. It’s a second option that you can rely on.”
They conducted a focus group with millennials and other research into what other cities were doing to attract young professionals to their public transportation.
They also suggested a rider guide, to help new riders learn how to use the bus, which was being released in January.
“One of the things we noticed in our focus on the millennials was that they don’t really know how to ride a bus,” Velasco, a senior art major from Shelby, Nebraska. “I know I’m guilty of this myself. I would not know to pull the rope to call a stop, how to use the bike racks on the bus or basic kinds of questions like that. There’s a lot of these kinds of little questions that people have about riding the bus, so our intentions with the rider guide was to have this information available both on the bus and on their routes, which would be like a frequently asked questions on how to ride the bus.”
The project culminated with a First Friday event in November at Tower Square in downtown Lincoln, where the bus wrap was revealed, and people were invited to ride the buses and learn about the new routes.
“It was just one of those kind of cool events because we could just see the culmination of everything you worked on coming together for a very public event,” Velasco said.
Their campaign, “No Keys, No Commitment” drew upon Archrival’s branding for the City of Lincoln.
“We wanted to repeat the 90-degree angles that a lot of the Lincoln branding uses,” Mabry said. “And so using that as the main focus is the sharp angles to grab attention, bright color and large text because people are going to be consuming this, but it’s really fast on the side of the road.”
For Mabry, who designed the bus wrap, it was the largest canvas she has ever worked on.
“It was a challenge,” she said. “I didn’t feel super qualified because it was just such a big canvas. I’d never done that before. But it was great to have that experience.”
She saw the bus for the first time when everybody else did—at the First Friday event.
“It was kind of terrifying,” she said. “When you’re working on something the size of a bus, you can’t print it out beforehand to make sure everything is where you want it. So I learned a lot just by looking at it. As a designer, you look at it and look for all of the flaws, but thankfully there were no big ones that anyone else noticed but me. Obviously, I’m my biggest critic. But now I have that to put in my portfolio, which is crazy cool.”
Rasmussen, a senior art major from Omaha, worked on the new signage that is installed all over the city to mark routes and bus stops.
“I was very excited for it,” he said. “It’s fun to see those signs up, but I’m just happy to be a part of that team and the experience I got from it. This was my first big project working with a client.”
Kitty Elliott, the head of marketing for StarTran, said working with the Jacht students was a pleasure.
“They are all so creative and full of energy and enthusiasm,” she said. “It’s contagious. It was always energizing to meet with them and see their latest creative ideas. I think the end products are very well received by all.”
Mike Davis, the StarTran Transit Manager, said early indications are that the campaign is working.
“Initial numbers are showing an increase in ridership during the first month of implementation,” he said.
Velasco said he was pleased with the final results as well.
“I’m definitely very happy and excited about the whole entire project,” he said. “This is, by far, the biggest learning experience in the entirety of my time in Jacht, and it was extremely rewarding knowing that you’re doing something that really affects the entire city of Lincoln. And coming from a design background, it’s wonderful knowing your design has the ability to affect thousands of people who use the bus in their everyday commutes.”
Struthers said the project was successful.
“This is cool just because it’s so visible,” she said. “I mean, everybody sees the buses, and I love driving by the signs.”
She said StarTran was a good partner on the project.
“Kitty Elliott and Mike Davis were fantastic to work with,” Struthers said. “They were really interested in partnering and being part of the students’ educational experience. We couldn’t have asked for a better client.”
All of the graphic designers recommended Jacht Ad Lab to get real-world experience.
“Jacht is a great experience, and you’ll learn a lot,” Rasmussen said.
Mabry said Jacht provides an experience she can’t get in the classroom.
“We have pictures of all the posters we put up downtown, and they are in the environment that you intend for them to be, so that just shows that someone paid for my work, and it’s out in the real world,” she said. “You can’t really do that unless you have an internship. It feels more real. You have real clients that you get to communicate with, and you get a feel for what it’s like to work in a community of people and be inspired by them and hear their input.”
Struthers is glad that graphic design students are a part of Jacht.
“The graphic design students are just an amazing addition to Jacht,” she said. “They really bring the level of design to a new point of professionalism.”
Mabry said the bus project was a unique experience.
“It’s very exciting and it was a crazy experience,” she said. “It’s one of the biggest campaigns, I think, that Jacht has ever done, too, and I was really fortunate to be a part of it. Every one of the designers had our own piece of the puzzle, but mine happened to be the bus, which was the most visible and very cool, and I’m extremely grateful for that.
Velasco hopes people check out the Lincoln Bus System.
“I definitely encourage anyone to ride the bus and check out all the material,” he said. “The campaign runs for a while now, and it has really cool work that was done by University of Nebraska–Lincoln students.”