An Overview

‍

Across multiple terms in college, I worked my way up from "flyer-handout-guy" to a leadership role at SPARK, where I grew our team significantly and helped us acquire national recognition.

‍

I spearheaded a 360° rebrand of our group, developing a visual identity and online presence, securing funding from corporate sponsors.

‍

I was able to gain impactful experience in Marketing, Business, UX Design, Teamwork, and Investor Relations in the competitive electric motorcycle racing circuit.

‍

‍

‍

‍

The Challenge

‍

• ‍Compete with more established engineering design teams at national races‍

• Attract funding by developing long-term corporate sponsor relationships

• ‍Grow our team through on-campus and internet recruiting, diversifying our teams skillset.

‍

‍

The Solution

‍

• Rebrand our team's marketing collateral to a more attractive design system

• Establish an online presence on social media channels

• Design an intuitive website for both sponsors and new members to interact with our team

‍

‍

Background

‍

Although EM Racing literally set the foundation for motorcycle engineering at the University of Michigan, at less than 2 years old, it was still considered the "new guy on the block".

‍

I saw the potential for growth early on, and knew I had an incredible opportunity to help us reach the next level

‍

‍

Stakeholder Analysis

‍

‍

‍

‍

Competitive Analysis

‍

If you're not aware, Ohio and Michigan have one of the oldest and most well-documented rivalries in America. This rivalry culminates to a dangerous boiling point at each states respective public universities. As you can imagine, there was significant motivation to conduct a comprehensive and thorough competitive analysis.

‍

‍

Research Takeaways

‍

• Stakeholders were active supporters of our group, but needed more accessible ways of participating in what we were doing

• There was a deep motivation for our young organization to perform at a competitive level

• Our team needed to grow, fast, both in terms of sponsorship funding, as well as team size

‍

‍

Rebrand Ideation and Design

From Sketchbook ➡️ Adobe Illustrator ➡️ Apparel ➡️ Website

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

Journey Map

‍

‍

‍

Lo-Fidelity Prototype

‍

‍

‍

Development and Implementation

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

Iterations

‍

‍

SPONSOR PORTAL

We implemented a "login" feature, which gave sponsors access to our team resume book, exclusive updates, and a transparent breakdown of how our funding was being spent. This allowed us to build a continued rapport with sponsors, retaining them for years going forward.

‍

‍

‍

SPLASH VIDEO

We repurposed our social media video to serve as a splash video before entering the SPARK landing page. We wanted to put our best foot forward to anyone who wanted to find out more about us.

‍

‍

‍

Impact

‍

SOCIAL MEDIA PLUG

Collaborating with talent from the Art & Design community, I organized a video for SPARK, which was featured on the official @uofmichigan instagram page, expanding our reach to hundreds of thousands of people — The power of Social Media: Crazy

‍

‍

‍

‍

NATIONAL RECOGNITION

We were also able to secure a feature in the NAIAS, the annual Detroit Auto Show, one of the oldest and largest automotive vehicle shows in the world. Detroit's nickname is Motown, or Motor Town, for the history of motor vehicle factories located in Detroit. As such, the Detroit Auto Show is steeped in history, legacy, and reputation.

‍

‍

‍

TEAM GROWTH & INCREASED SPONSORSHIP FUNDING

The media buzz generated interest from sponsors and new members alike, doubling our team size, while netting our team nearly 10X more funding than in previous years.

‍

‍

‍

‍

Reflection

‍

For a group of college students, not bad, I'd say. I look back at what we accomplished as such a young organization, and I'm honestly pretty astounded. It was analagous to a startup experience, but with a twist, we have to graduate and move on. I'm proud to say our efforts

‍

• brought in tens of thousands in funding from corporate sponsors
• lifted the reputation of our team and brand through social media and a key Detroit Auto Show Feature
• re-optimized our leaderships organizational structure to add a business team that supported the engineering team
• as well as attracted a new generation of students, setting our team up for future success

‍

This was my first experience where I witnessed how strong design and business acumen could provide a tangible benefit in an engineering team. Today I bring this same mindset when collaborating with Product Managers, UX Designers and Developers on digital products.