Student exhibit features local branding designs

Nimarco new sign

Regulars at NiMarco’s Pizza may have noticed something different about their favorite restaurant.

The Flagstaff pizza parlor was one of six area businesses selected by Patricia Murphey’s graphic design class for a branding makeover, and the restaurant’s owner has decided to implement the students’ proposed look.

Murphey, a visual communication professor in the School of Communication, asked her Graphic Design 3 class to identify Flagstaff businesses and organizations that might benefit from a new brand identity. Along with NiMarco’s Pizza, the students also selected the Flagstaff Arboretum, the Flagstaff Mall, Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the urban trail system and Robothouse, a local entertainment web site.

The students designed logos, web sites, posters, brochures, signage, visual identity standards manuals, and business cards and stationery for each of the clients, and the fruits of their labor will be on display in the School of Communication gallery for their Brand Identity Show, which opens at 5 p.m. March 2 and will run from March 5-16.

NiMarco’s Pizza owner Dave Ledbetter jumped at the chance to revamp the restaurant’s look, especially because it was proposed by one of his own employees, visual communication major Becky Murans.

“It meant more to her than just a grade, since she got to see it implemented,” Ledbetter said. “The new logo has been very well-received, and we’re happy about it on multiple levels. It’s nice because it is new and fresh and still has a tie to the community.”

For information about the Brand Identity Show, contact Patricia Murphey at (928) 523-2069.