Making student housing feel like community throughout 160+ properties across the country.
Role
Art Director
Team
Agency FIFTY3
Sabrina Hayes, Senior Copywriter
Margo Garrigues, Senior Designer
Sarah Marie Fieldhammer, Designer
Hanna Sperber, Designer
Deliverables
Campaign Strategy
Messaging
Visual Identity
Animations
Environmental Design
Digital Collateral
Print Collateral
Merch & Promo
Neighborhood Social Club
Cardinal Group manages over 200 student housing communities across the country, and each year they run a move-in campaign to welcome new residents. The challenge was creating something that works across drastically different properties — from traditional collegiate communities to modern urban buildings — while giving each community the ability to feel true to their specific location and vibe.
We positioned each property as its own neighborhood social club, pulling from vintage country club aesthetics that were having a moment. I worked with the creative team to develop a customizable visual system featuring two color palette options and a customizable crest library where communities could add their own logo and icons. For photography direction, we focused on authentic moments of togetherness — film grain, warm color grading, and genuine interactions.
Participation jumped from 111 communities to 169 — a 52% increase. The on-site teams loved having the ability to customize through color, badges, and stickers, which meant they could design their own assets and tailor the campaign to their community. We learned that when communities felt ownership over the campaign system, they actually used it.
