radio k
social media designs / illustration / print collateral
Radio K is an award-winning student-run radio station of the University of Minnesota. I had a lot of fun as the graphic designer from 2021-22, as well as an on-air DJ! Getting to merge my love for music and design was a real treat. Below are various social media designs for Radio K and The Vanguard (which is their hip-hop stream), as well as how I transformed their 'K' mascot into a cute and iconic illustration.
Every year, Radio K sends out stickers to students all over campus to increase involvement. For this sticker design, I found myself inspired by mid-century cartoon character illustrations, which I wanted to apply to Radio K's big fuzzy K mascot. After doing some visual research of this retro style, I started sketching ideas in Procreate on my iPad; the K, with all its whistling cheer, began to take form.
back to school campaign
Next, I brought my drawings into Adobe Illustrator and worked on vectorizing and fine-tuning the character, then trying different type treatments. I was drawn to a badge-style circle design. After some more small changes, I arrived at the final design, and they were printed and distributed throughout campus!
The whistling K character was a big hit at Radio K! I continued to use it in other places, such as promotional posters, postcards, and shirts to be sent to pledge donors. For these, I leaned into the retro aesthetic of the K character, inspired by Googie signage to showcase the information. The posters were advertised in the MN Daily newspaper, social media, and online.
