CASE STUDY

For more than a century, Siena Heights had been rooted in Dominican Catholic tradition, founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters to educate and empower students to live purposeful, ethical, and competent lives. Over time, however, their brand had fractured.

There was a seal for administration, a blocky Saints logo for athletics, and a husky mascot named Halo who seemed to belong to another school entirely. Each department, from dance to soccer, had begun designing its own logos, fonts, and color variations. Proper usability was difficult, and functionality was nonexistent.

The dilemma went deeper than logos. There was a question of who Siena Heights truly was. A question tangled in history, faith, and a community in transition. How could a small Catholic university modernize without losing its soul?

Before a single sketch, our team spent weeks in conversation with faculty, administration, students, and alumni, including input from the Adrian Dominican Sisters themselves.

From those discovery sessions, a few truths emerged:

• The Dominican pillars, prayer, study, preaching, and community, were the spiritual and cultural DNA of Siena Heights.

• The university’s mission to develop “competent, purposeful, and ethical” individuals was alive on campus, even if it wasn’t clearly expressed in visuals or language.

• Siena Heights wasn’t afraid of evolution. They were ready to move forward without erasing where they’d been.

We also dove deep into research provided by Campus Sonar, analyzing Catholic and Dominican peers like Providence College, Duquesne, and St. Thomas. Many had modernized successfully by embracing a balance of faith and relevance to preserve their heritage while connecting with today’s students through design, language, and emotional clarity.