Sarah Ekstrom

One Bike, Two Bike, Red Bike, Blue Bike. Collaboration with Evan Nagan.

A simple objective: create an identity for Social Science, a brand new 21+ venue at the Science Museum that will hold lectures, presentations, film screenings, and other activities throughout the museum's exhibits. A calculated approach: take the imaginative, the interesting, and the fun of the SMS and integrate it with the look and feel of a venue that's tailored to an older crowd while simultaneously tying in the distinct feeling of community that the St. Paul is so well known for.

Since there was not a lot of information on Social Science, I wanted to show a range of ideas and styles, each with a fresh, unique perspective tying back to the initial approach to the project. Each identity was positioned on a spectrum of possibility that ranges from fun and quirky to modern and sophisticated.

Quirky: A midwestern flair that references the history of the city and the museum. Spark social, spark science: a fun exchange of color and graphic illustrations from both science and the city.

Magnetic: Tailored and fun to reflect a young, inner spirit that refuses to stop learning. A color palette of deep purple and gold paired with hinted illustrations make for an unexpectedly charming and experimental identity.

Modern: The Knotted Molecule: a perfect representation of community, science, and technology. A futuristic color palette elevates this transitional identity into modernity.

Sophisticated: A strong, cultured personality that lives and breathes the notion that Science is Art and Art is Science. A beautiful and captivating identity that proves there's strength in simplicity.

3M asked us to redesign their OHES site and to help re-establish connection with their customers by creating thoughtful experiences, improving usability and information accessibility, and to help grow the brand over the near and long term.

Design was based on a humanistic approach that re-connected the user to the tactility of the division. Information was made more readily accessible through segmenting and bucketing while a new sense of usability was established with a super search to help get customers to where they want to go faster.

Centering the design within the 3M brand grounds the OHES division within the past, present, and future, leveraging 3M, not only as a division, but as a company. 3M is about innovation and making things that help people do things better, faster, safer and easier - and it is speaking to this philosophy that was our ultimate goal.

3M is a company that produces thousands of imaginative and innovative products - leading markets from healthcare to adhesives - and basing their successes on the perpetual variety of real-world customer needs.

To show 3M the need for strong and consistent product photography for the design and build of their OHES site, we built out a series of assets to show them how you can visually tell the story behind a product and the careful thinking and considerations that the division itself brings to the customer, really tying back to and representing the innovation that 3M is so well know for.

Augsburg Fortress, the Publishing House of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and leading creator of Christian worship, Sunday school, confirmation and adult Bible study materials, came to us in need of an intuitive planning tool that would allow Sunday school teachers and church directors to schedule classes, plan worships, send messages, and bring people together more efficiently. As the features and capabilities that were to be shared by each of the divisions was narrowed down, Joshua was born - the platform that housed nearly all of the functionality that would be needed to move forward with the production of each product.

Spark, Clayfire, and re:form Online resonate with each of their audiences by reflecting the creative, fun and expressive print-based products that were originally developed by AF while simultaneously serving as a resource and curriculum tool. Although each product is different, they share the same focus on staying relevant to people and their everyday lives through collaboration, social networking, and the importance of sharing and connecting through experiences.

ARENA BIkini is a yearly swimwear/fashion performance and charitable event that raises funds for ARENA Dances, a nonprofit modern dance company located in the heart of the Twin Cities. Local fashion designers combined “bunny chic with beach-babe ready to wear” to bring this years theme, Haute & Cold, to life.

This years goal was to tailor a fresh and modern approach to ARENA Bikini 2010 by merging the personalities of ARENA Dances with this years theme. A bold, upscale style was spread across multiple mediums including website, stationery, event handouts, banners, and menus.

From school pride to travel, design examples were created to showcase what is possible with two of 3M’s innovative card technologies – the clear card and the non-metallic foil card. Designs were developed to target three different audiences – student/entry level, mid level, and the elite level.

Serving almost 60 million people, OptumHealth, a company of UnitedHealthcare, is the nation’s largest health and wellness business. OptumHealth is set a part from the rest by the strength of their partnerships between provider and consumer and the constant evolution of information, tools and solutions people need to live the healthiest lives possible.

OptumHealth came to us in their pursuit to reposition their online presence and to reconnect with their users whether it be employers, payers, providers, or consumers. OptumHealth.com is now positioned as strong and reliable, lending its appeal to what OptumHealth really stands for - providing innovative direction and leading support to help people achieve their health care goals today, tomorrow, and 20 years from now.

Our primary goal for the OptumHealth.com redesign was to give users the best online experience and support possible by providing them with the information they needed as fast as possible. Each page is tailored with flexible modules that are populated with content that relates to the primary means of each page, shifting the power back to the user by allowing them to get exactly where they want to go in the least amount of clicks possible.

Food & Wine is a magazine that specializes in food, wine, recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, and wine pairings. To leverage the average online magazine offer experience, we added multiple levels of interest by combining some of Food & Wine’s expertise and creating an interactive wine pairing in which one chooses a wine and is matched with a delicious Food & Wine recipe.

Center Stage is an iPhone appt that truly puts Las Vegas at your fingertips by categorizing all of the happenings in the Entertainment Capital of the World and allowing you to purchase tickets or make reservations at your convenience.

Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine that specializes in leisure travel, destination guides, and stunning photography. To leverage the average online magazine subscription experience, we added multiple levels of interest by combining Travel + Leisures' strengths and fashioning an interactive postcard - as you choose your dream trip, the background of the offer will change to a photo of the accompanying destination.

XtremeMac came to us looking for help to re-insert themselves among the relevancy of Apple products and to re-connect with their target audience of young, Apple enthusiasts. The re-launch of XtremeMac re-connected them with their target audience through interaction, expression, and culture. The new fluid, modular interface promotes the discovery of one's perfect case, while fitting in any window of any Apple product.

Year after year of college, the popular question every September became “Where did                        go? What happened to                       ?” By the time senior year rolled around, we were down 27 students from when we started back in September of 2005. This chart represents the number of students from freshmen year to senior year, the break up of students within the majors, students who transferred from one major to another, students who transferred to and from the College of Visual Arts, how many students dropped out each year, and the projected enrollment (of 40 students). The class of 2009 began with 67 students and graduated with 37.

My thesis explores the impact of urban renewal and restoring the identity and sense of community within a city neighborhood. By researching the past, present, and future plans of the eclectic West 7th Street neighborhood (located in St. Paul, MN), I was able to develop an identity for a local business that maintains its connection to the neighborhood's history while promoting the characteristics of the community.