College For Creative Studies (CCS) Partners For Corporate Sponsored Research Project

The Eight Mile Boulevard Association is celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2013 by unveiling a new comprehensive identity system that includes a logo. The identity system is comprised of a website, signage, typeface, stationery and the overall look and feel of the nonprofit which represents 13 municipalities located along the most famous stretch of highway this side of Route 66.

But this new look is not the result of just any identity design re-do. The redesign was part of a class project set up as a competition among student teams in a graphic design class at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) during the fall semester.
“We are proud that our students took part in this socially conscious project. Graphic designers are called upon to provide solutions to problems through an informed design process,” said Chair of the Graphic Design Department Doug Kisor. “Our students actively applied principles that would impact the Eight Mile Boulevard Association positively.”
The winning team was selected in December 2012 and will be working this semester to launch the new identity system in time for a formal unveiling at the organization’s 20th annual Newsmaker Luncheon featuring the executives of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties and the Mayor of Detroit in April in Detroit.
"We are so appreciative of the creativity by all of the student teams," said Tami Salisbury, Executive Director of Eight Mile Boulevard Association. “It was difficult to select a winner because of the thoughtfulness, quality and unique perspective each team put into the research to determine what would be an exciting new identity system for our organization.”
The relationship between the Eight Mile Boulevard Association and Mercedes Benz Financial Services created the perfect opportunity for CCS students to take an active role in helping the Eight Mile Boulevard Association define their new graphic identity.
“We are grateful for the partnership we have developed with Mercedes Benz Financial Services and the College for Creative Studies (CCS),” stated Tracey Schultz Kobylarz, Chairperson of the Eight Mile Boulevard Association (8MBA). “We look forward to the launch of 8MBA's new identity in April and are excited to be working with
the talented students from CCS.”
Leila Matta, Manager of Brand Identity, Design and Art Programs at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in Farmington Hills, and a graduate of CCS, was instrumental in connecting the Eight Mile Boulevard Association with the students and faculty at CCS.
“We actually support both CCS and Eight Mile Boulevard Association as part of our company’s community outreach throughout the year, so when we discovered Eight Mile Boulevard was looking to upgrade and refresh its brand identity design, it made sense to connect Tami Salisbury and her team with CCS,” Matta said.
For more information about CCS’s Corporate Sponsored Research Projects, visit http://www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/corporate