UCLA: Bruin Giving Day

Gardner Design / 2025
UCLA engaged Gardner Design to create the identity for Bruin Giving Day, the university’s inaugural campus-wide fundraising event. Named for the university’s bear mascot, the campaign brought students, alumni, faculty, staff, and supporters together around a single day of action. The system needed to carry that sense of collective urgency and optimism at the scale of the institution.
A radiating visual language, bold typography, and an expanded use of UCLA blue and gold give the campaign an immediate sense of momentum. Flexible enough to carry stories from across campus, the system gives many voices a shared point of focus.
The 2025 campaign, "You Seize the Day," looked confidently toward the future, inspiring donors to support the groundbreaking research and progressive change UCLA champions on a global scale. The campaign resulted in 3,984 donations, totaling $2,268,451.

CREDITS

Creative direction — Bill Gardner
Account + strategy — Toni Gaston
Design — Tyler Frisbee
Copywriting — Steve Hobson
Photography — UCLA