Jessica Pacetti
Staff Writer
Appearing in various buildings throughout campus, “i posters” showcase faces from North Central College’s past, documenting the story of the institution. The history of the signature marketing campaign is nearly as interesting as the stories it tells.
The concept for the posters was born out of focus groups, consisting of students, faculty, staff and alumni who wished to share their stories and experiences during their time at North Central with current and incoming campus members. The idea for the posters was born.
The “i posters” were first introduced to the campus in 2002 by the Office of Admissions. At the time, North Central did not have a marketing program. The posters originally were used as part of the enrollment marketing initiative for perspective students, both first year students and transfer students, for the campus.
The original slogan for the posters was “Where you are Central,” however that changed over the years to take on the slogan used today “Be Central.”
The “Be Central” motto was created to embody the idea of the college encouraging students to follow their passions, set their own goals, accomplish their dreams, and integrate their interests.
The posters have grown much more since then, and their popularity grew alongside the Office of Marketing and Communications (OMC), which undertook the challenge of creating these posters.
“They are designed to capture and communicate the essence of a North Central experience,” said Director of Marketing Valla Aguilar.
The stories captured on the posters vary on different experiences. Some focus on athletes during a game while others may focus on a project a student or group of students were a part of. Some of the posters even go further and give a brief paragraph about the student, alumni, faculty, or staff on the poster. However, no matter the story of the poster they all share one thing in common; they all are representing the story of “Be Central.”
This is what the posters are designed to do. They are designed to capture the motto of “Be Central” and the North Central experience and to inspire both the current campus community and future students.
“They inspire me because I always think what do I have to do to be on an ‘i poster’?” said junior Allyson Martens.
Other students on campus use the posters as a way to extend and go beyond during their North Central experience.
“I take it from their examples on the ‘i posters’ as examples for myself to continue their tasks and go beyond it as well,” said sophomore Laura Turnroth.
Other students believe the “i posters” represent NCC well but wish they captured more of the experiences at North Central as well.
“I think they are a great way to show what kind of students we have on campus,” said senior Emily Schreiber. “However, it’s a shame that we can’t display one for each student because they are all important to NCC.”
However, OMC does take this into consideration when designing the posters.
“OMC considers stories that can define “Be Central.” As always, we have more stories than room for posters,” said Aguilar.
Students selected for the posters represent the College’s mission to “Be Central.” OMC use this mission to attract attention to the College and promote enrollment.
OMC selects students from all areas of academics, athletics and organizations to capture a diversity of interests and stories from North Central.
