Project Background

The Smart Communities Initiative (SCI) is part of a national network of programs of its type, all founded upon the idea that universities and communities should work together to improve the health and vitality of their surrounding areas. The Southeast Tennessee Development District (SETDD), was the University of Tennessee’s SCI community focus for 2015—2016. The SETDD is a unit of the government that works on behalf of local governments to provide planning and human resources in three main ways to the Southeast Tennessee region: 1) Community & Economic Development; 2) Aging & Disability Programs and 3) Career and Workforce Development. Our goal was to rebrand the organization whose image was fragmented and confusing. We began by simplifying the name, shortening the acronym to SETD, dropping the last “D” which stood for district.

This full-scale branding project was a one-semester intensive project at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville developed in collaboration with senior graphic design students: Alex Dunlap, Anne Fromke, Jenn Krowkowski, Alex Raykowitz, Elea Wright. Video production by Ben Maxey, Tom Foltz and Heather McNamara.