Maroon & Gray Soirée: Campaign and Event Design
Role: Designer & Campaign Strategist
Solo/Team: Team Collaboration (Lead Designer for Visual & Digital Assets)
Timeframe: January – March 2026 (Approx. 10–12 Weeks)
Tools: Canva, OneCause, Constant Contact, Instagram, print media, Google Sheets
Bishop Stang High School’s Signature Fundraiser Supporting Tuition Assistance
The Maroon & Gray Soirée is Bishop Stang High School’s largest annual fundraising event, bringing together alumni, families, faculty, and community supporters for an evening centered around celebration, recognition, and giving back. The event not only honors Hall of Fame and Hall of Honors inductees but also raises critical funds to support student tuition assistance, which is integral to their mission as a nonprofit school.
For the 2026 Soirée, I played a key role in designing and executing the visual identity and communication system across both physical and digital touchpoints. This project went beyond creating individual graphics. It required building a cohesive, accessible, and engaging experience that guided attendees from first awareness all the way through the event night itself.
Beginner vs Experienced
The Problem
The Soirée serves a wide and varied audience, including alumni, friends of the school, current parents, sponsors, and prospective families, each with different levels of familiarity and comfort with digital platforms. This created a unique communication challenge, as the experience needed to feel seamless across both print and digital formats while still remaining easy to navigate.
Another key issue was the lack of a fully unified system in previous years. With so many moving parts, including invitations, emails, social media, signage, and auction materials, there was a risk of inconsistency that could impact both engagement and overall perception of the event. Additionally, encouraging early ticket sales and raffle participation required clear, compelling, and repeated touchpoints that didn’t overwhelm the audience.
My Approach
I approached this project as a full campaign ecosystem rather than a collection of separate deliverables. My goal was to create a consistent and recognizable visual language that could carry across email marketing, social media, print materials, and the in-person event experience.
A major focus of my process was accessibility and usability. I made intentional design decisions to ensure that all audiences, especially older or less tech-savvy attendees, could easily engage with the event. This included pairing QR codes with physical alternatives, maintaining clear visual hierarchy, and designing layouts that were easy to read and navigate.
I also thought carefully about the full user journey, designing each touchpoint to guide attendees from initial awareness, through consideration and decision-making, and ultimately into active participation during the event itself. Every piece needed to feel connected and purposeful within that larger flow.
Development Process
The project began with structuring audience-specific communication through targeted email lists. By segmenting groups such as alumni, current parents, sponsors, and top donors, I was able to support more tailored messaging throughout the campaign and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.
One of the most important early deliverables was the trifold invitation, which was physically mailed to key supporters. I designed this piece to balance a polished, elevated aesthetic with clear and accessible information. It included event details, the evening schedule, sponsorship tiers and perks, featured inductees, and QR codes for both ticket purchasing and raffle entry. To ensure inclusivity, I also incorporated a physical mail-in option for those who preferred not to engage digitally.
As the campaign continued, I developed a series of social media graphics to build anticipation and maintain engagement. These included posts highlighting Hall of Fame and Hall of Honors inductees, as well as promotional graphics for the tuition raffle, including a themed variation tied to St. Patrick’s Day. These visuals helped keep the event top-of-mind while reinforcing a consistent identity.
In parallel, I worked on setting up and managing the event within the OneCause platform. This included organizing silent and live auction items, as well as structuring interactive fundraising elements such as the wine pull and Heads & Tails activity. This portion of the project required thinking through the user experience of giving, ensuring that participation felt intuitive and engaging.
To expand reach even further, I designed double-sided inserts for accepted students’ materials. These pieces introduced new families to the event and encouraged early engagement through clear messaging and QR code integration.
As the event approached, my focus shifted toward the on-site experience. I designed a range of materials, including foam board signage for inductees and sponsors, registration and OneCause sign-up boards, reserved table signage, themed drink signage, and individualized name tags for attendees. Each piece contributed to a cohesive and welcoming environment.
The program book served as a central component of the event and required careful attention to both layout and content organization. I designed a multi-page booklet that included the event schedule, inductee features, auction listings, donor acknowledgments, and sponsor advertisements. In many cases, I created advertisements for sponsors who had not provided one, requiring me to quickly interpret their branding and produce designs that felt authentic while still fitting within the overall visual system.
What I Built
This project resulted in a fully integrated campaign and event experience that spanned both digital and physical spaces. I developed and managed targeted email campaigns tailored to multiple audience segments while also designing printed invitations and mail-in donation inserts to accommodate a range of user preferences.
I created a suite of social media graphics to promote inductees and fundraising initiatives, along with additional materials specifically for the tuition raffle. I also designed onboarding materials for prospective families, helping introduce them to the event and the broader school community.
On the event side, I contributed to the setup and structure of the OneCause platform, supporting auctions and interactive fundraising components. I designed large-scale signage, sponsor advertisements, and a comprehensive program book, as well as smaller but essential details like name tags and table signage. Together, these elements formed a cohesive and immersive experience from initial outreach through the event itself.
Results
The 2026 Maroon & Gray Soirée was a significant success, drawing over 300 attendees and generating more than $100,000 in net funds raised to support tuition assistance. The combination of targeted outreach, consistent visual design, and thoughtful user experience contributed to strong engagement across both digital and in-person interactions.
The event environment itself felt cohesive and intentional, with each design element reinforcing the overall tone and purpose of the evening.
Reflection & Next Steps
This project pushed me to think beyond individual deliverables and instead focus on designing a complete experience. It reinforced the importance of considering how different audiences interact with design and how small decisions can significantly impact accessibility and engagement.
One of the most valuable takeaways was learning how to design for real-world constraints while still maintaining quality and consistency. Creating sponsor advertisements without provided assets required adaptability and a strong understanding of branding, while managing multiple deliverables at once strengthened my ability to stay organized and intentional.
If I were to expand on this work in the future, I would focus on establishing a more defined visual system earlier in the process to streamline design decisions across all materials. I would also explore additional opportunities for digital engagement, such as more dynamic social media storytelling and post-event communication to extend the impact beyond a single evening.
Overall, this experience solidified my interest in designing for real-world impact, where thoughtful and strategic design directly contributes to community engagement and meaningful outcomes.