On April 17, the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center held a Branding Pop Up jointly with Ideas Challenge Fellow Kim Beckmann. The Pop Up brought together participants in the LEC’s Startup Challenge and Design and Visual Communications (DVC) students as an opportunity to learn from a branding professional, collaborate, and network with their peers.

The workshop began with a talk by Clara, the Owner, Director, and Creative Director of One Sweet Design. Clara has years of branding experience and currently works with luxury wine brands in Napa Valley. Students were able to gain valuable insight into how high quality branding is essential to any successful business and into Clara’s creative process.

LEC Startup Challenge participants where then paired with DVC students to work on branding that would help tell their startup’s story. Designers worked with each startup to understand their story, put together a cohesive inspiration board for their branding, and brainstormed brand names, logo designs, and other marketing materials tailor-made for them.

Below are some reflections on the experience from student participants:

“Despite our stay-at-home orders, Friday’s workshop brought together new connections for us students; all while teaching us about how design can transform a business. The designers I worked with and I have decided to continue to work together, even after this event.” – Elle O-Hagan Kennedy, Startup Challenge participant

“It was a really great experience to hear from someone who has been through this program. [Clara] has been in our same shoes at UWM, and is really successful at her job. It was really inspiring to hear her story, and then having the opportunity to put what she taught into practice and help other students was such a great learning experience and helpful for my future as a designer.” -Aleksa Craig, DVC Student

“I really appreciate there being a workshop put together for the students. Building a solid brand is crucial to any business’ success, and I think this is a great starting point for us to begin to learn about these important concepts as we continue on our journeys of entrepreneurship.” Loren Nelson, Startup Challenge participant