Urban Institute
50th Anniversary And New Location Celebration
In the Spring semester of 2019, I joined a program called The Washington Center. The center, also known as TWC, is an academic and internship program that offers students from different colleges the chance to live in Washington, D.C. and participate in a multitude of different experiences. TWC helped connect me to the Urban Institute for an internship there. I joined the team as the Events and External
Affairs Intern from January 28 - May 17, 2019. My tasks there would vary depending on the day. On event days, I was typically expected to help with set up the venue, organize needed materials, help take care of the catering, and direct guests to the venue among other things. I would also work with the design team to help cover the events team’s needs along with a few other tasks. This year was Urban Institute's
50th anniversary. To celebrate that, as well as moving into the new building, the organization decided to throw a huge staff party. Planning for this started before I arrived at Urban, but I joined the project in February of 2019. My role was to help design the materials for the party and on the actual day help set up and run it.
Save the Date
When I first joined the project in February, my first task and major assignment was to create the save-the-date invite. This would be sent out by the company’s president. I started my process by looking at Urban’s brand guide and history to get inspiration. From their color scheme and logo, I was able to create the design centered around the squares and colors.
Invitation
About a month later, I was able to create the actual invitation that the staff would RSVP too. I continued to use the design from the save-the-date to create a continuity between the two. The major change in this one was the use of language. As a result, the typography had to be slightly adjusted to fit.
The Behind the Scenes
After the save-the-date and the invitation, my tasks leading up to the actual event were to design all the signage and to help prepare for it. This entails going to the meetings and discussing options with potential caterers and event producers. The party was to take place over eight floors with each floor being broken up into a respective decade (60s’, 70s’, 80s’, 90s’,
2000s, and 2010). Each with its own food choice, drink, and activities to represent those times. The overall design theme to tie the event all together was the theme from the save-the-date, but updated to be more fun. This theme was used for the general signage throughout the space. Personally, the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘90s were my favorite designs to work with.
The Day of the Event
April 12, 2019 was the big day. The party took place over eight floors and over 700 people were set to attend. I came in that day to help set up the space. The events team had hired in the planning stages a catering and events crew to help this day
be a success. We broke up into different groups to tackle different areas. I was in charge of hanging up the signs that I had made in the appropriate spots. Following that I helped bring the decor or anything that was needed to where it needed to be.
The party went off smoothly and the Urban Events team received a compliment from Sarah, the companies president.