Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering – University of Utah

About This Project

The Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is a premier research institute for electrical and computer engineering in Utah. The engineers coming out of the department are changing the way we interact with the world from computer circuitry, optics, and power systems to smart devices and bionic arms.

Stippich Design collaborated with The Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering on the development, design, fabrication and installation of an identification at the entrance to the administration offices for the department.

The development phase centered around how to identify the space in a visually impactful way, animate a large blank wall next to the entrance to the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, make it so it could be updated as needed and if removed would leave as little impact to the wall. Stippich Design provided initial concepts with a variety of options for updating either as inserts in holders or a magnetic system. Our team then led meetings with the Department to review, get feedback and discuss how each concept matched up with design priorities.

The concept determined to match the highest number of priorities in the development phase was based around a line art computer board with photo images to reinforce the message of students building their future via the skillsets they were learning through the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. With that in hand the design phase focused on what images should be incorporated, materials, scale, and how to recognize key areas of strength of the department. The aesthetics of the design centered on a computer board from a provided image that would be turned into line art and created in vinyl for a lower impact should it be removed in the future. The main visuals listing one of the strength areas would be printed on a magnetic material that would adhere to large metal pieces attached to the wall to give a sense of animation to the wall. The identification element was created from dimensional lettering painted black and a block “U” logo painted U of U red applying University of Utah branding guidelines regarding colors and typefaces. All of this was accomplished through our team providing detail drawings for the overall concept and each element, photo realistic renderings and meetings for reviewing and discussion to reach a finalized design.