Bringing our 60th anniversary to life

We are sixty

In 2024, The University of Essex turns 60. No longer are we a young university – now we’re stepping into a new era with confidence and pride, backed by a six-decade-strong history to reflect on, draw from, and inspire us in the exciting years ahead. 
Now that’s something to celebrate.

The 60th campaign identity

To celebrate and shout about our achievements, we’ve developed a special 60th anniversary campaign running across two academic years: 2023/24 and 2024/25. 

A campaign identity with a distinct look and feel that sits seamlessly alongside our University brand identity – staying true to the beating heart of Essex to reflect who we are in this unique moment of time.

The tone we strike in our words and style defines the 60th campaign. Ours is rooted in our core Essex tone of voice: bold, direct, friendly, and proud. We speak clearly with confidence. We are optimistic and full of hope for the future – and not afraid to say so. We are outward-facing, forward-looking and our voice encapsulates the Essex spirit.We’re always straightforward and clear, and we’re buzzing for the future. Most of all, we believe in the power of change – big and small. It’s what inspired us at the start, drives us today, and shapes our future.

Our campaign strapline

The strapline we’ve developed for our 60th anniversary is the ultimate expression of our 60th campaign. Essex is a university for the brave, energetic and eager to learn – where ideas are shared, and initiative valued. Essex does not toe the line and has never been about keeping quiet. It’s about taking action. Making a difference. Creating change.

Our strapline encapsulates this ethos…

• WHERE – a place, generic for physical and online. Clear to understand. Straight to the point. Leading to something.
• CHANGE – a positive and active outcome (impact). Broad enough to carry meaning across all our pillars and audiences. Our brand proposition relates to creating and delivering positive change. Change is at the heart of Essex Spirit ‘home to those impatient for change’, ‘changing lives’ ‘place for people who want change’, ‘change the game’, ‘creating positive change’. Change also frames our 60 stories.
• HAPPENS – re-enforces ‘change’ as something that takes place, the tangible outcomes. Straight to the point – matter of fact. Fits with our brand values of making a difference to the lives of our students.

WHERE CHANGE HAPPENS 1964-2024
Simple yet bold, our campaign strapline emphasises the adventurous attitude that has kept this University thriving for 60 years. It reflects the progress of our students when they learn at Essex, and the difference we make by tackling difficult questions in research. It underlines the wider impact we can, and are having on the world around us.

The SIXTY mark

Essex is a maturing challenger brand at our heart. The 60th campaign logo mark represents this in static and motion form.

Stemming from the ‘E’ within the squares of the University of Essex logo, the 60 mark is a structure of individual squares forming ‘60’.

As a motion logo, the ‘E’ squares and ‘60’ pivot to become one, before landing as a still end frame – a clear and bold static visual statement of our sixty years. The two removed squares create energy and reflect the transition, movement and change in static application. This nuance makes the logo mark distinctive and noticeable, to help build a memorable campaign for the months ahead.

Bringing our 60th campaign to life

Our 60th campaign identity and graphical assets are designed to enable you to effectively communicate our 60th milestone across all touchpoints, large and small, online, and offline.

60th logo with strapline lock up is the primary asset for the campaign and where possible it should replace the main University of Essex logo on print and digital communications for the duration of the campaign only.

The campaign guidelines detail the core principles for the 60th campaign assets with examples demonstrating how they should be applied to digital, print and merchandise. Within the campaign guidelines you will also find example copy lines we’ve created to help you introduce our 60th Anniversary across our communications. 

Our campaign guidelines will build a consistent and cohesive campaign that cuts through to all our audiences. So, when we communicate under our 60th campaign banner, we are bold – using language that cuts through the bland and banal to showcase our energy and enthusiasm. 

We are launching our 60th celebrations at the start of the new academic term on 2nd October 2023. So, you can apply the campaign assets on your communications from this date onwards.

Do you want to add the 60th logo with strapline on your communications? Please contact branding@essex.ac.uk 

Will you have bespoke requests for application outside of the campaign guidelines? Please contact Carolyn Hunter, Head of Brand Management, carolyn.hunter@essex.ac.uk 

Sixty stories at 60

Our focus when celebrating the University of Essex reaching this incredible milestone will be a campaign that conveys how our students, staff, research, and partnerships are creating global impact.  The Sixty Stories at 60 campaign will launch at the beginning of the Autumn term. Across the next two academic years we will showcase 60 stories, one per week, that demonstrate and evidence creating change that makes a difference  in our local communities, region, country, and across the globe. The campaign will be designed to distil our often-complex narratives into easily digestible stories accessible for all audiences.

Celebrating our 60th 

The celebration aims to resonate across audiences – from students past and present, to new partnerships, staff and stakeholders, to the wider community. By encouraging them to share in our joy and pride at marking 60 years here at Essex, we help them see the impact we have, the people we champion and the change we create – today and to come.

Please do look to see how you can embrace this remarkable anniversary and celebrate within your teams and departments. 

If you would like to know more about our 60th anniversary plans and our Sixty Stories at 60 campaign, please get in touch with me at liam.preston@essex.ac.uk

Now, let’s get celebrating.