University of Missouri - Kansas City

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) lacked a consistent physical brand identity across campus, as well as entry signage that gave the university a welcoming experience for students and the public alike. This presented an opportunity to not only give the campus a clear presence but also create a thoughtful, expressive placemaking moment at the entry to campus and along the path of the Kansas City Streetcar.

I have led the design and design team from concept through the current phase for this project, developing a signature monument sign for UMKC that expresses the brand story through identification and content. The “legacy flame” of UMKC is intrinsically woven into the brand, as represented as an abstract  flame motif in the logo itself. This motif was a main driver of the conceptual design of this feature, utilizing a group of internally illuminated “fire-stick” posts that recreate the flame in a grand scale. With each post representative of each university department on campus, our design visually portrays a unification of all UMKC’ers who carry the “flame” inside them each day.

This project is anticipated to be completed in the spring of 2027.