Above Par for the Course

Deliveries from the Visual Communications department at Lake Forest College, in Illinois, are handled in style, thanks to the vintage 1964 golf cart that the department purchased two years ago.

“We had nothing but hand trucks to make deliveries,” says Leslie Taylor, director. “We’re trying to have more of a presence on campus. In the hood of the cart is a cooler, so when we deliver in the summer, we offer cold pop or water to whoever’s getting the job.”

As part of its outreach program, the Visual Communications department—which is located in a large building that once served as a dog kennel—has a patio decked out with a grill and smoker and invites other department members for campus barbecues in the summer.

“We probably have the best view on campus,” says Taylor. The department has also hosted contests, such as a celebrity look-alike contest for campus employees.

Visual Communications, with a full-time staff of five, has a two-color 11x17˝ Hamada and a one-color 20x24˝ Harris press—which means that campus stationery, with its three-color logo, is handled by an outside vendor.

“Many departments need only 100 to 250 sheets of letterhead and envelopes for the year,” says Taylor. The department recently installed a Xerox 250 to keep much of the currently outsourced short-run color work on campus.

Taylor and her employees also handle special order clothing for departments.

“About eight years ago, we adopted a new logo, and since we were part of the marketing department then, we were asked to get hats to help roll out the logo,” says Taylor. “We worked with Lands End for the order, then faculty and staff asked where they could get the hats.”

When Taylor saw other department members going elsewhere for college clothing, she convinced them to place orders through the in-plant instead.

“No one has to use us, but I try to make them want to,” she says. “We have the specs with PMS colors and work to keep the consistency and integrity of the college branding. With different types of fabric, you have to treat the logo differently, such as with a fill behind it.

When the marketing department dissolved five years ago, Visual Communications started stocking campus photography, so now departments turn to Taylor and crew to select images for Web sites and brochures.

“If they want to focus on students or research or our closeness to Chicago,” she says, “we work with them to pick out the right pictures—ones with impact that aren’t overused.”

—By W. Eric Martin