Project

UPP Foundation: The Kerslake Collection

Project

UPP Foundation: The Kerslake Collection

Client

UPP Foundation

Industry

Education, Fourth Sector

Services

The Kerslake Collection

Services

Five years on from the UPP Foundation’s landmark Civic University Commission, the foundation approached usd to help bring together a new publication: The Kerslake Collection. The aim was to create a curated collection of essays and insights from sector leaders and thinkers, exploring the future of the student experience and the evolving role of universities within their communities. The brief was to create a piece of work that felt both reflective and forward-thinking, accessible to sector insiders and beyond.

Our job was to design and deliver a publication that had a real sense of purpose and clarity – visually distinctive, editorially coherent and grounded in the civic values at the heart of the foundation’s mission.

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The heartbeat

Illumination through illustration

At the core of our approach was the idea of legacy and continuity – connecting the ambitions of the Civic University Commission with the realities and challenges of today’s higher education landscape. We wanted the book to feel authoritative, but also warm, approachable and thought-provoking.

We structured the editorial design to feel like a curated conversation – a flowing collection of perspectives rather than a static document. Each essay was given space to breathe and we introduced design flourishes and visual cues to reflect the richness and diversity of thought within the collection.

To elevate the editorial content and bring visual cohesion to the book, we created a suite of bespoke illustrations that captured themes of place, people and possibility. The illustration style was deliberately minimal, thoughtful and most importantly, human. This helped to unify the voices and ideas across the book while making the content more engaging and memorable.

These visuals acted as subtle signposts through the narrative, reinforcing the civic identity and making the book feel like something to be kept, shared and returned to.

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Launching the collection

To mark the launch of The Kerslake Collection, we designed a complete set of event collateral for a special in-person event, hosted by the UPP Foundation. From wayfinding to printed agendas and large-scale graphics, every touchpoint was considered and aligned with the publication’s identity.

Alongside this, we built a digital hub to host the essays in full, extending the reach of the content to a wider audience. The website included options to explore articles by theme, download a digital version, or request a printed copy. The platform was designed to be intuitive, accessible and shareable, ensuring the conversations sparked by the collection could continue long after launch day.

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Results

The response to The Kerslake Collection was overwhelmingly positive. The physical book was in high demand, prompting multiple reprints shortly after launch. The digital hub has seen strong engagement from across the higher education and policy sectors, with articles widely shared on social media and cited in ongoing discussions around the civic role of universities.

The Kerslake Collection has become a platform for ongoing reflection and debate. We hope that Lord Bob Kerslake, who was a widely influential figure in education and whom the book was named after, would be proud.

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