Summer 2023

Inside your Summer 2023 Brand Report: new VCN leadership volunteers are on board, Print & Mail Services is offering special events July 13 and Aug. 10, a new PowerPoint template option, tips, and the Communicator of the Quarter.

Notes from Happy Half-Hours

New VCN Leadership and Print & Mail Services Events

The Visual Communicators Network Leadership Committee has two new members! Andy Schadwinkel, director of marketing & strategic communications and Stephanie Severin, design manager (both in University Communication and Marketing), have volunteered to help lead the VCN. The committee members they’ve joined include Kimberly Smith, associate director of communications, marketing & external relations, College of Business, Justin Gibson, design associate, College of Arts and Sciences, and Sam Sisco, graphic design specialist, Academic Services & Enrollment Management Marketing. 

The leadership committee is happy to serve the wide variety of visual communicators across campus and welcomes all feedback. Please reach out to any of the committee members with any ideas, questions, or concerns you may have regarding university visual communication. 

You can also connect with the whole network of communicators on our Microsoft Teams channel. Help foster our community of creative problem-solvers and like-minded visionaries working together to build and ever strengthen the University of Nebraska–Lincoln identity!

Print & Mail Services will be holding a ribbon cutting July 13 to celebrate the addition of their Konica KM1e HD UV Inkjet Press. This event will also kick off their centennial jubilee celebration that will continue into the fall. The event will begin at 11 a.m. with the ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. A lunch and tours will be provided until 1 p.m. Parking will be available in the staff lot at 1100 N 17th. Attendees are encouraged to follow the directional signs to the celebration area. A postcard invitation will be in the mail soon.

Print & Mail Services will also be holding a Demo Day for the Konica press on Aug. 10. People are encouraged to submit items they would like to see printed on the new device in advance of the date. These prints will be free of charge. Sample prints will also be made available. The Konica KM1e HD combines the size of an offset press, with the flexibility of a digital press, in addition to a higher quality print. UNL is only the second university in the country to run this device; Print & Mail Services continues their century-long tradition of advancing the science of printing for the university and its partners.

VCN Teams Channel

Announcements

New UNL PowerPoint Template

The new template meets UNL brand standards and provides users with an easy way to create on-brand presentations. It was created to improve on the user experience and overall function of the previously released templates. It provides users with an array of slides for displaying different types of content, and drastically increases the usable space on each slide. Below are a few of the key components to the new template:

  • Built-in UNL color theme.
  • Default fonts that are available across all Microsoft Office products.
  • Ability to insert automatically brand compliant graphs, charts, tables, etc.
  • Slide numbers automatically populate. (Feature can be overridden.)
  • Lots of preset layouts to choose from.

Remember to sign in to access templates.

UNL PowerPoint Template

Tips, Tricks & Resources

Lines and circles overlay the painting "Dogs Fighting in a Wooded Clearing" by Frans Snyders

Rules of Composition Video Course

Learn all about the rules of composition, master famous composition techniques like the rule of thirds, and learn how to use software to create the most striking designs.

Watch Video