In late 2014, I spearheaded a two-day brand review and ideation workshop for all of WSU’s recruitment leaders and counselors. The process included a review with the provost of WSU’s recently revised strategic plan. I guided the team through an exploration of the most student-oriented — and most awkwardly worded — strategic goal: “transformative student experience”. To get to the heart of this ungainly phrase, we shared personal stories of transformation from our college experiences and cast far and wide to find the right language and metaphors. Additionally, we undertook a comprehensive review of each of our key communications channels to discover any unknown areas of weakness or strength. The fruit of this workshop is taking form now as I lead the conceptual and visual components of our redesign efforts for 2016. The accompanying images are slides I created for the workshop using fragments of the monumental “W S U” letters installed at the University’s visitor center during the summer of 2013. They are a mighty and fun expression of WSU’s confidence and ambitions.