Duke University

A Milestone Strategy for a Century of Excellence and Impact

Over its 100 years, Duke has achieved incredible impact locally, nationally and globally in education, healthcare, research, athletics, arts, innovation and service. To reflect this history, Duke’s centennial in 2024 called for a nuanced approach that would reach a diverse set of stakeholders. Duke turned to History Factory to partner on the development of multiple assets: 

• New branding distinct to the centennial
• Email marketing to promote tentpole events to students, faculty, alumni and notable personnel
• Design for a website to house all centennial-related activities and updates
• An anniversary marketing plan for its centennial launch, homecoming and Founders’ Day events 
• A commencement brochure for the graduating class of 2024 
• Design for temporary exhibit banners and merchandise

Duke University knew its centennial would be a historic opportunity to recognize its extraordinary past while beginning its second century. It wanted the celebration to focus on the people—well-known and under-recognized—who have had an impact on the university. Along with building broad awareness of the university’s impactful history, Duke wanted to emphasize the organization’s strategic vision to remain a globally recognized education and research institution in its next 100 years.

Commemorating a Global Institution 

Duke launched its centennial celebration on Jan. 9, 2024, symbolic of the year Duke was chartered in 1924 (“1/9/24”). Duke’s centennial festivities included more than a year of activities, programming and events. The storytelling and highlighted individuals provided a throughline that was crucial to the success of the long campaign.

A Visual Identity Befitting a Centennial 

The centennial’s visual identity needed to speak to a wide audience: current students, faculty donors, employees, global groups and Durham residents. The goal was for the branding to be immediately recognizable as Duke to anyone who came into contact with it. It also needed to inspire pride in Duke and all that it had accomplished in 100 years and encourage people to donate to, engage with and contribute to the university.

In partnership with Duke, History Factory designed the centennial logo to be versatile and recognizable while feeling like a fresh take on the brand. Duke’s wordmarks have historically made heavy use of calligraphy, as in the iconic “Iron D” logo that serves as the main identifier for Duke’s athletics. For the centennial logo, the team took inspiration from Chinese calligraphy, acknowledging Duke’s history and representing how it continues to grow toward an international future.

As part of our design process, History Factory carefully considered the unique qualities that make up Duke and intertwined them with the festivities. The centennial branding took inspiration from Duke Stone, a locally sourced material used in the construction of a number of campus buildings. These stones, a mosaic of blue, brown, gray and ocher, serve as a reminder of what it feels like to be on campus. Literal building blocks of the institution, they serve as a visual metaphor for the legacy Duke has built over 100 years. We incorporated the stone pattern into the design of the centennial website, as well as email campaigns, environmental branding and additional campus communications for the centennial.

Designing a Resource for Centennial Activities

To help organize its centennial, Duke needed a centrally run website for distributing content and information. 

The website helped encapsulate this extraordinary moment for the university with stories from well- and little-known moments in Duke’s history, an interactive timeline and Duke’s strategic vision for the future.

Learn more about the process behind Duke’s centennial in our creative portfolio.

Leveraging the Past To Grow in the Future

From concept to activation, History Factory worked with Duke as a key strategic partner to ensure its Centennial was a success.

This centennial brought together members of Duke’s community with a passion for the university and its history. According to Jill Boy, executive director of Duke University’s centennial celebration:

“Duke University’s Centennial Founders’ Day and Homecoming Weekend was remarkable! We are so very grateful to you and the entire incredible team of colleagues and partners that made this happen! Thank you for your professionalism, talent, creativity, patience and sense of humor!

You can claim credit for this moment when others say ‘Remember when?!’”

Want to make your anniversary celebration memorable? Get in touch.