Yes–the Viewbook is Still Very Much Alive
Here’s a specimen: NUS Office of Admissions Publications 2019/2020
An Introduction
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is well known as Singapore’s top university. A comprehensive research university, it maintains leading positions on Asian and global rankings.
The Brief
Each year, the NUS Office of Admissions refreshes its publications. This set consists of a
- Viewbook,
- Scholarship & Financial Aid Brochure,
- and an Undergraduate Prospectus for International Students.
This set of publications also has a different job from its web counterpart — the NUS website. Applicants today can simply search for the necessary information using their smartphones. So while the Viewbook still has to contain the key details, its main purpose is to (1) showcase the heart of NUS, and (2) inspire prospective students to apply.
Challenge #1
While the contents are updated each year, some things remain the same. Details like the academic system, accommodation options and the application process. (And a couple of other things that don’t start with ‘a’.) This means — finding new ways to present the contents in fresh and appealing formats.
Not to mention, prospective students have probably seen their fill of publications from other universities.
The Solution
First impressions count. Which is why for the Viewbook, we went all-out right from the beginning.
This coupled with copy inviting readers to imagine the possibilities to be had — sets the tone for the rest of the Viewbook.
Visually, the rest of the contents keeps up the pace with the use of vibrant colours and photos of student life — while short blurbs are used to deliver key information in quick, small chunks.
For instance, information about academic programmes (in this case, the Grade-free First Year scheme) are sectioned into easy-to-digest bullet points and quotes that give them all the details they need.
Or take the overview of the various NUS Overseas Colleges (NOCs), which is styled entirely in bullet points. Given that there are 13 NOCs to choose from, readers can get a quick rundown at a glance (before delving deeper into the details online).
Challenge #2
Then there’s the matter of voice. The text may be in short blurbs now, but if you say things like
the student can therefore complete the degree in a shorter amount of time than it would take for him/her to undertake both courses of study separately,
it would be hard to keep their attentions from straying away. Plus, it would take a lot of blurbs to pack everything in.
The Solution
Instead, we just said
In a nutshell: doing DDP* is faster than getting both degrees separately.
* Double Degree Programme
You see what we did. Short and sweet.
The same goes for the first spread of the Undergraduate Prospectus for International Students. Ambitious and adventurous Gen Zers don’t have time to read pages of great things they can do here — no matter how tantalising the possibilities.
It wasn’t just us talking, though. Prospective students always want to know how their seniors did it — including getting that coveted scholarship and making the most of their #NUSlife.
So we figured: what could be better than direct quotes from NUS students to help tell the story?
The story continues off the pages — as the applicants for academic year 2019/2020 start their first year at university. Hopefully, they discover — and create — an experience like what they saw in the pages (and maybe even better). Because what is a Viewbook but a starting point?
See the rest of the NUS Office of Admissions Publications 2019/2020 up close.
08 Nov ’19 update: Our work for the NUS Viewbook and Scholarship & Financial Aid Brochure received Platinum at the 2019 Marcom Awards! Great thanks to NUS’ support and teamwork with Lancer Design. 😊
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