Branding proposal for Penn State THON™

I’ve never done spec work. Not once in 20+ years of running 452 Design.

Until last week.

I graduated from Penn State in 1994 (t’s why I started Club 814 — for that bond, the unspoken x factor shared by 800k alumni), so I bleed blue — and THON™ has always amazed me... So when I got the chance to meet their leadership and they asked to see concepts, I didn't need to think twice.

No real brief. Just an opportunity for me – so I wanted to focus on the huge milestone – 2027 marks 50 years of THON... And I had one week to do it.

I think they wanted rough ideas, but I just couldn't stop. I just was having the best time creating designs with my concept. And I think I made it work.

So I spent that week building 50THON: a full creative rollout rooted in vintage photography and the alumni story. Wordmarks, apparel, patches, posters, a “100 days til” countdown piece. All of it shared as concepts — with the understanding, from day one, that THON’s and Penn State’s marks and licensing come first.

This week, they let me know it falls outside their licensing framework. THON works with licensed printers and its own student design team — and honestly? That’s a smart system. It protects the brand and keeps students at the center. (I’m a brand person… I respect a good system. And I’m an adjunct professor… I love supporting young designers.)

Here’s what I’m taking from it.

You can love an idea – and the cause – with your whole heart and still run into legal, licensing, and brand structures that were there long before you walked in. That’s not a failure of the idea. Designing within constraints is most of the job.

And sometimes an idea just finds a different door. Still hoping one of these makes it out into the world. Stay tuned.

Grateful to the THON team for their time, their openness, and everything they do. 🖤 And for Jami Slotnick always.

— Jen