An arena that challenges its whole community to go beyond expectations.

The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University is a home for real, applied learning, where students put into practice what they learn from faculty and business leaders while building professional and life skills. Barton ranks among the top 1% of business schools worldwide, with dual AACSB accreditation in business and accounting. Its new building, Woolsey Hall, at the heart of Wichita State's Innovation Campus, anchors a challenging yet supportive environment for more than 2,300 students.

Barton's strategy team, led by Eric C. Mota and Dean Larisa Genin, defined a new positioning for the school and asked us to give it form: a bold, engaging, and timeless brand identity and messaging framework. Over 18 months, the process immersed itself in the education market and its audiences through interviews with scholars, faculty, partners, students, and the Wichita community. That collaborative approach built the confidence to embrace the new brand system, and to keep expanding it.

Be Bold. Be Barton.

The B monogram embodies a home for students ready to take on the world with impact and determination: a challenging yet supportive place to grow.

The letter B is formed by the intersection of two houses: our own, familiar one (the inner world) and the world itself (the outer). An arrow-shaped icon expresses action, meaning, and purpose, joining the school's emotional dimension to its pragmatism. A mix of sans serif (contemporary) and serif (traditional) type in the logo reinforces this duality.

The Barton B monogram beside a graduate in cap and gown.

The Barton B monogram beside a portrait of the school's benefactors.

The Barton B monogram beside Woolsey Hall, the school's new building.

Woolsey Hall at dusk, with its lit facade reflected in the lake.

Exterior of Woolsey Hall, home of the Barton School of Business, with the B monogram on the facade.

The curved atrium of Woolsey Hall, with wooden stairs and seating.

A learning space in Woolsey Hall with students and branded yellow wall graphics.

Barton pins and badges in yellow, black, and white.

Black Barton welcome folder with a yellow keyhole:

Black cap with a yellow brim and the Barton B monogram.

The Barton B monogram embossed in yellow and black.

Barton website screens on mobile phones in black and yellow.

Barton website on a laptop: a student portrait and yellow headlines.

Barton visual system: photos of students and faculty in a grid of yellow and white blocks with graphic icons.

Barton visual system: students at work framed by black, white, and yellow blocks.

Barton visual system: student portraits with yellow graphic textures on black.

Barton visual: a smiling student with radiating yellow lines on black.

Barton visual: students collaborating around a table, with a yellow line icon.

Barton visual: a faculty member in front of yellow data charts on black.

Barton visual: small figures of students climbing along a yellow outline of the B monogram.

Barton collage: a black-and-white globe beside a yellow dotted circle.

Barton collage: a butterfly over a yellow halftone circle.

Barton collage: a student on his phone beside a yellow grid and rising line chart.

Barton collage: a thinking student beside a globe and rising yellow bars.

Barton publications: black-and-yellow strategic plan and report spreads.

Barton publications: yellow covers for school reports and challenges.

Barton publications: the Impact Report and Barton Ledger covers in yellow and black.

Barton publications: covers for the Widener Global Leaders Program and the CIR report.

Barton publications: covers for the School of Accountancy annual report and strategic plan.

Branding, Creative Direction: Fabio Issao
Photography: Jason O'Rear, Gensler, WSU

Year: 2020 — present

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