When the Rutgers community returned to campus after the initial COVID-19 shutdown, establishing a safe environment was critical for a smooth transition. In partnership with Student Health, our team was tasked to create effective building signage to raise awareness of essential precautions and encourage testing protocols using the quick-and-easy COVID-19 saliva collection method developed here at Rutgers. Facing a public weary of overwhelming COVID updates, we took a community pride approach to the creative, built upon the idea that following these measures and looking out for our people are what true “knights” do, referencing the popular Rutgers mascot. Through collaboration with school and department communicators during a time of remote work, an array of materials was created, distributed, and displayed across campus spaces, social channels, and a digital ad campaign targeting Rutgers students. These efforts represented a significant part of the university’s greater initiative that led to a successful repopulation of the New Brunswick campus and increasing awareness of key health messages (masking, social distancing, contact tracing, and testing) among the student body.
