Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, Davis

Title of entry: Cozy Campus Illustration for Holiday Message

About this entry: Creating an inclusive, meaningful internal holiday message for university employees can be a challenge for campus communicators–especially when parts of your audience work through winter break. In 2024, the communications team supporting 1,800 UC Davis employees in the Finance, Operations, and Administration division chose to create a multimedia toolkit for use throughout the winter season–whether working on campus, working remotely, or taking vacation.

The goal was to share a warm message and inspire employees to take a moment to relax, borrowing from the Danish concept of “hygge,” for coziness and connection. We also sought to foster a sense of community by offering a uniquely UC Davis take on winter cheer that is grounded in campus critters, unofficial mascots and other insider details. A central piece of this campaign was a hand-drawn illustration featuring a “Where’s Waldo” mix of beloved campus icons—the mascot, campus sculptures, a department cat, turkeys, and squirrels—in a whimsical winter scene. Designed as a coloring page, Zoom backgrounds, and email graphics, the artwork encouraged delightful engagement and community connection.

Using only in-house staff time, the campaign significantly outperformed the previous holiday message. Employees expressed appreciation for the illustrations in particular, with many continuing to use the Zoom backgrounds long after the holidays.

By blending inclusivity, local references, and creative engagement, this project transformed a simple holiday greeting into an interactive and joyful experience. This thoughtful approach not only celebrated the UC Davis community, but also offers transferable ideas for internal holiday messages.