Select Page

Innovation Center designs branded wall for M3 Insurance

Various designs in blue and yellow with M3 Insurance's logo. Some iterations incorporate the Milwaukee skyline.

Sarah Madden, “M3 Insurance concepts,” 2024.

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design student Sarah Madden ’24 and Candice Roth, director of workplace experience & corporate administration at M3 Insurance, agree that collaboration was key to the success of M3’s branded wall project with MIAD’s Lubar Innovation Center. The finished graphic mural was placed in M3 Insurance’s new headquarters in downtown Milwaukee.

Roth began her experience at MIAD with a tour of the center. “After touring MIAD’s space and seeing all that they offer, I was really excited to work with Sarah [then a MIAD student], to have her bring some fresh new ideas for a wall mural that we put in our lobby,” says Roth. “The whole team was great to work with. Sarah had a lot of great ideas and was very open to feedback and incorporating it into the final product. We are very pleased with how things turned out!”

“Working with M3 was a great experience,” says Madden. “They had a collaborative approach and valued open communication, which made it easy to bounce around ideas and get feedback. I especially liked designing with the office space in mind and finding a concept that was true to their brand. It was really exciting to see my ideas come to life by the end!”

The Lubar Innovation Center connects MIAD students with companies to work on paid creative projects while providing support and guidance. For Madden, this was not her first project with the Innovation Center.

“Before M3, I also collaborated with the Innovation Center on a branding and advertising project for the Pettit National Ice Center,” she says.

“The Innovation Center was vital to my time at MIAD,” Madden adds. “I was able to get experience, make connections and grow as a designer in ways that prepared me for real-world challenges.”

Now a MIAD graduate, Madden says she “just wrapped up her time interning at Anthropologie on the digital design team creating social media, site and app content. I am now focused on pursuing full-time design opportunities in Chicago!”

Read more about becoming involved with the Innovation Center as a partner or student and about MIAD’s award-winning Illustration major and Animation track.

News

FYE Juried Media Arts Festival 2024 celebrates first-year student works

Seven students received awards at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design’s juried FYE Media Arts Festival – an in-house screening and celebration of video, animation and sound design works by current and former First-Year Experience (FYE) students held on November 26. The 56 entries were judged by multimedia and filmmaking professionals Emma B. Barany, Gabe Leistekow and Sara Sowell.

Independence First and MIAD students produce adaptive clothing

Students in a junior-level Fashion and Apparel Design class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) collaborated with Independence First to design adaptive clothing. Two Independence First employees worked closely with MIAD students on customized outfits specific to their needs and preferences.

‘GQ Rebranded’ series is a hit for MIAD alum’s new studio

When Justin Thomas Kay ’04 (Communication Design) opened his own studio, JTK Studio, Inc., in New York City early this year, he hoped that his work “would contribute positively to helping to make things look nicer and more enjoyable and speak honestly to people broadly.” The new GQ Sports series “GQ Rebranded” turned out to be a good fit to do just that.

MIAD student support system receives national SMILE Award

Choose Mental Health, the national voice for children’s mental health, named the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) the 2024 SMILE Award–Organization Winner for the college’s commitment to promoting mental health and well-being among its students.