Proud to contribute to IE University’s 50th anniversary celebrations

Shaping Leaders for Half a Century

IE University is one of the most renowned Spanish educational institutions on the world stage. Its impact on society has been huge, preparing future leaders through a philosophy based on four main pillars: diversity, education, leadership, and creativity.

2023 marks their 50th anniversary, a cause for celebration and for which IE contacted us to create “The Next 50”. This digital space was to give universal and global access to a series of 50 articles by professional experts from diverse fields that envision the future over the next 50 years.

IE comments that “the series is designed to help us imagine and understand our collective future as a society and tackle issues such as how education will change; how we will communicate, lead, and build business; our priorities in regards to global governance, diversity, sustainability, and technology; as well as how we might address economic, political, and social challenges”.

The digital space created by Erretres serves as a connection between professionals, students, teachers, alumni, partners, and international institutions. It presents an ecosystem of ideas with striking visuals and a navigation flow that encourages fluid and contemporary content consumption, all inspired by the university’s iconic IE Tower in Madrid’s business district.

The IE is putting a lot of energy into the 50th anniversary celebrations, including an event held at the IE Tower and attended by key Spanish institutions such as the Royal Family.

In order to build on the success of the Next 50 website, IE tasked us with creating a book to be gifted to attendees at the event. This book had to bring together the 50 articles hosted on the website in an editorial format which reflected and further enhanced the interactive website design.

We separated the book into the four colour-coded categories of the website, making them easily visible and navegable thanks to an exposed spine, which also doubles as an eye-catching visual effect to add to the celebratory atmosphere. The book is also made with unbleached and recycled papers throughout, aligned with the IE’s commitment to minimising their environmental impact.

The layout of the pages builds on the website design with an interesting blend of digital and editorial design languages. The visual of the interconnected web of articles is included throughout and further represented through the exposed and contrasting threads of the book’s binding, visually and physically tying the whole book together with the IE’s signature blue colour. Special care was taken to optimise legibility despite the varying lengths and formats of each article, and the text is peppered with other interesting visuals in order to offer the reader regular breaks.

The Next 50 website and publication reflect the excellence that drives the university, something we share and commit to in our daily work. We are proud and feel fortunate to have helped in these celebrations as we feel education is one of the most important motors of positive change.