ROLE
Visual & Web Designer
TIMELINE
2024 - Present
TEAM
5 members
STATUS
Ongoing Project
Overview
Breaking world records, one die at a time
What happens when a group of ambitious college students from a regional campus decides to break a Guinness World Record? You get Art of the Roll, a project that turned into so much more than a dice mosaic. It became a story about dreaming bigger than anyone expected, rallying an entire community, and learning some expensive lessons along the way.
As the visual and web designer, I crafted the brand identity, built the website, and created Instagram content that helped us raise over $11,000 in just 60 days. But here's the thing: we're still figuring it out. This is a living, breathing project with plot twists and pivots that taught us more than any classroom ever could.
Challenge
Creating the world's largest dice mosaic from a regional campus with zero fundraising experience
UConn Stamford is a regional campus. Translation? Fewer resources, smaller spotlight, and an uphill battle to get noticed. Our art club, Husky Art Pack, wanted to do something that would put us on the map and prove that big ideas don't just happen at main campuses.
The goal was audacious: create the world's largest dice mosaic. The current record? 40,000 dice across 100 square feet. Our plan? Over 200,000 dice spanning 30 square meters. We'd collaborate with Johnny Face Off from Design with Dice, a Stamford artist who specializes in dice art.
There was just one small problem: we needed $30,000. And we had zero experience with fundraising at this scale.
Oh, and we were the first student group from the Stamford campus to ever participate in UConn's Ignite crowdfunding campaign. No pressure, right?
My Role
Bringing the visual identity to life and making people care
I wore a lot of hats on this project, but my primary focus was bringing the visual identity to life and making sure people actually cared about what we were doing. Here's what that looked like:
Designed the brand identity and website at artoftheroll.org
Created Instagram posts and animated reels that told our story
Developed campaign materials that resonated with student donors
Collaborated with the team on social media strategy
Strategy
Building the brand and social presence
We needed to make people care about dice. Like, really care. The visual identity had to balance two competing ideas: the precision and craft of the actual mosaic work, and the scrappy, passionate energy of a student-led initiative.
The website became our digital headquarters. I built it to showcase not just what we were making, but why it mattered. Every page was designed to convert visitors into donors or volunteers. We needed people to see themselves in this story.
Social Media That Actually Worked
Instagram became our secret weapon. I designed posts that did more than look pretty—they told stories. Each piece of content was crafted to build momentum, celebrate small wins, and keep people invested in our journey.
The animated reels were crucial. Static images of dice? Cool, but forgettable. Watching the process unfold, seeing the team's passion, hearing about the world record? That's shareable content.
The numbers don't lie. Our social media campaigns boosted engagement by 226.1% with our target audiences. We weren't just posting into the void, we were building a community!
Results
The impact (so far)
Within the first month, we had over 60 student donors. For a regional campus, that's unprecedented. The visual content and messaging strategy worked. People weren't just donating—they were excited to be part of something bigger.
The Plot Twist
When ambition meets reality
Here's where it gets real. We recently had a major pivot with our artist collaborator, and we're rethinking the entire medium. Turns out, we were a little too ambitious. Okay, a lot too ambitious.
Building a world record isn't just about having a cool idea and some dice. It's about budgets we drastically underestimated, logistics we didn't fully understand, and the reality check that comes with actually executing at this scale. We didn't realize how much money was going to go into trying to break a world record until we were already deep into it.
But here's the thing about design work: it's never wasted. The brand we built, the community we rallied, and the systems we created? Those aren't going anywhere. They'll adapt with us.
This project taught me that real design work isn't just about making things look good. It's about creating flexible systems that can weather changes, pivots, and even complete redirections. The Instagram content that helped us secure funding? That same strategy will help us communicate our new direction. The website I built? It's ready to evolve with our vision.
What I Learned
Lessons from the trenches
Design for the pivot
Building brand systems that can flex and adapt isn't just good practice—it's essential. When your project changes direction (and it will), your design infrastructure should be able to keep up without starting from scratch.
Community beats perfection
The most successful content wasn't the most polished. It was the most authentic. People connected with our story because it was real, messy, and human. The Instagram posts that performed best were the ones that showed our journey, not just our destination.
Ambition has a price tag
We learned the hard way that world records cost money. Real money. But that lesson? It's made us smarter, more strategic, and better prepared for whatever comes next.
Regional doesn't mean small
Being from a smaller campus became our superpower. It made our story more compelling, our community tighter, and our impact more meaningful. We weren't supposed to be able to do this. That's exactly why people cared.
Media Recognition
Art of the Roll has been featured in multiple publications, highlighting our innovative approach and community impact:
What's Next
Regrouping and reimagining
We're regrouping, reimagining, and getting ready for round two. The project might look different than we originally planned, but the mission hasn't changed: prove that students from regional campuses can dream big and actually deliver.
The brand identity, the community we built, and the momentum we created? That's all still here. We're just getting started.