Cara Kelley ’26
Hi! I’m Cara Kelley, a class of 2026 graduate with a BA in Design. My work sits at the intersection of strategy and creativity, where I focus on developing ideas that are both visually engaging and grounded in purpose. Through my academic and professional experiences, I’ve explored branding, social media, and digital design, creating content that connects with audiences in a thoughtful and intentional way.
During my time at Lehigh, I’ve had the opportunity to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom to real-world work, from building campaign concepts to designing across platforms for organizations and brands. These experiences have shaped my approach to design as both a creative and analytical process—one that considers not just how something looks, but how it communicates and resonates. As I prepare for post-graduation, I’m excited to continue developing work that blends strong visual storytelling with strategic thinking, and to bring that perspective into a professional setting. I’m especially grateful to my professors at Lehigh for their guidance and support over the past four years, which have played a meaningful role in shaping my growth.
I worked with the Lehigh College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Advising Office to design a series of posters highlighting majors and programs across each department within CAS. The goal was to make information about academic offerings more accessible and engaging for students exploring their options. I translated detailed program information into clear, visually compelling layouts, using thoughtful typography, color, and hierarchy to guide readability while maintaining Lehigh’s brand identity. The final designs created a cohesive system that allowed each department to feel distinct yet unified, helping students better understand and navigate the range of opportunities within CAS.
For this project I completed while at Lehigh I tasked with redesigning a wine, beer, or spirit. I chose to redesign the Jose Cuervo Canned Cocktails. I focused on the margarita cocktails for my redesign in the flavors strawberry margarita, classic margarita, and pink lemonade margarita. The idea for a redesign came to me because when examining the original cans, I felt that they were not cohesive with the rest of the brand. The original cans were a bit busy for my taste, so I began to tackle the idea of simplifying the design.
As a New York resident and country music fan, this project was especially exciting to develop, as it allowed me to create something I would genuinely love to see come to life. Backroads NYC explores the intersection of New York City culture and country-inspired aesthetics, blending urban and rustic visual elements into a cohesive poster design.
