Illustrated Campus Map of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
by Nate Padavick
Which institution was the client?
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesHouston, Texas
Who was the art director?
Mark Kotsopoulos, Senior Associate Director of Enrollment MarketingWhat was the creative brief?
MCPHS commissioned Nate Padavick to create an illustrated map that repositions the university as an integrated urban campus woven throughout Boston’s Longwood neighborhood.The illustration additionally highlights nearby landmarks and cultural assets including the Emerald Necklace, the Fens, Fenway Park, and several museums, helping communicate both the academic and neighborhood experience of the university.
What were the illustration project goals?
While many visitors and prospective students assume MCPHS occupies a single building, the university in fact spans 11 locations across the area. The map was designed to visually connect these sites while also emphasizing MCPHS’s close proximity to the Longwood Medical Area—one of the world’s leading healthcare and research districts.How was this project realized?
The primary distribution format for this map is print. Designed to be reproduced on letter-sized paper, the map is intended to serve as a practical orientation tool for visitors exploring the campus and surrounding neighborhood. It is distributed to prospective students, parents, and guests attending campus tours and university events.What was Nate’s creative process?
The project began with information gathering and prioritization. Working closely with MCPHS, Nate first developed a comprehensive list of sitess that were categorized as either “must-have” or “nice-to-have.” These sites were then grouped into three broader categories: MCPHS sites, Longwood Medical Area destinations, and nearby “explore” locations such as parks, museums, and cultural landmarks.Once the content was established, Nate plotted the locations geographically to identify clusters, outliers, and opportunities for visual balance. This informed a series of proposed map layouts and orientations—including options that did not strictly place north at the top—in order to create the clearest and most engaging user experience.
From there, the project moved through multiple stages of visual development, including color palette exploration, spot illustration style, labeling systems, and typography treatments. Throughout the process, the map evolved through an iterative cycle of review and revision between Nate and the client, with each stage building upon feedback and refinements from the previous round.