Harvey Mudd Viewbook Wins International Acclaim

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education has named Harvey Mudd College a Gold Award winner of its 2017 Circle of Excellence awards program. Harvey Mudd was recognized for its admission viewbook: a deck of cards.

The College’s viewbook provides prospective students with a comprehensive look at what makes Harvey Mudd unique, exciting and excellent. Content is presented on the playing cards in two ways: that which can be read and that which can be experienced via augmented reality. Prospective students are encouraged to download Layar AR, a free app, and then scan the cards to make them come to life as brief videos or animations. Through the app, prospective students are able to see and hear a diverse group of Harvey Mudd students, faculty and staff talk about academics, research, community involvement and creative endeavors. Also included in the cards is a puzzle: Morse code discretely printed on 12 cards.

This year, more than 715 higher education institutions, independent schools and nonprofits worldwide submitted more than 3,364 entries for consideration in nearly 100 categories. Judges gave 366 awards: 118 bronze; 125 silver, 107 gold and 16 grand gold. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is one of the largest international associations of education institutions, serving more than 3,670 universities, colleges, schools and related organizations in more than 82 countries.

Members of the Harvey Mudd College Office of Communications, who designed and produced the viewbook, received top honors in two categories of the 2017 CASE District VII (western U.S., Guam and Hawaii) Awards of Excellence: the Gold award for Student Recruitment Publications: Viewbooks and Prospectuses (Print), and the Silver award in Innovative Use of Technology. The viewbook also received a 2017 Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America.

Video of Harvey Mudd viewbook demonstration