DMACC launches updated website, logos with new brand

Des Moines Area Community College is launching its first rebranding initiative in almost 40 years this week, gearing up for a marketing campaign next year.

The community college unveiled its new website, three-dimensional DMACC logo and other materials Monday. The DMACC Bear mascot will also get a facelift in the coming months, president Rob Denson said.

Signage in and around the college’s seven locations will be transitioned to the new branding over the next few months, Denson said, but the first phase of the website revamp is already available to visitors. The website project’s first phase focused on design, navigation and content, and the second phase, slated to launch January of next year, will redesign program pages and update internal site content.

The new branding, which Denson said was all developed internally, is the result of several years of research and collaboration.

When DMACC last rebranded in 1988, the college was building its first Transportation Institute and adding to its Des Moines campus, and planning student housing in Ankeny. Now it educates almost 55,000 students, nearly tripling in size of both enrollment and facilities.

Enrollment is up 13% this fall compared to last year, Denson said, and is 5% higher than in 2019. With students and families facing rising costs and other struggles with higher education and the job market, DMACC is increasingly seen as a good fit for college and career preparation, he said.

“DMACC has worked hard to meet and engage with prospective students on their educational journey,” Denson said in a news release. “And that includes a new and refreshed brand that communicates who and what we are right now.”