Superheroes may soon be popping up at the University of Oregon, they don't have a cap or mask but more of a helmet and a pigskin. This comic book was created to entice high school recruits to play U of O football. Each book features a prospective duck recruit as the superhero and is personalized just for them. And like most superheroes, they save the day. "At the end of the day, the recruit, the superhero wins the national championship game brings the ducks back. That's the story", Brett Kautter, Recruiting Assistant. U of O students helped to create and design the books. The reason these books are so popular for recruits is the time and effort spent personalizing each copy. Finding that info can be a challenge. "I go to their school web pages. I go to their towns newspapers, anything I can find", Heather Terry, Researcher and student. And getting these pages to look life-like isn't easy either. "I got a digital camera and went around and got pictures of everything that is there, the coach's, their offices. Our facilities, equipment and then I use that to draw from", Brian Merrell, Design Intern and student.
Ironically, they could use the exact same technique to recruit high-tech nerds, except showing the school to be filled with superheroines who have secret identities as hard science undergraduates by day, but by night wear skin tight outfits to fight the Forces of Evil(tm). |