Visuals that make a great university impossible to miss

You're shaping the minds of tomorrow, telling the story of one of the country's premier public research institutions — all while competing for attention in one of the most crowded higher ed landscapes around. We help you cut through the noise and tell that story clearly, beautifully, and in a way that sticks.

From admissions infographics and research explainer videos to branded reports and interactive digital experiences, Lemonly creates world-class visual content for universities that have a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it.

Let's talk


Our services

We're well-versed in crafting eye-catching visuals for higher education institutions that need to clarify complex ideas, recruit the best students, and amplify their research impact. Clients like SDSU, NDSU, and UCSF have trusted Lemonly to bring clarity and personality to their content — and we'd love to do the same for Iowa. Our team of expert writers, designers, animators, and developers will make sure your brand makes a mark across every audience you serve.

Here's a sampling of what we can create to tell your story — but if you have out-of-the-box ideas or custom needs not listed here, let's talk!

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Infographics

Clear, compelling visuals that simplify complex ideas. Perfect for research communications, admissions data, process explanations, or anything else you need to make digestible.

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Videos

Animated or live-action video that grabs attention and tells your story quickly — ideal for recruitment, brand storytelling, or explaining your research to the world.

Reports & ebooks

Package your research, outcomes, or institutional thought leadership into a polished, designed piece that builds credibility and gets shared.

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Presentations

Polished slide decks that help your next pitch, keynote, or donor meeting land the way your story deserves.

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Microsites & quizzes

Touch it, click it, explore it. Interactive digital experiences that invite prospective students, donors, or researchers to engage and keep your brand impossible to forget.

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Branding

Logos, assets, and templates that make your brand look sharp and consistent everywhere it shows up — across both digital and print materials.

Our work

Higher education is a lane we know well. We've helped universities, schools, and research institutions tell their stories — from recruiting the next class of students and communicating groundbreaking research to applying institutional brand identity across print and digital.

Check out examples of our work below, including infographics, explainer videos, presentations, reports, and more. You'll notice a theme: complex ideas, made clear.

See our portfolio


Some of our friends

Since 2011, we've been able to partner with some of the world's best brands to tell their stories with sweet visual content. Here are just a few of our awesome clients you might've heard of — across education, healthcare, technology, nonprofits, and more.

University of Iowa
Kellogg Foundation
Northwestern University in Qatar
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of North Dakota
WebMD
Collage of Lemonly work examples

About us

Hi there! We're Lemonly, and visual storytelling is our whole thing. We help universities, colleges, and higher ed brands turn big ideas into content people actually engage with. Whether you're communicating research breakthroughs to a general audience, recruiting prospective students, rallying donors around your mission, or just trying to make your brand feel as sharp as the institution it represents — we create visuals that make your message land.

University marketing teams juggle a lot: admissions, alumni outreach, athletics, research, brand identity, department-level content, and more. We're the creative partner you pull in when your story needs to be told brilliantly — when a concept needs a visual to make it click, when a campaign needs a centerpiece that earns attention, or whenever your team needs extra visual storytelling craft.

Bring us your goals, your brief, and your brand standards. We'll handle the rest.

More about Lemonly

Lemonly explainer video thumbnail

Welcome to the home of the world’s best infographics. And other infographic-style content. You can call us Lemonly. If you’re looking for clarity in your content and engagement from your audience, you’re in the right place. May we offer you a refreshment?

Now that you’ve settled in, let's talk about information overload and dwindling attention spans. The bad news is that your brand faces an uphill battle to be seen and heard. The good news is that Lemonly has your back. We solve your biggest storytelling challenges with our infographic-inspired approach to content creation.

We design clarity. Cutting through complexity and captivating audiences are two of our favorite things. How do we make it happen? Concise, compelling copy and engaging, intentional visual storytelling. Everything we create helps clear the runway to make sure messages land for your audience. From classic infographics to interactive digital experiences to explainer videos  — like this one!

Bring us your goals, challenges, hopes, dreams, data, and preferences. Our team of experts turns those lemons into lemonade. You get to enjoy our tried-and-true project process, which is somehow both intensely efficient and utterly delightful. And your audience gets content they can easily understand and act on. Refreshing, isn’t it? 

Take your content from abstract to actionable and complex to compelling with Lemonly. Talk to us about your next story today.


What it's like to work with us

When you work with Lemonly, you get world-class design chops and a top-notch client experience. We keep it clear, delightful, and intentional every step of the way.

Clear

Clear

We cut out the noise and make things easier to understand.

Delightful

Delightful

We do the best work, and we’re a joy to work with. Sweet, never sour.

Intentional

Intentional

We use our expertise to design custom solutions for your unique problems.


Our tried-and-true creative process

Here's to our patented "lemons-to-lemonade" recipe. We start with your raw ingredients and apply our creative expertise to turn complex to concise, boring to brilliant, and abstract to actionable. Get a look at our visual content process.


Say hello to some friendly faces

Get to know a few of the Lemonheads who make the magic happen. Our all-star crew of creative pros and marketing wizards is here to help you crush your goals — and with a combined 128 years' experience, we've got the chops to back it up.

Meet the team

Emily Larson, Account Executive

Emily Larson

Lead Account Executive

Emily's your lead point of contact and all-around client champion. She brings a thoughtful approach and a dash of humor to every new adventure.

Cortney Carmody

Cortney Carmody

Director of Account Service

With a deep background in account management, Cortney brings a polished, empathetic touch to client service.

Amy Moore

Co-Founder & Executive Creative Director

As our trusty creative-in-chief, Amy's vision and ideation help drive many of our most innovative creative solutions.

Ashton Dockendorf

Director of Design & Operations

Ashton leads our design team and keeps our operations running smoothly — all while championing our zesty company culture.

Maddie Mack

Associate Director of Content

Whip-smart and quick-witted, Maddie crafts clever messaging that helps brands stand out and show their personality.

Michael Mazourek

Associate Director of Motion

Michael is a multitalented creative pro in animation, videography, and photography who brings polish to every project.


Frequently asked questions

Wanna know more about working with Lemonly? Get answers to some common getting-started questions here.

Absolutely. We've partnered with universities, colleges, and schools to create everything from admissions infographics and student-facing interactive experiences to research communications and institutional brand materials. Education clients are some of our favorites — there's no shortage of complex, important stories to tell, and we love helping institutions tell them well.


Yes — and we're good at it. Once you share your style guide and brand foundation, we'll design everything to feel unmistakably Iowa, just elevated. We become an extension of your team, not a vendor doing their own thing. And if any corner of your brand system needs a refresh or new templates, we can help with that, too.


That's one of the realities of higher ed communications — and we get it. We regularly help institutions create content for different departments, audiences, and goals under the same brand umbrella: prospective students, current students, alumni, donors, faculty, and the general public. We'll work with you to make sure every piece speaks to its intended audience while staying on-brand.


It's basically our specialty. Lemonly was built on the idea that even the most complex information can be made clear and compelling for any audience. We'll work to understand your research, your subject matter, and who you're talking to — then translate it into visuals that make it land, whether that's a faculty advisor, a prospective grad student, or a donor who's never heard of immunotherapy.


It depends on scope, but most projects run 4–8 weeks from kickoff to final files. If you're working toward a specific deadline — a recruitment push, a conference, a semester start — tell us upfront and we'll build a timeline that gets you there.


Dig deeper

Want to see more of what Lemonly can do? Here are a few good places to start.

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Services

Design expertise you can trust. Get a closer look at everything Lemonly offers, including infographics, animated videos, interactive microsites, and beyond.

Browse services
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Case studies

See how we’ve helped clients across industries solve real content challenges, from simplifying complex ideas to building buzz around a brand.

See results
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Industries

We’ve worked with clients in nearly every industry. These six are our most common — you could call them specialties. See what keeps ‘em coming back.

Explore industries