The Daniels creative manager’s work reflects her personality
Each Friday this summer, the Daniels Newsroom is telling the stories of the behind-the-scenes staff who empower students, faculty and the College at large. Read past stories on our blog.
Furry fish! Bigfoot! Headless Chickens!
If there was ever a place for an exclamation point, it’s the cover of “Welcome to Far-Out Funky & Cool Colorado,” where capital letters beneath cartoon images tease the eyebrow-raising stories within.
It turns out, Colorado is a bit more eccentric than its famed ski resorts and craft beer scene. The world’s highest deep fryer, the world’s largest beetle and a notable tarantula migration are also beneath the state’s famously sunny skies.
They are just a few of the interesting, offbeat adventures in a 44-page coloring book—published by an author you could describe the same way.
Brooke Goodell is the creative manager at the Daniels College of Business—the one in the cat-eyed glasses, hand-made skirts and impressive collection of brooches.
“One of the things I love is finding out interesting things about stuff that people don’t think about,” Goodell said of her 2022 publication, inspired by her discovery of The Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey. “What typically happens with my creative brain is when I would write an idea down, I’d also get an idea of what it looks like, like a sketch.”
The coloring book is a crowning achievement for the lifelong artist, designer and marketer, who manages the College’s brand through the Office of Communications and Marketing. If you’ve seen a Daniels ad on Facebook, a degree program’s one-pager or a directory sign in the elevator, you’ve seen just a few of the many projects she takes on.
An artistic upbringing
Technically, Goodell was born on an Air Force base in Topeka, Kansas, but Colorado became home when she was “knee-high to a jackalope.” She grew up not far from the DU campus, in a home with an adventurous, artistic family.
Her dad was a deft watercolor artist; her mom was a sewist who often enlisted her in the “craft fair support department,” stuffing, sewing and stitching her latest creations. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Goodell grew up painting, drawing and making jewelry.
When she decided to go to college, a graphic design degree was a no-brainer. At Mesa State University (now Colorado Mesa University), Goodell was among the first students to use the new Adobe Illustrator on boxy Apple computers.
“Previously, [graphic design] was manual typesetting and all of the stuff they used to do at newspapers, where you’d flow out the text, cut it out and tape it up,” she said. “Art translating from painting and hand-lettering to learning how to use Illustrator to create art was definitely interesting. I caught on pretty quickly.”
A broad portfolio of experience
Goodell swung back through the Mile High City after she graduated, but felt drawn to the west coast. In California, she dipped her toe in a wide variety of design jobs, from kids’ websites to documents for the courtroom—all of which she enjoyed.
“I even liked the crazy legal graphics,” she said. “It was a really interesting learning experience, figuring out what you know about design and how you translate to something that can sway a jury.”
The bulk of her career, however, was spent in the fitness industry. For several years, she supported Gold’s Gym, as it ballooned from 300 to 900 franchises all over the world. But over time, she found it more and more difficult to relate to the work she had been doing.
“In a lot of the marketing that you do, you can’t use people that look like you,” she explained. “You have to make sure they’re all aspirational and inspirational. Everybody around you is telling you [the way you look is] not normal, and it doesn’t matter how much you work out you’re just kind of the same shape. And then doing all of the marketing that appeals to that demographic was a really interesting experience.”
A few years later, Goodell returned to Colorado. Her mom was dying of cancer.
“She said to me, offhandedly, ‘It would be really nice if you could be around to have a cup of coffee with me in the morning,’” Goodell recalled. And so, she moved back in with her parents, caring for the people who had always supported her.
A fulfilling change of industry
In August 2023, Goodell took her job at the Daniels College of Business. After more than a decade in the fitness industry, a shift to higher education felt refreshing.
“I was really excited to do marketing that was a little more of a connection to people—not just what you hope people can become, not just in a physical sense, but in a mental and internal sense,” she said. “They want to become better at their job, they want to become more relevant and interesting in their careers.
“You’re still pitching people—you want them to buy what you’re selling—but what you’re selling is not a hopeful image that you may or may not ever attain,” she said. “You’re selling a degree program that is helping you fulfill yourself.”
Goodell’s role spans project management, client management and creative design. The annual grad brochure, Knoebel News magazine and a spate of ads cross her desk, as do business cards, designs for swag items and wayfinding signs for the newly reorganized Daniels.
She does her work in her fun, signature style—pops of color smartly placed among interesting photos.
Usually, she’s wearing one of the 500 pins she has amassed over the years. Her collection began after she found a corkboard full of her mother’s brooches.
“When I started discovering my personal style, I realized I liked having something quirky that went with outfits that I would wear,” Goodell said. “So it just grew naturally from that. And then got a little out of hand.”
Each day she likes to pick something that both matches her outfit and brings her joy, whether that’s a glass of pink lemonade, a cat in a Carmen Miranda fruit hat, or a see-through box of organic, free range, “all-natural humans,” with plastic people shaking inside.
Some remind her of her mom. Some match the summertime vibe. But all of them reflect the person who loves, simply, to create.
“There’s kind of a flow state when you’re designing something that feels good and has a great message, or something that you’re interested in,” she said. “I really like when you can create a message and a feeling that connects with people.”