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The Badger Legacy campaign was launched during an unprecedented time, when projected revenue shortfalls of up to $100M placed extraordinary pressure on the athletics department. Thousands of alumni, fans, and supporters stepped forward to help preserve the programs, traditions, and student-athlete experience that define Wisconsin Athletics.
The Wall of Honor was conceived as a lasting expression of that gratitude—one that would live not in a temporary display or digital list, but in the physical fabric of Camp Randall itself.
Thysse developed the overall concept and spatial vision for the recognition feature, working closely with the university to define its tone, placement, and presence within the stadium. Thysse translated that vision into a fully realized, production-ready donor wall that could carry the weight of both the story and the scale.
The primary design challenge was not aesthetic complexity, but precision.
More than 7,500 donor names would be permanently engraved across 14 panels. Each name needed to be:
“Once these names are engraved and installed, they’re there for good,” said Angie Biermeier, Senior Experiential Designer at Thysse. “So the process was built around careful proofing, readability studies, and making sure every single donor was accounted for.”
The team worked through multiple rounds of list formatting, column layout, and typographic testing to determine the optimal balance between density and legibility. Narrow versus standard weights, line spacing, column widths, and wrap behavior were all evaluated so that thousands of names could live comfortably within the available wall space without feeling compressed or overwhelming.
At the center of the installation, a dimensional feature panel tells the story of the Badger Legacy campaign itself, highlighting the significance of the moment and recognizing top-tier donors. This narrative core anchors the display, providing context and meaning alongside the long field of engraved names.
Because donor recognition carries both emotional and reputational weight, the production process placed extraordinary emphasis on accuracy and review.
The donor lists went through multiple rounds of verification, with university stakeholders carefully reviewing proofs before any engraving began. Thysse’s role was to manage that process end-to-end: organizing data, formatting for production, preparing laser-ready files, and ensuring that every name would be rendered exactly as intended.
“It was a very collaborative process. Everyone involved understood how important it was to get it right. The goal was to create something that would stand the test of time—and honor every contributor appropriately.”
- Angie Biermeier, Senior Designer Thysse
Today, the Badger Legacy Wall of Honor stands as a permanent expression of gratitude inside one of college football’s most storied venues. It quietly but powerfully preserves and retells one of those stories—a uniquely challenging moment, and the surge of community support that rallied to stabilize it.
For Thysse, the project reflects what facility branding and donor recognition are ultimately about: translating gratitude, history, and identity into enduring physical form—so that a moment in time, and the people who made it possible, are never forgotten.
