Reaching for new heights has always been the way at Purdue Federal Credit Union, and with their new endorsement agreement with astronaut Jerry Ross, they are reaching higher still.
Having previously had an agreement with Gene Cernan, who was involved in the Space Race of the 1960s, as well as the lunar missions, bringing Indiana native, Jerry Ross, front and center with their new credit card has been a point of pride for Purdue Federal.
“We discovered that Jerry Ross has an impressive space resume and he is an Indiana native. Anytime you look to align your brand with an individual, you need to make sure the alignment is there and we saw really good alignment with Jerry’s values and accomplishments,” said Bob Falk, President and CEO of Purdue Federal Credit Union.
Eric Korchnak, Senior Graphic Designer at Purdue Federal Credit Union, has found the experience of highlighting such an extraordinary figure in American life rewarding.
“As someone who went to Purdue and who understood the history that Purdue has had with the space program, it was a tremendous honor to for me to be able to put something like this together that honors that history and specifically with Jerry, who is also an Indiana native,” said Korchnak.
Falk agreed with this sentiment wholeheartedly, and is glad to be able to align the credit union with such an amazing figure in space exploration history.
“Jerry holds some very impressive NASA records and is truly an American Hero. Anytime you can align your brand with an American Hero is a good thing for your brand,” explained Falk. “Jerry is a quiet hero that would be happy sitting in the background vs. standing in the spotlight. Very soft spoken and family-oriented, but he deserved to be highlighted for his contributions to space and science research, and hopefully we can bring some attention in his direction.”
As for how the final design came about, Korchnak worked hard to make sure it played to the essence of Ross’s work in NASA and paid him a proper tribute.
“We started with a previous design of our card that was a tribute both to Jerry and Gene Cernan (the Last Man on the Moon and fellow Purdue Alum), and we looked at ways to take that design and enhance it to really promote Purdue’s connection with the space program. That includes both the first and last man on the moon, along with the many who had flown on the space shuttle. The challenge was conveying that message while paying homage to two space programs that had vastly different objectives. We decided on the moon with the footprints to honor those that were in the Apollo program and Jerry was able to get us one of the photos of him actually working on the construction of the space station to represent one of the greatest accomplishments of the space shuttle program,” explained Korchnak.
Truly, this new design by Purdue Federal has succeeded in paying homage to such a phenomenal figure in the history of NASA and Indiana’s contributions to science and the exploration of space.
