school brand identity

School brand identity into print

The school brand identity had lost consistency across different media. It required a holistic re-think. This resulted in the supply of a full and detailed kit of digital files. These would be for different uses across different media. First in line was the logo. It didn’t work in it’s original form and needed significant updating. The next stage in this project would include all the school’s publications. Re-designed in their entirety these publications would include everything from magazines to invitations. We needed to create order, ensure consistency, uniqueness and a recognisable visual language. The school brand identity would project the high quality education and care that the school is known for. The collateral design work included: prospectus, magazine, newsletter, parent’s guides, results brochures and direct mail production. 

Brand and campaign

The brand design work was completed hand-in-hand with the creation of a campaign. ‘Girls First’ was a radical departure from the traditional school advertising model. The ‘Girls First’ phrase was conceived by topright. It represented the school’s care of its students and the ‘go-get’ attitude instilled in their students. This was a campaign about the school’s ‘strive for excellence’ mantra. The advertising campaign logo is a strong graphical device. It would be used in many applications: advertising; social media; web; print collateral and event material & merchandising. The versatility of the campaign’s design means that secondary messaging for individual adverts could be changed along with the photographic image. This produced consistent but varied messages.

Campaign progression

The second stage to the school brand identity advertising initiative was for the GIRLS FIRST campaign logo to serve as recognisable support or accreditation. This ‘next-stage’ campaign uses short, punchy ‘on-brand’ single words to fire the imagination of the reader. It set Heathfield apart from other schools’ ‘themes, values and aims’. The campaign can use a change of image or the single word to create variety and consistency through the year. To set Heathfield apart, this campaign uses a typographic styling that is modern, ‘non-stuffy’ and forward thinking.

The campaign styling and design is easily recognisable. It is now synonymous with Heathfield School. This campaign has been rolled out in a multitude of publications including Tattler, The Daily Telegraph and the BBC Proms official programme. The advertising campaign design work included online advertising in industry specific education websites. Online collateral included animated gifs, leaderboards and mid page units (MPUs).

Brand identity and the website

Whilst all the school brand identity design was being implemented, topright conceptualised and built Heathfield’s new website. We included interactive features such as: a calendar feed from SOCS; Twitter feed; latest news feeds; embedded school publications; downloadable brochures, guides and form submissions. The website is constructed on a grid system. This ensures consistency across the layout. It provides the ability for the website to work responsively across all devices. Completely re-structured content ensured that users can search or browse the site in a variety of ways. The school website design houses a wealth of information. It was important that certain areas were accessible from related areas across the site. The carefully planned internal links offer an intuitive, organic navigation experience. The site also has a comprehensive school application facility. The site also boosts a parent portal.

The website is packed full of imagery and carefully considered typography. It paints an insightful picture to visitors of life and learning for a Heathfield girl. We were able to balance creativity with precision. This resulted in an elegant and professional website. The website projects the messages that Heathfield wanted to communicate. Heathfield now have a school brand identity to be proud of.