School brand identity

School brand identity into print

The school brand identity had lost consistency across different media. It needed a re-think. This resulted in the supply of a full and detailed kit of digital files. These files would be for different uses across different media. First up was the logo. It didn’t work in it’s original form and needed an important update. The next stage in this project would include all the school’s print. Re-designed in full these would include everything from magazines to invitations. We needed to create order, make sure of consistency, uniqueness and a recognisable visual language. Therefore the school brand identity would project the high quality education and care that the school is known for. The 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 huge change from the traditional school advertising model. The ‘Girls First’ phrase was created by topright. Representing 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’ slogan. The campaign logo is a strong graphical device. It would be used in many ways: advertising; social media; web; print and event material and merchandise. The flexible campaign design means that secondary messaging for adverts could be changed along with the images. This produced consistent but varied messages.

Campaign progression

The second stage to the school brand identity advertising campaign was for the ‘Girls First’ logo to be used as recognisable support. 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 is easily recognisable. It is now key to Heathfield School. This campaign has been rolled out in many print forms including Tattler, The Daily Telegraph and the BBC Proms official programme. The advertising campaign design work included online advertising in industry education websites. Online work included animated gifs, leaderboards and mid page units (MPUs).

Brand identity and the website

Whilst all the school brand identity design was being carried out, topright created 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 designed on a grid system. This makes sure there is consistency across the layout. It allows for the website to work responsively across all devices. Completely re-structured content made sure that users can search or browse the site in many different ways. The school website design houses lots of information. It was important that certain areas were on hand from related areas across the site. The carefully planned links offer a natural navigation experience. The site also has a full school application area. The site also boosts a parent portal.

The website is packed full of images and carefully chosen typography. It paints a picture of life and learning for a Heathfield girl. We were able to find the right mix of creativity and accuracy. This resulted in a professional website. The website promotes the messages that Heathfield wanted to communicate. Heathfield now have a school brand identity to be proud of.