Before and after: School Logo Transformations

 

Wellington School

Founded in 1837 to provide a commercial, mathematical and classical education for boys, Wellington is now a fully co-educational school, with an ethos that rests on three principles: outstanding relationships that are formed by values such as kindness, tolerance, inclusivity and trust, a love of learning and the pursuit of excellence in everything they do.

The previous logo took elements from a much older coat of arms but executed them in a childish and awkward fashion. We wanted to celebrate the heritage of Wellington School and show a much more heraldic style to retain a sense of tradition and longevity. With a greater level of detail, the refreshed logo has increased presence, communicating a more premium offering.

Queen’s College

Founded in 1843, Queen’s aim is to be a centre of excellence for thinking and creativity which provides a bespoke, individualised education, designed to meet the needs of every member of the community, irrespective of pastoral or learning needs.

The ‘wyvern’ that represented Queen’s College originally had an unsophisticated feel, lacking the presence and confidence that the school commanded. Using a more mature typeface and pairing it with a far more intricate and classic icon, gave an overall more serious and assured look to the school.

Barfield School

Barfield School’s belief is that children should be happy and positively challenged in whatever they do. A happy, caring and nurturing environment which focuses on the whole child to ensure they achieve great things. The original logo lacked the confidence such a school needed and felt a little weak.

It was important the owl symbol remained, but it needed more confidence to reflect the school’s values. We redrew the pose of the owl to give it more structure, and thickened the line work to communicate a greater sense of strength and dependability. This is further enhanced by the slab serif typeface and the additional colour help to pick out the key parts of the mark.

Chandlings School

Chandlings is a leading Independent day school, educating boys and girls aged 2-11 within 60 acres of beautiful grounds; located in the Oxfordshire countryside. They pride themselves on exceptional academic achievement, genuine pastoral care and empathy, and superb facilities.

Chandlings’ old logo had a light and illustrative quality which didn’t reflect the energy and professionalism of the School as it moved into the future. The mark required more dynamism while staying friendly. Reworking the original illustration to accommodate these ideas, gives the new mark a feeling of greater confidence and strength.

Radley

Radley inspires boys to become outstanding young men and though they believe their core values should never change they ensure that the educational opportunity they provide is genuinely relevant in a world of technology and expanding diversity, cultures and attitudes.

With the idea of progression at the heart of the School’s ethos, we created a more focused look, using just one important and meaningful element of the original crest. By distilling the brand mark down to one core element, we were able to give the brand a much more striking aesthetic and consequently, a greater confidence.

The Oratory Prep

As with many Schools, The Oratory Prep used a traditional coat of arms style logo to depict many elements in one image. Although these speak of heritage, they can become lost among the many other crest logos and in turn lose their impact and identity.

The Oratory Prep school had many elements to its original crest logo, and could be seen as fussy and over complicated. Simplicity and bold colour help make the mark more striking while still retaining the core message. A clean, modern typeface compliments the logo, creating an identity with simplicity and clarity at its heart.

Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks Prep is a co-educational school set in 25 acres where they place great value on giving pupils the opportunity to flourish in all areas of school life. They pride themselves on their excellent academic results,while providing a nurturing environment in which children can discover and develop their talents.

Once again, Sevenoaks Prep comes with a rich heritage so had a coat of arms style logo to begin with. We modernised it by distilling it to its keys parts and adopting a young but serious colour palette. By reducing the clutter and fuss around the shield, we were able to create a much stronger link between the typography and the acorn motif.
These examples show that just as a brand grows over time, so does its visual elements. If your brand is looking a little dated and tired, get in touch with us!