Prep Schools Trust

The Prep Schools Trust is a family of flourishing schools bound by shared values. Each school is unique with its own distinctive character yet together enjoy a collective growth: working together the schools are strong, adaptable and agile, learning from each other and having access to resources beyond the reach of a stand-alone school.

The challenge with this project was to create an identity that would convey an assurance of professionalism, quality and performance to a diverse audience, comprised of schools, parents, staff and current and future stakeholders.

Graphic Design
Brand Identity
Publications + Playbooks
Guidelines + Governance

Crafting a set of values.

Quantock carried out a bespoke brand workshop to gain insight into the values behind Prep Schools Trust and determine what sets them apart from the competition.

The schools within the Prep Schools Trust deliver a rich and diverse educational experience focusing on the development of individualism and confidence so every child can prosper both at senior school and in their lives beyond school. Their ethos was simplified into four key pillars, that would go on to form the framework for the all internal and external communications.

A brand new style for a cohesive organisation.

The core colours used are a Teal Blue and Burnt Orange, a deliberately cool and warm combination reflecting the Trust’s professional commitment and family ethos. The colour palette also ensures the logo is striking in its own right but won’t quarrel when alongside other school brands.

Strong foundations designed for future growth.

Alongside the visual refresh, Quantock also crafted a comprehensive set of bespoke brand guidelines. These ensure visual consistency and clarity. Having a clear set of guidelines are crucial in ensuring consistency of application, especially across each of the five partner schools’ communications. These brand guidelines include instructions and guidance on how to properly implement brand messaging, tone of voice and audience messaging.

The result is a clear, cohesive and recognisable identity, that can be applied across all communications, both internal and external. The new identity can be applied sensitively to individual school communications.

Bringing it all together.

The PST branding now sits proudly alongside each of the partner schools, bringing a sense of warmth and professionalism to the group, whether that be on digital communications or on the rear page of a school’s prospectus. The new identity proudly represents what The Prep Schools Trust stands for – an organisation that is progressive, confident and embraces excellence.

This was a fantastic opportunity to reimagine the trust’s visual identity and create a solution which answered all of the problems that they were experiencing with their previous identity. The PST idenity and resulting print collateral ahd to present a collection of schools under one umbrella. It therefore presented a challenge wherby we had to ensure that we didn’t confuse all of the school brands brands with their existing colours, logos and style of photography. We arrived at a solution which compliments, rather than detracts, each school brand, yet still retains a personality of its own.

Mark Hooper, Senior Designer