Who are Fairfield School, and why did they contact us?
Based in Batley, West Yorkshire, Fairfield School is a specialist school catering to the complex needs of students aged from four to nineteen. We were approached by the school business manager, Steve Walsh, who was looking to undertake a complete rebranding project to reflect their new vision and values. This meeting was the beginning of our journey to transform the brand identity of Fairfield School.
Steve and the staff at the school thought that the current branding they were using was tired and did not reflect what the school wanted to be, or the image they wanted to project in the community. Furthermore, the signage at the premises was old and needed to be replaced. A school’s branding, logo, outdoor and indoor signage are essential elements in portraying itself to students, parents and staff. Poor quality and worn-out signage does not give the right impression to parents and is vital for the pupils, as this is something that they will see every day. School signage needs to be a focal point for students to take pride in their education.
What was the rebranding objectives for this projects
Fairfield School wanted to use their new brand to realise its vision of being recognised in Batley and throughout Yorkshire as a dynamic and vibrant school that provides quality learning experiences for students with a range of complex needs and requirements. The opportunity to complete the rebranding was done to ensure that their values are properly communicated with students, parents, staff and their local community. The school’s new motto of ’embracing uniqueness’ also needed to be brought into the brand identity.
Our brief for the new brand was to make them stand out as a school for excellence in special educational needs. Fairfield School wanted to ensure that they were seen to be inspired by projecting and informing the community about who they are and what they strived to be. The new brand needed to demonstrate learning as experts and leaders in education and the important value of lifelong success by using the rebrand to show that the school supports, encourages, and cares for its students.
We had the pleasure to catch up with John Page, former Headteacher at Fairfield School, who took the time out of his busy schedule to explain how we brought their rebrand ideas to fruition. In this video, John shares the collaborative process we employed, explaining how we:
- Worked closely with the school team to understand their needs
- Presented and tested potential logo concepts to ensure a strong fit.
- Aligned the new brand identity with Fairfield School’s ethos and community values.
- Executed a comprehensive rebrand rollout.
Our team’s extensive experience and expertise in school branding allowed us to craft a dynamic new identity for Fairfield School that effectively communicates their evolved vision and values.
Design For Education’s process and approach to rebranding Fairfield School
At Design For Education, we offer a range of creative design and branding services, including logos, signage, school websites, promotional videos, and prospectuses. We have spent years specialising in the creative requirements of educational organisations such as state and private schools, academies, and further education colleges. Our knowledge and focus on this sector have helped us set up an effective and engaging process that we use in rebranding projects. It starts with our team getting to know you and your school in detail, ensuring that your school is actively involved throughout the process. The brand development by Design For Education is carried out over a three-phase approach:
- The first stage of the process is concept design, where we identify your design brief, requirements and needs for the rebranding project. We carry out research and ongoing consultations with your school to establish the core principles for your new brand – this is what you want to achieve. At this stage of the process, our team brainstorms ideas with mood boards, using our vast experience in the creative needs of schools and your distinct objectives to establish unique ideas for your new brand.
- The second stage of our process is scheme design. Here we take the ideas developed in the concept design stage and build them into a proposed solution for your school. While doing this, we test our ideas for your brand using mock-ups and evaluate the solutions that we are developing. Eventually, we form a draft of your new brand guidelines using a set of specifications and parameters which outlines the new brand.
- The final stage of creating a successful new school brand is the artwork design and asset handover. At this point, after rigorous testing, we have finished the new designs for your school. Here is where we finalise the brand guidelines, which will be ready to hand over and allow you the opportunity to give feedback as we work on any snags. Once this stage is complete, we are prepared to implement your new brand – this is the exciting part where students, staff, and parents will see the positive changes the new brand brings around your school.
How we launch the new brand of your school
When our three-stage design process is complete, we will present your school with the full suite of creative material we have developed. Below you can see the work that we completed for Fairfield School:
New school brandmark
The brandmark that we will hand over to you will be a focal point in representing your school. It consists of an icon and a logotype developed to give a personal identity to your organisation, as we did at Fairfield. We create the brandmark to be versatile and easy to use in different sizes and positions in various mediums, from print to digital applications.
To ensure that the new logo looks great wherever you need to use it, we create different variations which give you a choice for the most suitable logo depending on where it is placed. These variations include full-colour designs that work best on white backgrounds, mono use ideal for black and white printing, and a reversed colour design. The reversed colour design option ensures that the logo is clearly visible on dark or busy pictures.
Comprehensive brand guidelines
Upon completing the process of a school rebrand, we will hand over a set of comprehensive brand guidelines for your school. These guidelines help keep your brand consistent and teach you the correct way to use the assets that we hand over. Our guidelines are a tool to help inspire you, and they demonstrate how to use your new brand when presenting your school.
Brand implementation
The final stage of our project is where we implement your new brand. Some of this implementation is done by the school themselves using our coaching and the brand guidelines. However, we also offer our services for more complex elements such as for any new school signage. Our signage services for Fairfield School included complete internal and external signage and new wall displays. This school had a new welcome wall that emphasised its vision and values, and we are also working on an aquarium-themed entrance to their hydrotherapy pool.
You can see the refreshed new school branding and wall art for this project in the slider below:
Our years of expertise and our team’s specialisation in meeting the creative requirements of many different schools allowed us to develop an exciting new brand that successfully shows the new vision and values at Fairfield School.
Looking for more inspiration? See our case studies section which features all of our most recent projects. You can also browse our school branding page if you want to get more ideas for your school brand.
If you would like to discuss your project with us please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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