BRANDING STRATEGY & DESIGN
We designed a school's brand that's as distinguished as the education they provide.
THE CHALLENGE
Nestled in the lush pine-tree landscape of North Redmond, Washington, Willows Preparatory School (WPS) is a private grades 5-12 school with an IB curriculum and a student population with backgrounds from over 35 different countries.
WPS offers a top-notch education, but their outdated brand identity failed to communicate the diversity and excellence they foster. Together, we recreated it.
As the years ticked by, WPS continued its prestigious operation while its brand became sidelined and antiquated. Often, the most successful brands fail to update their brand strategy and identity as they lack the time and creative efforts to do so.
The old WPS brand was unpolished and undeveloped, not indicative of the first-rate education landing WPS students at terrific universities and into prominent jobs in the STEM fields.
OLD IDENTITY
THE SOLUTION
In the discovery phase, we identified clear goals for the project. The new WPS brand identity needed to emphasize the school’s rich legacy, capture a sense of school pride, ground WPS in its location in Redmond, and exude a sleek, high-end feel.
In Redmond, Washington, just north of Seattle, WPS is situated as a uniquely distinct three-peaked building edged by a thick forest of pine trees. The new logo ties together the ideals of education, the iconic sharp-edged rooftops of WPS’s building, and the enriching location where the school has proudly planted its roots.
A pencil and bookmark, two images that instantly evoke the idea of education, are built into the logo’s icon. At its heart lies a pine tree, grounding the school in its Pacific Northwest roots. Crowning the icon is a silhouette of the school’s three-peaked building. Together, these elements compose a powerful and recognizable school crest that’s simple, yet deeply layered and nuanced. We crafted the best logo design that will help WPS build a powerful brand for years to come.
The new logo had to be adaptable to different sizes and formats as it would be plastered on anything from stadium walls and jumbo screens to lanyards, notebooks, and t-shirts.
FULL
HORIZONTAL
SIMPLIFIED
The culmination of the process was assembling the entire brand identity; a visual language unique to WPS. By curating typography, a color palette, and custom-made patterns, we gave WPS an entire look that give every brand touchpoint the right feeling. A brand book outlined all the strategy work and rules for the visual identity, so their team can produce on-brand content.
For private schools that need branding help, check out our free booklet, Schools & Branding
WPS focuses on grades 5-12, while it’s sister school, Bellevue Children’s Academy, works with K-4. We rebranded both schools at the same time, allowing them to continue to build off the success of one another. A full case study of rebranding BCA can be viewed here.
