We were approached in 2017 by ACS International Schools, a group of schools whose students regularly represent over 100 different nationalities. ACS hadn’t looked in detail at their brand for over a decade and needed to ensure that their brand could continue to compete in the competitive international schools market.
They have concentrated on the International Baccalaureate (IB) qualification for over fifty years, which encourages broader yet deeper study than traditional British ‘A-level’ qualifications. But several independent UK schools now offer similar curriculums and their market is changing – from one built on the ‘expat’ market to one where local and overseas families are equally likely to seek out their schools.
To help them appeal to this changing market, we were keen to show that they prepare a new and broader kind of citizen for the world, wherever in the world, whatever the language. This led to a core idea built around the concept of ‘readiness’.
Ready to ask new questions and demand better answers. Ready to innovate and create. Ready for cultures that crossover, boundaries that blur, and ideas that interconnect. Ready for a world that demands a new kind of learning – and a new kind of citizen.
The new visual identity builds on this narrative by utilising 27 separate symbols that help communicate and connect student experiences and ideas.
The new globe symbol is built from icons of language, music, art, science and sport – demonstrating worldliness and learning and representing the internationalism of their schools.
From its earliest versions, this is a symbol that has been designed to turn, and keep turning. It acts as a strong visual anchor for the three current schools in the London region and one in Doha and has been carefully calibrated to work at large, medium and small sizes.
The new design toolkit takes the new symbol, brand language and typographic style and combines them, in conjunction with a series of newly commissioned photographs by Fernando Manoso.
The scheme is now rolling out across all four schools across digital, print and school environments, including a wide-ranging wayfinding system in their new school in Doha.
Credits
- Brand narrative and design: Johnson Banks
- Additional copy writing: Nick Asbury, Asbury & Asbury
- Consultancy support: Jill Hogan, This is Hogan
- Photography: Fernando Manoso
- Animation: Matt Ingram, Hollow Earth
- Website design: Grandad