CLIENT
St John’s & St Clement’s Primary School
SECTOR
Education
SERVICES
Branding, Environmental Graphics, Photography, Video, Website
WHEN
2020-Present
We were initially asked by STJ+C Primary to help re-imagine their reception foyer area - they wanted something that reflected the unique nature of the school celebrating their love of art and the love of learning.
After successfully delivering this project we were asked to create a promotional tour video for prospective parents.
At this point it was apparent a full brand overhaul was needed, so we set about creating a fresh, new visual identity including photography and a brand new modern website.
STORY
Reception foyer environmental graphics
“For me the key approach was seeing the space for what it is: the gateway to the world, the universe and everything! I wanted every teacher, pupil, parent and visitor to feel immersed in the space and enter the school with a sense of curiosity and excitement - not quite sure what will await them on the other side - schools are magical places where anything can happen.”
Niki Wolfe
CONCEPT
Creating a focal point - an interactive art installation that is designed to evolve over time - space was intentionally for the addition of graphics and messages over time - a sense of journey and story - a modular gallery space to display notices or local art - a living wall - fully immersive - spark a sense of joy each time encountered.
SPEC
Printed birch plywood panels
Push button operated lightbox
Modular hole system for hanging removable frames
Full room and door wrap vinyl graphics
Living plant wall unit
CREDITS
WOLFEGANG
“Our School is a very special place thriving with creativity, working with WOLFEGANG gave us the confidence to truly express our vision and values.
They showed us that a Primary School doesn’t have to fit an expected look. We are so proud of everything they created for us, it feels truly unique and really represents the school’s character - full of life and energy.”
Alli Crank - Headteacher
From GOOD to OUTSTANDING
Since working with STJ+C the school has reached the highest Ofsted rating. The credit for this success is of course down to the faculty, staff and children of STJ+C - and because they identified and valued the importance of investing in design and how powerful it can be.
A primary school of 300+ pupils is a complex operation to say the least. When considering how to approach the branding and the day-to-day materials the teachers need to use it was very obvious it needed to be a simple, solid design system without barriers - but still allow for creative expression and adaptability.
Our starting point was to address the logo - deciding a lighter touch was the best approach. We retained the original shield and cross motif - redefining the elements with a sharper more contemporary look.
The colour palette was a bold decision to go neon - the original scheme was centered around a dark blue and yellow - so we ramped these up to reflect the sense of energy you get from 300+ children.
Fonts can be a difficult area in any branding project - however the restrictions we had where the teachers and other staff were using Google applications meant an obvious decision to look within the Google Fonts library - settling for ‘Montserrat’ for it’s accessibility as well as it’s geometric forms which played into the rest of the design scheme.
The design system is simple, built around a set of geometric shapes referencing their use within the school from the youngest pupils playing with shape sorting blocks, to the oldest pupils using algebra to state angles of a triangle.
We wanted to build the website in-house rather than using one of our developer partners, so we chose SquareSpace for the ease of creative expression and control. We developed a bespoke navigation system with always-on essential information and bold yet simple page templates. We utilized the blog to house the weekly parents newsletters that were historically a laborious task using Word and email.
Website
CREDITS
WOLFEGANG
SquareSpace
“A seriously rewarding body of work - having the opportunity to bring fresh new ideas into an area that often feels forced to pick ‘school supplier services’, using the same templates as all the other schools resulting in bland, indistinguishable creative.”
Niki Wolfe
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