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Elementary School Branding


charger77

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18 minutes ago, charger77 said:

 

Also as a point of clarification...

 

I wasn't surprised that they have a graphics package, I was just surprised that they intentionally presented it on their website. 

Just a guess, but a school like that might have a lot of parent-led fundraising run semi-independently from the school administration. Probably a way to keep everyone on the same page.

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On 1/23/2017 at 9:14 AM, BrandMooreArt said:

could be a great topic for @GFB

 

They do call me the "elementary school Joe Bosack." :D

 

On 1/20/2017 at 1:11 PM, charger77 said:

I attended St.Lawrence Elementary in Utica Michigan for 1st -6th grade. For the sake of nostalgia I took a look at their web site and found a page about their logos and branding. I have never seen anything like this before on a school site. 

Has anybody here seen anything like this?

 

St.Lawrence Elementary

 

Over the last few years, I've designed logos and mascots for 100+ schools, most of whom are elementary or middle schools. 

 

I've found that most schools and districts are now putting effort into branding because of a new focus on web presence and social media. Quite often, the projects my studio gets are directly tied to website redesigns. Also, districts are now pushing their schools to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep parents informed, show off the latest developments and community projects, and, sometimes, to rehab the school's image or perception in the community.  So if you're going to invest significant resources into your online presence, then carrying over a clip-art logo from the 1970s that looks like every other tiger/lion/bulldog runs counter-productive to that ideal.

 

There's also something to be said for school pride and unity, excitement among the students (especially when they get to be involved in creating the design), and being able to own your logo and control who prints, profits, and uses it. 

 

As for displaying the new brand on the website like a feature, why wouldn't you if you invested into it? That's what colleges and universities do, and it gives the appearance that you are taking that same professional appearance of higher learning and applying it to 1st-6th graders. It doesn't do any harm and it probably helps your image in the eyes of the parents of potential students. Also, it helps make everything very easy to use consistantly should you partner with other businesses or institutions in the area, because everything they need is right there on the website.

 

**WARNING // SELF PROMOTION IMMINENT**

If you want to see more of my elementary school brand work, you can follow the links or flip through the assorted photos below.

http://studio1344.com/portfolio/ccsd59/

https://www.behance.net/gallery/47003683/CCSD21-Mascots

 

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On 1/22/2017 at 11:06 AM, greyraven8 said:

Went to Westmount Junior High (Grade 7&8) back in the early 80's and teams were known as the Warriors.

Couple years after I was gone it became a JK-8 school.  Teams they have now are known as the Wolves.

Current logo and old pic of me wearing a school shirt.

 

 

Westmount_Panorama.jpg

 

Hey, I designed this logo too. Cool to know it has ties to the board.

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GFB is designing logos for grade schools that are like two or three miles from where I went to grade school. Egads. District 23 will eat your District 59 for lunch, buddy.

 

logoas.png

This logo is so clean, so effective, great line work, not muddled, really pops, screams Northwest Suburbs

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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6 hours ago, BrandMooreArt said:

@GFB have you (or your client schools) had parents complain about spending money on a new identity? if so, how was that addressed? (what you laid out above was great, but not sure if it would differ in this situation)

 

Not to me, personally.

 

But I'm sure there have been complaints, as there always are when any publicly-funded municipality spends money on a "non-essential" item like a new brand or website (for example, read the comments on this article, if you want a have a good cry/laugh). However, the people who are going through the school/district's budget and picking apart where funds are going or simply see a number in an article, they are probably going to complain about something regardless of where the money is spent, whether it be on new ceiling fans or replacing computers or buying new pots and pans for the cafeteria. 

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that if a project goes over a certain price point, it has to be put out to bid. So if there was real pushback, the schools could always reveal the bids they received back and disclaim that they went with the cheapest bid or the best quality at cost bid.  

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Hmmmm... time for me to look at this through my "old man glasses" and ramble on a bit, as old men sometimes do:

 

Back in my day,  we didn't hardly have any of this here (public) elementary school mascot branding, custom or otherwise-- or school colors, for that matter.  Mainly because there wasn't any public inter-school athletic teams that played each other, so I guess they didn't see a need.  The only one that did have such a thing was Jeff Davis Elementary in Biloxi, which I only attended for a few months right after my parents' divorce.  And let me tell you, I INSISTED that my mom and grandma let me get a "Jeff Davis Roadrunners" ringer T-shirt.  As a 7 year old in 1972, I really thought it was cool that the school had a nickname and a cartoon mascot, which you could WEAR and REPRESENT.

 

By the mid-late 70s, after I moved up to middle / jr. high school (it changed from the first  to the second while I was there),  the public elementary schools in the New Orleans suburbs had all pretty much adopted nicknames and colors-- my "elementary alma mater"  Riviere adopted the name "Seagulls" at the time my sister (4 years younger) was there.  I remember being pretty ticked off that it didn't occur while I was there, and I was also pissed that I  missed out on the cool yellow T-shirt with sky blue and white silkscreened logo with "Riviere Seagulls" on it that my sister got.

 

But by this time I was in middle school, which of course had nicknames and colors, because we had inter-school athletics, pep rallies, cheerleaders, band, etc. just like high school.  But of course they were generally all stock names and logos that you might see in many other schools (Yellowjackets, Braves, Wolves, Red Raiders, etc.)  --and no one used NFL or college logos like they do today, either.

 

But it has been and remains a little different for the catholic/private schools in the New Orleans area.  They follow a different route. Whereas the public schools are divided into 3 phases-- elementary, middle or jr. high, and high school-- the Catholic schools were divided into 2 phases-- grammar (K through 7th or 8th) and high school (8th or 9th -12th). It should be noted that grammar schools are attached to parish churches.  They did and continue to have inter-school athletics (and dance/ cheer teams) for the 5th grades and up, so they have ALWAYS (or as far back as older people I know can remember) had mascots and colors, which weren't just for the older kids in athletics, but were also for the younger kids in terms of pennants, t-shirts, etc.  A mascot identifier for even the littlest tykes.

It is what it is.

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