Swalcliffe Park School
Forward thinking leaders in autistic education
- Charities & Education
- Brand Identity
- Brand Strategy
- Signage & Wayfinding
Background
Swalcliffe Park School is a specialist school for boys aged 11 – 19 with autism. The school has a strong ethos with an emphasis on quality of life and helping students reach their full potential. Forward thinking and highly collaborative, the school places equal emphasis on the future of its pupils and the support of their families.
Brief
A new identity emblematic of the school’s approach, which would help raise its visibility within the sector as a centre of excellence, drive its ambitious development plans for fundraising and research, and attract the best possible staff in a competitive recruitment market, sympathetic to the school’s aims and methods.
Solution
A strong strategic approach puts the school’s ethos at the heart of the brand emphasising ‘quality of life’ as represented by the 4 tenets of the school; communication, independence, self-management and achievement. A strong monogram mark is made up of four segments in a symbiotic combination which references speech and interaction. A comprehensive website showcases the school’s culture and achievements and provides a valuable resource hub for parents and carers, as well as those considering applying to the school. The identity becomes an organising principle, from environmental wayfinding outside the school and within the classrooms, to research reports produced by staff. Given their particular needs, a high level of consultation with the students was integral to our process and necessary to reassure and prepare them for change. Swalcliffe’s students like and respond to clarity and literalism, which ruled out anything too abstract or needing interpretation. Our identity gave the students a sense of pride and belonging, with a badge they were proud to wear.
