Brand Development & Re-brand – The Chafford School

The Chafford School is a specialist Business and Enterprise college based in Rainham, Essex. While the school held an Ofsted rating of good and good exam results, the fabric of the school did not reflect the school’s success. Its existing branding was inconsistently applied and the strong use of the logo colours, red and black, throughout the school could have been perceived as institutionalised. The Chafford School logo had also not been fully evolved for many years.

Mackman was approached by the headteacher at Chafford School through a connection with Stanley Bragg architects, who recommended Mackman for the work. The school was looking to explore a re-brand and the creation of a ‘Chafford look and feel’ throughout their premises. The staff felt that the most important part of the project was to re-brand and revamp the main school entrance and the ‘dingy B block corridor’, including redecorating and applying the new brand.

The Client

Delivering a specialist education in business

As part of the process to enable us to deliver a successful re-brand, we needed to have a real understanding of the views of the school’s key stakeholders. We used targeted qualitative and quantitative research to get valuable insight into the views of all relevant stakeholders – parents of pupils, pupils, staff and governors.

The stakeholder research then fed into the creation of an overall visual and tone of voice for the school, developing its character and identity so that it accurately reflects the direction and values of the school. The new brand is sensitive to heritage colour requirements, and will include a phased approach to rolling out the refreshed brand across the school. As part of the process, Mackman also worked closely with the architects Stanley Bragg on the interior design concepts, directing the use of colour and surface design to ensure the architectural and branding image are all aligned.