Sector
Academic & Education
Location
Essex
Website
littlegarth.essex.sch.uk
Littlegarth School is an independent school for children between the ages of 2 ½ and 11, located in an idyllic setting in the Dedham Valley on the edge of the Essex/Suffolk border. With a strong team of staff and an experienced governing body, Littlegarth has developed a thriving and successful school. The ethos of the school is to ‘inspire a lifelong love of learning in a safe, stimulating, friendly and happy learning environment’. Holding dear to its ethos, the school is building on its strong foundations by investing in facilities to further enhance the educational experience of the children and the overall reputation of the school.
The new headteacher at Littlegarth, Peter Jones, was keen to develop the school’s image and initially approached Mackman with the desire to update the school’s branding which had become tired and outdated. The brand fundamentals needed a refresh without moving too far away from the existing logo and colours which would affect school uniforms.
Brand Facts
- Littlegarth School was founded in 1940 by Miss Barbara Erith and Miss Betty Mallett.
- It is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and provides a stimulating, supportive learning environment.
- The school recently earned a place in the Good Schools Guide.
Project Facts
- Littlegarth School approached Mackman to provide a brand refresh that incorporated existing assets.
- Following the delivery of the new brand, the school extended the project to include website accessibility improvements for mobile devices.
The Client
Encouraging children to achieve their potential
Littlegarth had an existing logo, created by a previous parent, which the staff and pupils had developed an emotional attachment to. Mackman underwent a total deconstruction of the existing brand and reconstruction which enabled all the valued elements to be retained while refining them to an appropriate standard.
Upon the delivery of the new branding, Littlegarth decided to extend the project to include the development of the school’s website, for easier and more accessible viewing on tablets and mobile devices.
The Challenge
A new design of signage for the school grounds was a particularly important aspect of the project as the existing signage was very old fashioned in appearance and was not making the right first impression of the school.
The Results
The colour palette was updated to become more sophisticated without requiring the wholesale change of uniforms. With the refreshed brand in place, we then addressed its addition to the school’s signage, stationery and literature. The website was also developed with the new branding and now reflects the key messages for different web audience groups, placing emphasis on the beautiful location of the school.
We approached Mackman with initial intentions of updating our school logo. However, it was clear they had the capabilities to take this a lot further with a more extensive re-brand. As a result we decided to have our website and signage developed by them as well. We were confident they could capture and communicate, through the re-brand, the innovative and forward thinking values we uphold at Littlegarth.
Peter Jones, Headmaster – Littlegarth School
It was a really exciting challenge to work with a school with such an established and outstanding reputation. Littlegarth has a unique history that we needed to retain whilst adding and complimenting to it with a modern twist as we looked to evolve their brand.
Paul Mackman, Client Lead