Visual Design & Branding
Giving a local school a completely new look
Our client, CECOS University wanted to create a brand image that highlighted the high-quality, modern education they offer, while keeping cultural values intact. Keeping this in mind, we created a brand identity that was unified by a cohesive element that spoke for the standard of the university.
The brand logo, ideology and mascot was designed and the marketing strategy was executed, which included billboards, standees and stationery. We also collaborated with a fashion designer to create a unique uniform for the students.
Sometimes, all the adulting can remind us of how easy the old days were. Days where our biggest concerns were getting to assembly on time, and getting to be on the same sports team as your best friends. Surely, our school years were some of the best years of our lives.
Some of us hope to give back to those irreplaceable moments somehow, and we at Little Studio are part of that few. We’ve always wanted to work with school systems, and we finally got the chance to. However, you might be wondering how a company that specializes in branding and design can be of assistance to a school.
To put it simply, the uniforms, textbooks, color palettes and numerous other things that we used to loathe back in those days, are a manual for the school’s identity. These ‘manuals’, as we refer to them, help to guide and directly influence the design of existing and future school systems. The branding majorly helps to create identities for the students and teachers alike, which can inadvertently help to create opportunities in terms of academia or physical prowess. It is very common to see that those students who come from elite school systems, hold a sense of pride towards their roots.
Now that we understand the baseline of how we can help, let’s talk about our client and how they found us. Through a reference, CECOS University, based in Peshawar, Pakistan approached us. The intent for their project was very clear. They hoped to provide high-quality, modern education against competitors, while keeping cultural values intact (due to the conservative nature of the city and its people).
Higher education in the Northern regions of Pakistan is limited due to slow building of infrastructure. At CECOS, they not only wanted to fight against that, but also wanted to provide the best possible scenario for the parents who hoped to provide their children with education of a higher standard.
Therefore, our goal was unambiguous. With all the checklists of branding required, our ideology was focused on creating a brand identity that was one cohesive element, where everything revolved around a singular entity that spoke for the standard of the university itself.
Thinking of a singular entity that represents the goal wasn’t a difficult conclusion to reach. A mascot was required for all intents and purposes, so that became our starting point.
Higher education is still one of the major issues of our current social system, where every class does not have equal access to it. In the mind of our client, it was a gift for those who received it, and that is exactly how they wanted it to be represented.
We also discussed the conservative nature of the people and how that was to be kept in high priority at all times. As Islam is the dominant religion in Pakistan, the five Pillars of Islam were chosen to be represented in the mascot itself. We chose the form of a shield, depicting protecting the values, but also to constitute the religious values in a subtle manner, in order to avoid any conflicted controversies.
Finally, we came to the conclusion that education is omnidirectional and has unlimited potential. One can reach starry heights with the education they have received, and we wanted this idea portrayed. We chose to go with a dotted representation of arms and legs, with the annotation of a compass subliminally hidden in the body.
After many iterations and naming rituals for our mascot, we present to you, Dex. Our wily education companion for the students at CECOS University, who not only aids their academic requirements but also addresses their school related problems.
The university wanted us to design most of their visual graphics that were to be printed on billboards and standees. Alongside these, we were also tasked with the design of all notebooks (majorly for English, Urdu and Mathematics), file covers (for both student and teacher alike) and custom report cards for all classes. The only difference amongst them was the addition of colorful illustrations of the vibrant category specifically for the junior classes.
Okay, here is where the project got interesting. As we progressed further into the project, the output of our work pleased the client to the extent where they asked us to design the uniforms for them. At first, we were only to provide a color palette as a whole, but this became an entirely different aspect of the job, which we took on with gusto.
Due to having no prior formal experience in clothing design, we brought on a fashion designer (from Elan) as a collaborative project with us. We created the digital visualization of what we thought would be best suited for the identity that we have created, and she brought it to life with her expertise.
For the boys category, blazers and sweaters were designed. However, for the girls a distinct design line was created for different grade levels. From grade 1 to 4, skirts were designed. For Grades 5 and above, shalwar kameez (the national dress of Pakistan) were introduced for all girls.
It was the girls’ tracksuits that brought on the design obstacle. Due to the nature of the conservative aspect of our brand identity, we had to include a dupatta/scarf feature. We understood that the design needs to be such that it doesn’t cause a hindrance in any sports activity.
Resultantly, we created the collusion of a pleated length of cloth with zipped attachment ends. The cloth can then be zipped from one shoulder to the waist of the opposite one, allowing the arms to stay free, keeping our clients and the students happy.
This project really showed us how school systems work, and how important their design identity is. As a company, we have mostly worked on smaller products that keep us focused on a specific target market. However, when we immersed ourselves into this project, it took us a while to understand how difficult it can be to keep hundreds of perspectives happy and comfortable, knowing that their children are in safe zones during the majority of their days.