Branding for Schools Archives

Project spotlight: Nexus School wayfinding signage

At Cleverbox, we spend a lot of time thinking about first impressions. For schools, that experience often begins well before anyone steps through the front door. From the moment parents, staff and visitors arrive on site, the layout, signage and general sense of arrival all help shape how welcoming and easy to navigate a school feels.

This recent project with Nexus School is a great example of how clear, well-considered signage can make a real difference. Delivered alongside a new website project that is due to launch soon, the brief focused on refreshing and updating the school’s signage so it better reflected the Nexus School brand, values and the way the site is used day to day.

About Nexus School’s environment

As Nexus School has grown and evolved, its physical site has changed too. Updates to the car park and surrounding external spaces meant that much of the existing signage was no longer doing its job properly. Directions were unclear, some signs pointed to places that no longer existed, and others simply weren’t in the right location. For parents and staff navigating the site every day, this created unnecessary confusion at what can already be a busy and sometimes pressured point in the day. It was clear that the signage needed a rethink.

The brief was straightforward. Nexus School wanted signage that was clear, easy to understand and genuinely helpful, while also feeling warm, welcoming and true to the school’s identity and values. At the same time, the school was working with us on a new website, so It was important that the physical environment kept pace with this work and reflected a more modern, joined-up interpretation of the Nexus School brand.

Alongside the design, the project was completed by our experienced installers, who worked with the school premises team to ensure a seamless finish on-site.

Our approach

As with all signage projects, we started by listening. We worked closely with the Nexus School team to understand how people move around the site, where questions tend to arise and which areas are under the most pressure during drop-off and collection times. This gave us a clear picture of where signage would have the greatest impact and how it needed to work in practice. Alongside this, we reviewed the school’s brand, colour palette and typography to ensure the new signage would feel like a natural extension of Nexus School, rather than something bolted on. Our focus throughout was simple: get the basics right first, then bring the school’s personality through.

A bold new front of school signage

One of the most noticeable outcomes of the project is the new signage to the front of the school. The main wall offered a real opportunity to create a strong sense of arrival. We introduced bold lettering and confident branding that clearly marks the entrance and immediately lets visitors know they are in the right place. This works in a number of ways. It helps visitors orient themselves, reinforces the school’s identity and sets a positive tone from the outset. The scale and clarity of the lettering make it easy to read from a distance, while the overall design feels modern, calm and welcoming.

Navigating a busy entranceway can be a headache, so our main goal here was blending clear functionality with the warmth of the school’s brand. We mapped out a new signage plan for the main car park to keep traffic flowing and then tied it all together with some bold branding at the main entrance. It’s amazing how much a fresh look can change the whole energy of the school entrance before you even walk through the doors.” – Dan Meeks, Account Manager

Celebrating school values through colour

One of my favourite elements of this project is how the school’s values have been brought to life across the front of the building. Rather than keeping values tucked away indoors, Nexus School wanted them to be visible, celebrated and part of the everyday environment. We worked with a vibrant colour palette to introduce warmth and energy, while still staying true to the wider brand.

We are really pleased with how the new signage has turned out and appreciate the care and thought that went into the design. The new signs at Nexus School captures not just our identity, but our values. The collaborative design process ensured that every element had meaning, and the finished result has enhanced both the visual environment and the sense of pride within our school community. It has already had a positive impact in helping pupils, families and visitors feel welcomed and oriented within our space.
Scott Jarred – Headteacher, Nexus School

Seeing the values displayed so clearly creates a strong sense of identity and purpose. They act as a daily reminder for pupils, staff and visitors alike, and help the building feel more human, expressive and connected to the school’s ethos.

Creating a coherent and consistent brand

Running the signage project alongside a new website build allowed us to think about the Nexus School experience as a whole. Parents might first encounter the school online before ever visiting in person, or they may already know the site well before exploring the website. Either way, consistency matters. When the visual language, tone and values feel aligned across physical and digital spaces, it builds confidence and trust.

The updated signage reflects the same modern, confident direction as the forthcoming website. Careful attention has been paid to typography, colour and overall feel, so that arriving on site feels like a natural continuation of the digital journey. When the new website launches, Nexus School will have a clear and cohesive brand presence both online and on site.

This project is a great example of how signage can be both practical and expressive. By addressing immediate wayfinding challenges and taking the opportunity to modernise the school’s visual identity, Nexus School now has an external environment that better supports its community and reflects what the school stands for.

If you would like to find out more about our signage work for schools or talk through a project of your own, please get in touch with the Cleverbox team.

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23 February 2026

Is your marketing actually driving sixth form admissions?

Marketing plays a bigger role in sixth form admissions than it did even a few years ago. Students have more choices, and decisions are increasingly shaped by how clearly a college presents itself as a place to study.

Most sixth forms are already doing marketing; the real question is whether that work is helping students move from interest to application.

In our experience, admissions challenges most often come down to clarity. Students want to understand quickly what a sixth form offers, what makes it different, and where it can take them next. If that story is inconsistent or buried, confidence drops and applications stall.

From activity to clarity

We often see colleges working hard across lots of channels, but without a clear admissions perspective running through everything. Effective marketing is about making it easier for students to understand their options and feel confident in choosing you.

That means focusing on what genuinely matters to students:

clear course information
visible pathways beyond sixth form
a sense of culture
reassurance that they will be supported to succeed.

For most students, your website is the centre of their decision-making. It’s where first impressions are formed, and comparisons are made.

Increasingly, students are also discovering sixth forms through AI-driven search and summaries. That makes clarity even more important. Clear structure, plain language, and accurate content ensure the right message is coming through wherever students are searching.

Woodhouse College website tablet graphic

Marketing that supports decisions, not just awareness

The strongest admissions-led marketing makes the next step obvious. Whether that’s attending an open event, requesting information, or applying, students should be guided naturally and confidently through the journey.

When we work with sixth form colleges, our role is often to step in early, take a fresh look at what’s already in place, and help bring focus to the areas that will have the biggest impact on admissions. That work might involve a new website or a clearer prospectus, but the common thread is always the same – supporting applications, not just producing marketing materials.

We’ve seen this approach lead to stronger engagement, clearer decision-making, and increased student numbers across a range of sixth form projects.

A conversation, not a sales pitch

We’re currently meeting with sixth form colleges to talk through their admissions challenges and look honestly at how well their marketing is supporting recruitment. These conversations help us to understand what’s working and whether some focused support could make a difference ahead of future admissions windows.

If you’d find it helpful to step back and look at your marketing through an admissions lens, we’d be very happy to come in and have that conversation.

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12 February 2026

Together We Shine: Promoting unity and belonging at The John Wallis Academy

John Wallis Academy signage graphic for Together We Shine campaign

Some projects are particularly rewarding, simply because of what they stand for.

The Together We Shine campaign for John Wallis Church of England Academy is a great example of creative work that resonates beyond the immediate brief. It was about investing time and energy into a message that was incredibly positive, promoting a sense of belonging and shared values at a time when those ideas can feel increasingly divisive. For projects like this, judgment and experience really matter. It is important to know how to shape a message that is clear and confident without tipping into something deliberately provocative.

I have worked with the team at John Wallis for over eight years, and that long-standing relationship brings a level of trust and openness that was essential here. The campaign required careful thought, honest conversations and a shared understanding of what felt right for the school and its community.

Schools as trusted hubs within their communities

Every school plays a central role in the lives of the people they serve; they are places of learning, care and reassurance for children and families. Increasingly, schools are being challenged to articulate what they stand for beyond the classroom, and to do so in ways that feel authentic.

With pupils from over 80 nationalities and more than 50 languages spoken, John Wallis wanted to promote a clear sense of unity. The campaign was a deliberate counterbalance to the division currently felt both locally and nationally – a way of standing up, being counted and making a strong statement about togetherness.

A collaborative approach

The campaign was shaped through close collaboration with the school, with ongoing conversations around visual impact, tone and intent. Our role was as much to act as a consultant and sounding board as it was to deliver the creative work, helping test ideas and ensure the messaging felt properly aligned to the school’s values.

This approach is especially important on projects that carry such social significance. Schools should have the space to explore ideas, challenge assumptions and to feel supported in the decisions they are making.

From an idea, to visibility

Just as important as the message itself was how it would appear beyond the school gates.

Together with the John Wallis team, we explored how the campaign could be introduced into the everyday spaces already familiar to families. From internal signage and brochures to external displays such as supermarket digital screens, wristbands, train station posters and local newspaper campaigns. We wanted the message to be encountered naturally, in places people already pass through, rather than feeling overly imposed.

John Wallis Academy SocialMedia panels for Together We Shine campaign

Considered decisions

What made this campaign particularly rewarding was its conviction and its clarity. It made a confident statement about values, belonging and community and trusted that message to speak for itself. In this case, restraint helped the message land with confidence.

For schools, projects of this nature require careful decision-making; they require leaders to balance visibility with sensitivity, and having the right experience and creative skill around the table helps validate those decisions.

This project reflects the way we work at Cleverbox, supporting schools with campaigns that are thoughtful, well-judged and designed to land with intent.

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4 February 2026

Is it time to refresh your MAT or school identity for 2026?

As schools and multi-academy trusts begin planning for the year ahead, many find themselves reflecting on how well their identity still represents who they are today; not just visually, but in how they best communicate with parents, students, staff and their wider community.

An organisation’s identity is never static. As schools and trusts grow, evolve, merge or change direction, the demands placed on their branding naturally increase. What may once have been a logo and colour palette now needs to work across websites, prospectuses, signage, photography, video and day-to-day communications, often for multiple audiences, and sometimes across several schools.

The added complexity of trust-wide identity

For MATs in particular, this challenge is amplified. Balancing a strong overarching trust identity with the individuality of each school is complex, especially when systems and assets have been developed at different points in time, by different suppliers, and in response to changing priorities.

We regularly see schools and trusts working with several partners across branding, digital, photography, video and signage. Each decision makes sense in isolation, but over time this can lead to inconsistencies, duplicated effort and a sense that the whole no longer quite adds up, even if the individual components are well executed.

Refreshing identity without starting from scratch

A successful identity refresh is rarely about changing everything. More often, it’s about making sure the fundamentals are sound and that what’s being communicated externally matches the reality on the ground.

In practice, identity work in schools and trusts rarely happens all at once. It evolves over time, shaped by a series of early decisions that often influence everything that follows. Getting those decisions right at the outset can make a significant difference to how manageable, consistent and cost-effective that journey becomes.

Why a joined-up approach matters

When identity is considered holistically, schools and trusts are able to make more informed decisions about how they present themselves. Branding, digital and content choices begin to reinforce one another rather than compete, creating a clearer and more confident story across every touchpoint from a first visit to the website through to a walk around a school site.

This joined-up approach also makes future activity easier to manage. New initiatives, campaigns or school launches can sit comfortably within a coherent framework, rather than requiring repeated reinvention. Over time, this tends to deliver better value, greater consistency and a stronger sense of purpose.

Looking ahead to 2026

Over the past two decades, we’ve worked alongside a wide range of schools and multi-academy trusts, including some of the most established and recognisable MAT brands in the UK, supporting everything from identity development through to trust-wide brand evolution. That experience has given us a clear view of what tends to work well, where challenges commonly emerge, and how identities need to flex as organisations grow.

With planning cycles for 2026 already underway, now is a sensible moment for schools and trusts to take stock. Not to change for the sake of it, but to consider whether their identity is still supporting their ambitions, reflecting their values and working as hard as it needs to in an increasingly competitive and visual landscape.

Approached thoughtfully, an identity refresh can bring clarity, confidence and a stronger foundation for what comes next, allowing schools and trusts to move forward with greater consistency and intent.

For schools and MATs who are questioning whether their identity is still fit for purpose, an initial conversation with one of our consultants can provide a clear, experience-led perspective, helping to identify where alignment is working well and where it may be starting to unravel.

Please click the link below to arrange a time to speak with one of our MAT brand experts.

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7 January 2026

Breathing new life into The John Wallis Academy brand

At Cleverbox, we have enjoyed working with The John Wallis Academy for many years. So, when the team approached us about updating their brand, it felt like a natural continuation of our partnership. Their current identity, now five years old, had served them well, but the school had changed. They wanted their brand to reflect that growth.

Additionally, the Academy had recently updated its school values. These new statements were not just words on a page. They represented the ethos that the school wanted every student, parent, and visitor to recognise. The team was clear that these values needed to be visible, memorable, and part of everyday experiences both on-site and online.

Instead of using traditional static posters or wall displays, we explored how animation could create a stronger, more engaging impact.

Animated content allows messages to unfold gradually, guiding viewers through each value and giving each statement space to resonate. It also offers flexibility. The same content can appear on reception screens, on the website, or across social channels, ensuring consistency without repetition. Most importantly, animation brings an immediate sense of energy and modernity, representing the Academy’s ambition in a way that flat designs cannot.

Why school values deserve more visibility

Every school talks about values, but not every school brings them to life in a meaningful way. During our conversations with The John Wallis Academy, it was clear that the leadership team viewed their values as the foundation of the student experience. They wanted the values to guide behaviour, inform expectations, and create a shared sense of purpose throughout the community.

When values are visible and communicated clearly, they influence how students interact, how staff approach their work, and how families understand the school’s culture. They become daily reminders of what the community stands for and the direction it is heading. Static displays can send the message, but they do not always capture its ambition.

Animation changes that completely. Movement invites curiosity. It encourages viewers to stop, look, and absorb. It gives each value a sense of progression, making the message feel active rather than fixed. For a school like The John Wallis Academy, where the updated values are part of their new strategic plan, animation provides a way to reaffirm what they believe in with clarity and confidence.

By presenting each value through a well-designed animated sequence, the Academy can ensure that students and visitors not only see the message but also feel its intention. This reinforces the idea that values should be lived rather than just displayed, creating a consistent thread throughout the building, the website, and every conversation about the school’s direction in the coming years.

Creating bold, colourful designs

As we began developing concepts, it became clear that colour needed to play a central role. The Academy’s previous visuals heavily relied on red and white, which often made displays feel muted and lacking character. With the Headteacher’s vision for a more vibrant and impactful identity aligned with their new 2025 to 2030 strategic plan, we had the chance to reimagine how the school’s values could be expressed.

We introduced a bold, colourful palette designed to brighten the Academy’s spaces. It reflects the diversity, ambition, and optimism at the core of their ethos. This shift brought an immediate sense of energy, giving the values a modern presence that would stand out both on screen and throughout the building.

Animation in action

To show how these ideas came to life, we have included some of the final animations in this blog. Each one communicates a single value clearly, with movement and personality. This fresh and engaging approach helps visitors and the wider school community connect with what The John Wallis Academy represents.

A simple, collaborative creative process

Creating the animations for The John Wallis Academy was a team effort. Our designers, illustrators, and motion specialists worked closely together to understand what the school wanted. Once we realised they were looking for something more lively and engaging, we explored ideas that would bring the values to life without overshadowing the message.

We expanded the Academy’s colour palette to include richer and more expressive tones. These were chosen to convey optimism, energy, and growth. Each animation was designed to follow a smooth rhythm, giving viewers time to absorb the message while enjoying the visual flow. We carefully selected shapes, icons, and patterns so that every detail supported the wider brand without being distracting.

Throughout the process, we collaborated closely with senior staff to ensure the style felt authentic and aligned with the school’s identity. This approach produced animations that feel modern and dynamic while remaining practical for everyday use across reception screens, digital platforms, and smaller displays around the building.

“Our goal was to bring The John Wallis Academy’s ‘LIGHT’ values to life in a way that felt vibrant and engaging. By combining bold colours, modern shapes and clear typography, we created animations that are memorable, visually striking and reinforce the school’s vision across every screen.”

Darren Pinner, Creative Director at Cleverbox

Encouraging other schools to explore animation

Animations are becoming an increasingly valuable tool for schools that want to communicate clearly and effectively. They engage audiences with key messages in a way that feels modern, memorable, and accessible. If your school is considering how to bring your values, vision, or strategic priorities to life, animation can offer real advantages, such as:

Stronger engagement, as movement naturally captures attention and holds interest
Better clarity through guided storytelling that helps viewers understand and absorb information
Consistent messaging across reception screens, websites, and social channels
A modern look that reflects an ambitious and forward-thinking school

At Cleverbox, we specialize in creating custom marketing content that is not only visually striking but also deeply connected to your school’s identity. If you want to refresh your brand, develop a new campaign, or explore the potential of animation, we would be glad to help you create work that truly makes an impact.

Start bringing your school values to life

Refreshing your school brand or exploring animation is not just about visuals. It is about creating experiences that communicate who you are and what you stand for. At Cleverbox, we work closely with schools to develop tailored marketing solutions that reflect their identity, engage their community, and leave a lasting impression.

If you are considering a brand refresh, looking for new ways to showcase your values, or wanting to bring your school’s personality to life through animation, we would be happy to help. Every project is tailored to your school, ensuring that the work is practical, visually striking, and fully aligned with your ethos.

For more information, or to start a conversation about how Cleverbox can support your school, get in touch today. Email us at team@cleverbox.co.uk or call 0208 466 7222.

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27 November 2025

John Wallis Academy: Staff recruitment campaign 2025

Often, a school will assume that a ‘rebranding’ project has to be a step towards a long term goal – something that they need to invest in now to see future results in 12-18 months’ time. However, that is not always the case and the recent design and school marketing projects we have delivered to long-standing client The John Wallis Academy is a great example of how we can achieve instant impact within a few weeks of a brand relaunch.

The Context

The previous JWA brand was created by Cleverbox around five years ago and had served the school well as a strong foundation on which to build local recognition as a successful environment in which to teach and to learn. Within those five years the school had continued to attain a fantastic reputation for achievement, value added, as well as strong leadership and direction. The time to build the brand forwards and showcase its ambitions was perfect.

Initial conversations began in March 2025 and although we had agreed a long-term brand strategy to unveil in the September (more on that in a later post!) there was also a more pressing requirement. As with the whole education sector at present the need to appeal to and recruit the best staff is a key element of any schools success. Our consultancy sessions with the school underlined all that they had to offer staff, and the challenge now was for us communicate this with confidence to the right audience.

The Solution

Working closely with the academy leadership team we knew that September 2025 called for some confident marketing. Without being brash, we needed to re-emphasise the key messages and strategic intent of the school as well as injecting energy and momentum into the aesthetic. With that end goal agreed our team at Cleverbox were able to work backwards, creating a mini ten-week school recruitment campaign which not only advertised the school to potential staff, but teased the new brand and showed a school not prepared to sit back and rest on its current successes.

Sometimes the most impactful school marketing just requires a little outside-of-the-box thinking. By focusing this campaign on a short term goal whilst also having an awareness of the long term plans of the academy we were able to tailor our ideas to not only attract attention within a key recruitment window – but also begin to launch a re-energised brand that will take the school forward into the next five years.

– Daniel Clackett, Cleverbox MD

We challenged the school to distill its many ‘selling points’ into headline statements; we wanted the messaging to be powerful and memorable and, most importantly, we wanted them to fit on the side of a bus!

Gaining exposure throughout the local community was key to this school marketing campaign. We decided to elevate the messaging by advertising on key bus routes, both ‘SuperSides’ and rears of buses and around appropriate local bus stops. This was tied in with a short term social media campaign and a recruitment brochure targeted specifically for the audience we were looking to attract. The goal was to ensure the John Wallis brand was recognisable and tied directly to the specific campaign messaging.

The outcome was a real success, the campaign drove significant traffic to the ‘Careers’ section of the academy website with over 380 new users accessing the web address tied to this campaign in its initial week of launch. Website traffic to the overall site increased substantially too, with the recruitment content accounting for 10% of all user traffic throughout March and April and catapulting the Careers section of the site into the top three most visited pages.

Most importantly, all vacant positions were filled.

We are pleased to share that our recent recruitment campaign in partnership with Cleverbox was a resounding success.

This initiative marked a fresh and innovative approach for both our Academy and the wider local area, introducing a new style of advertising that strategically targeted locations with high footfall and potential candidates – whilst promoting the Academy as a whole to local areas in a high vision style. People do not expect you to be on the side of buses!

Sarah Williams, Academy Marketing Manager

If you would like to start a conversation around how expert school marketing and creative ideas can support your school or MAT ambitions, then please feel free to get in touch and arrange an initial video call.

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19 September 2025

Project spotlight: Royal Russell School signage

We recently had the pleasure of completing a large-scale signage project for Royal Russell School, an independent day and boarding school in Surrey, designing and installing a series of premium monolith directional signs across the school. The brief was to create signage that not only offered clear wayfinding but also carried a sense of quality and prestige, in keeping with the school’s reputation.

To ensure the project was aligned with the school’s vision, our signage specialist, Dan Meeks, attended the site on several occasions, meeting with both the projects and marketing teams. These collaborative sessions helped refine the design so that the signage not only delivered on functionality but also respected the Royal Russell brand, blending seamlessly into the school environment without feeling out of place.

Clear signage is vital for schools like Royal Russell, particularly for parents and visitors who may be navigating the extensive school site for the first time. These monoliths provide reassurance, making it easy to find their way around with confidence. Seeing how well the signage has been received by staff, parents, and leadership has been hugely rewarding.”
– Dan Meeks, Account Manager & Signage Specialist

Our design team developed an approach that prioritised visibility, readability, and a clean prestigious look. Each boarding house is now clearly signposted and key entrance points provide clear directions for visitors, deliveries and lettings. Alongside the design, the project was completed by our experienced installers, who worked with the school premises team to ensure a seamless finish on-site.

We are extremely delighted with the outcome, from design to install. Please pass on our thanks to fitters Steve and Paul. They were an incredible install team, taking the time and care to help with every small detail of the job”.
-Danny O’Rourke, Project Officer at Royal Russell School

As we worked through the design process with the internal team at Royal Russell, we shared visual mock-ups of the signs and gathered their feedback along the way, before settling on the final wording and colours. The school wanted to step away a little from the burgundy shades of their current branding, leaning more into a fresher, modern navy palette with light grey accents that felt more fresh and welcoming.

The impact of the school signage transformation has been significant for the school, as Danny further explains:

A massive thanks to Dan at Cleverbox for his diligent and thorough work to support us in achieving the best outcome for our project. The Headmaster, Director of Operations & Finance, and all staff have all commented on the fantastic, clean, and professional signs now on site”.

Looking Ahead

This project marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration with Royal Russell. With Phase 2 already on the horizon, we’re looking forward to continuing to support the school with signage solutions at their site. Danny adds:

We can’t wait to begin Phase 2 of this ongoing partnership.”

This Royal Russell signage project highlights how carefully considered signage can make a real impact on a school environment. By combining strong design with practical wayfinding, the new monoliths not only improve navigation but also enhance the overall look of the school site for parents, visitors, as well as the staff and students.

Are you looking to transform your school site with signage that tells your story? Contact Cleverbox to book a free on site consultation and find out how we can help.

11 September 2025

We’ve had a rebrand – and here’s why you should too

An image graphic of the new rebranded Cleverbox website on an IMac

After over 20 years of helping more than 1,000 schools and hundreds of Multi-Academy Trusts rebrand themselves, Cleverbox took on their most challenging branding project yet – themselves.

Founder, Rob Kemp reflects on their recent role reversal: “A rebranding agency rebranding themselves! What a nightmare. We’re the world’s biggest critics. And doubly so on ourselves. But we also knew that we were the only people right for the job.”

Company directors, Dan Clackett, Karen Pryor and Rob Kemp, discuss the difficulties and the delights of the last few months. Rebrand done, they’ve emerged refreshed, focused and eager to share insight into how to deliver an outstanding rebrand.

1. Don’t put it off

When you’re so busy dealing with everyday needs, it’s easy to overlook long-term goals, like a rebranding project. Especially if your trust or school is already successful and has no immediate need for change. Dan explains,

“I think the biggest challenge about rebranding is just having the time amongst everything else. To stop and think properly and then to rebrand. Which is why we lead on this for our clients and help ensure they don’t need to deliberate over things. Because as the experts we are the ones setting the pace of the project and we’re there to take the lead.”

Rob adds to why Cleverbox took slightly longer to reveal their new look: “We took the opportunity to rebrand our studio over the covid period. So, when our staff came back there was a new vibrant fresh feel running through the fabric of the studio reflecting our core values and new brand. I wanted something to reinvigorate the company when we returned after a really awful time. When our staff walked in, there was an instant positiveness which was amazing to see. But we didn’t roll it out publically at the time, it wouldn’t have been right.”

2. Don’t sit still

It’s difficult for successful organisations to have the self-awareness that what they’ve done is great, but what they need to do in the future might be different.

Dan is passionate about this point: “Don’t sit on legacy. There’s a danger in that. If you just rely on your name and what you’ve done in the past, other people will catch you up. There’s going to be more change in the next five years in how schools talk to parents and their wider communities than there has been in the last 25 years, and we need to be mindful of that. We need to make sure that our clients can rely on us to be ahead of the game. And this rebrand has reshaped us for that future. It’s an evolution. We’ve built a really strong foundation over the last 20 years and now we’re building on top of that with a focus on the next 20 to come.”

A photograph of an employee working at their desk.

An image of a dog in the cleverbox office

An image of two cleverbox employees having a conversation in the reception area

3. Be inclusive

For a rebrand to be successful, it should develop with everyone, not just senior leaders. For Karen, this was key:

“We’ve got a growing team. We were taking on new people and new products and we wanted to include them. Creating the website and marketing material’s new look, we involved everyone in our team, old and new, so that they now all have ownership and can feel involved in the successes that we have and the direction we are going in. It’s something that has developed with everyone and that’s really important. All our staff are engaged and refreshed.”

4. Have purpose behind your school rebrand

Whatever the reason is to rebrand, you have to do it with purpose. There’s so much more to rebranding than just having a nice new logo.

Rob recalls: “When we started, we started with ‘why?’. We’re a successful company that has rebranded not because we’re failing, but because we want it to better represent what we offer and who we are. We needed a new brand to capture the new roles and unique services. We wanted to show how we are so much more than other design agencies.”

Karen agrees: “Don’t just change for change’s sake. It’s about getting everyone on the team engaged in how you are putting yourself forward. You want everyone to realise they are part of a company that is presenting itself in a professional, modern, updated way. Moving forward we want to attract new talent. We want new people and clients that align with our core values. So, we need to know who we are. Our rebrand has given us that self-discovery and has pushed us forward in being true to what we are and who our team is.”

An image of a Cleverbox employee in front of a wall graphic highlighting our values

5. Start with your vision and values

When we discuss branding, we’re not just talking about logos, fonts and colours. We talk about the whole philosophy. Your mindset, vision and the values you stand for that implements the brand. Rob explains:

“We went through a rigorous few months of work to get our values and visions spot on. Our senior team and directors were involved in this whole process. Together we worked out what was most important to us and what we stand for. It is actually a really difficult thing to do. But it got us all focused. It got us all aligned. It gave us clarity. We want to attract other people that are aligned with our values. So now when we meet new potential staff or clients, we use our values as a qualifying tool – do we both align?”

An image of the rebranded office with some employees in the meeting room

6. Challenge. Challenge. Challenge

It’s what we do to our clients. And during our rebrand we did the same to ourselves. Dan explains:

“We always ask ‘where’s the uniqueness’? What’s the difference between what you do as a school or Multi-Academy Trust which differs from others? Until you have that conversation it’s very difficult to come up with a proposition that truly reflects your brand.”

“You have to be honest, and we make a point of being open if we don’t think something is quite right. Because we hear the narratives from so many different trusts throughout the year, we know instantly if clients are just repeating the same info as all the others. We’ll then work with them to find that uniqueness that helps them to stand out.”

Karen adds: “Our new strapline representing us is, ‘Distinctively creative’. It’s part of our values and why we do what we do. We really do make our clients stand out and this is what sets us apart from other agencies. Our creativity and passion are what makes us.”

7. Rebranding has made us stronger

Because we’ve just been through the rebranding process, we understand its value. We know the pitfalls and we know the success that comes out of it if you do it right.

Karen explains: “It has reinforced what we do. Having gone through the process recently it strengthens our faith in the tools and processes we undertake with our clients, because they really do work. It has reinvigorated our ways of doing things.”

Dan adds: “We’re re-energised, it’s been transformative. And on a more basic level, I just love the new website! I can’t wait to show our clients how great it is.”

Rob summarises: “It’s a brave decision to rebrand when you’re a successful company, however, it’s so easy to just sit back on your laurels thinking we’re doing well, let’s not rock the boat. But long term, we knew that would have been a mistake. It’s brought a lot of positive attention to us. I love the new brand and how it reflects how the company is evolving. It really feels like the business has more purpose, momentum and direction than ever.”

Find out more about how we can reinvigorate your brand with our creative services for schools

Branding for Schools and Multi-Academy Trusts
School Signage Systems
Wallpaper Wraps & Internal Displays
Website Design & Development
Promotional Films & Virtual Tours
Prospectus Design

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