A MODERN BRAND FOR A SCHOOL WITH AMBITION
Helping a growing primary school find clarity, confidence and a distinctive personality.
Downsway Primary School approached us with an interesting challenge:
their values were strong, their community was thriving — but their brand wasn’t telling that story.
The existing identity felt dated, unclear, and inconsistent across digital and physical touchpoints. With three competing local schools offering similar messages, Downsway needed a sharper, more confident brand that truly reflected who they were and where they were heading.
This project spanned full brand strategy, messaging, visual identity, and a complete brand book — giving the school a refreshed identity grounded in purpose, clarity and practicality.
A MODERN BRAND FOR A SCHOOL WITH AMBITION
Helping a growing primary school find clarity, confidence and a distinctive personality.
Downsway Primary School approached us with an interesting challenge:
their values were strong, their community was thriving — but their brand wasn’t telling that story.
The existing identity felt dated, unclear, and inconsistent across digital and physical touchpoints. With three competing local schools offering similar messages, Downsway needed a sharper, more confident brand that truly reflected who they were and where they were heading.

This project spanned full brand strategy, messaging, visual identity, and a complete brand book — giving the school a refreshed identity grounded in purpose, clarity and practicality.
01 — THE CHALLENGE
The school needed a brand that would:
• Communicate warmth, aspiration and a modern learning environment
• Differentiate Downsway from three nearby competitor schools
• Create consistency across signage, uniforms, digital content and printed materials
• Make the school’s values simpler, clearer and more usable
• Improve readability and recognisability of the school logo
• Strengthen the first impression for parents researching schools online
The visual and verbal identity was no longer aligned with the school’s capabilities, culture or aspirations — and that created an opportunity for transformation.
01 — THE CHALLENGE
The school needed a brand that would:
The visual and verbal identity was no longer aligned with the school’s capabilities, culture or aspirations — and that created an opportunity for transformation.
02 — STRATEGIC FOUNDATION
Brand Audit & Insight
We began with a detailed discovery phase, reviewing:
• The current logo, typography, colour palette and visual inconsistencies
• Website tone and messaging gaps
• Competitor brands and audience perceptions
• Placement, environment and signage opportunities
• Downsway’s values and how they were being used day-to-day
Clarifying the Brand
A sharper strategic direction was crafted around:
Refined Value Set
We reduced the school’s 12 values down to 6 actionable ones: Aspiration, Tolerance, Responsibility, Self-belief, Curiosity, Cooperation.
These became the backbone of the brand — guiding both visual and verbal expression.
Brand Positioning
Focused on being a warm, inclusive and ambitious school where children feel supported to grow academically, emotionally and socially.
Tone of Voice
Clear, open, warm, enthusiastic — avoiding language that was overly formal or overly excitable.
Messaging Framework
We created targeted key messages for pupils, parents, staff and the wider community.
Mission Statement
Rewritten to be more confident, more relevant and more aligned with the updated values and vision.
02 — STRATEGIC FOUNDATION
Brand Audit & Insight
We began with a detailed discovery phase, reviewing:
• The current logo, typography, colour palette and visual inconsistencies
Clarifying the Brand
A sharper strategic direction was crafted around:
Refined Value Set
We reduced the school’s 12 values down to 6 actionable ones: Aspiration, Tolerance, Responsibility, Self-belief, Curiosity, Cooperation.
These became the backbone of the brand — guiding both visual and verbal expression.
Brand Positioning
Focused on being a warm, inclusive and ambitious school where children feel supported to grow academically, emotionally and socially.
Tone of Voice
Clear, open, warm, enthusiastic — avoiding language that was overly formal or overly excitable.
Messaging Framework
We created targeted key messages for pupils, parents, staff and the wider community.
Mission Statement
Rewritten to be more confident, more relevant and more aligned with the updated values and vision.
03 — VISUAL IDENTITY REFRESH
Logo Redesign
The old emblem (a loose gate and roundel) lacked clarity and modern relevance.
The updated ientity needed to be:
• Simple
• Legible
• Future-proof
• Symbolic rather than literal
• Suitable for signage, digital use, uniforms and print
• Visually tied to the school’s values and culture
We developed a cleaner, more contemporary approach with a sharper shape language, refined typographic structure and stronger visual meaning.
Colour & Typography
The purple and green that had become part of Downsway’s personality were retained but strengthened with refined tones. Typography was updated for readability and warmth — flexible for both print and digital communication.
Brand Guidelines
A complete brand book was produced, covering:
• Logo usage
• Typography
• Colour palette
• Tone of voice
• Audience messaging
• Applications for signage, stationery and digital assets
• Examples of brand voice in action
03 — VISUAL IDENTITY REFRESH
Logo Redesign
The old emblem (a loose gate and roundel) lacked clarity and modern relevance.
The updated ientity needed to be:
• Simple
• Legible
• Future-proof
• Symbolic rather than literal
• Suitable for signage, digital use, uniforms and print
• Visually tied to the school’s values and culture
We developed a cleaner, more contemporary approach with a sharper shape language, refined typographic structure and stronger visual meaning.
Colour & Typography
The purple and green that had become part of Downsway’s personality were retained but strengthened with refined tones. Typography was updated for readability and warmth — flexible for both print and digital communication.
Brand Guidelines
A complete brand book was produced, covering:
• Logo usage
• Typography
• Colour palette
• Tone of voice
• Audience messaging
• Applications for signage, stationery and digital assets
• Examples of brand voice in action
04 — IMPLEMENTATION
The new brand was rolled out across:
This gave the school complete consistency — something it lacked previously.
04 — IMPLEMENTATION
The new brand was rolled out across:
This gave the school complete consistency — something it lacked previously.
05 — IMPACT
The rebrand gave Downsway:
Staff responses were extremely positive, with the brand quickly adopted across the school — from entrance signage to digital communications.
05 — IMPACT
The rebrand gave Downsway:
Staff responses were extremely positive, with the brand quickly adopted across the school — from entrance signage to digital communications.
THE RESULT
Downsway Primary School now has a smart, modern, values-led brand that better reflects who they are today and where they are heading. This project combined strategy, identity, design, tone of voice and practical rollout, giving the school a complete toolkit to communicate with clarity and confidence.
THE RESULT
Downsway Primary School now has a smart, modern, values-led brand that better reflects who they are today and where they are heading. This project combined strategy, identity, design, tone of voice and practical rollout, giving the school a complete toolkit to communicate with clarity and confidence.
“Lennie has been a breath of fresh air to work with. He worked hard to understand our products, services and our business and what’s more, he is highly creative too! I would definitely recommend.”
“The work we did with Lennie was amazing and allowed us to hone down brand concepts and ideas. Being a creative company ourselves, also meant we faced a lot of challenges internally and these were very well smoothed out by Lennie.”
“Lennie has been an absolute joy to deal with and have produced work of the highest quality. The process of working in partnership with us, and ultimately the exceptional design work, has been highly impressive. We hope to remain clients of all yours for many years.”
“Lennie comes with many years experience within the creative industry and is able to transfer his excellent creative and project management skills onto team members allowing them to grow and flourish. With his studio management experience, he is able to drive business process improvements and change. I would highly recommend his creative services..”
Lennie didn’t hesitate to offer to help our charity Sustain For Life. He created some fantastic designs for our 2018 Christmas campaign which helped us generate essential charity donations. The turnaround of the work was quick and high quality making the whole process stress free! Having worked with Lennie previously for many years I know his work is consistently good and always happy to help. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.