Independent Schools Tasmania
Independent Schools Tasmania (IST) is a not for profit organisation representing the independent schools of Tasmania. Their key responsibilities are representation, support and advocacy for their member schools. Together IST member schools educate over 10,000 students, promoting freedom of choice and diversity in education.
The challenge
A full service rebrand of an established, prominent organisation in the education space; redeveloping their branding and enhancing the brand recognition; while bringing their identity, website and services into the future.
the outcome
Comprehensive new brand identity, website design and professional learning system. Completely reimagined service design, connecting the new digital offering with the internal stakeholders. Significant increases to engagement, website traffic and qualitative improvements to brand recognition and user experience.
Delivered
Strategy
Messaging
Branding/Identity Design
Web Design
Service Design
Year
2021
Where it all started
Independent Schools Tasmania was an established, respected organisation with an identity and website that hadn’t kept pace with the growth of the business. The existing logo lacked clarity and had no variation. The website was outdated, with no real opportunity for engagement from its stakeholders. That’s where I came in. Armed with a shoestring budget and a big vision, I dived into the journey to build a new identity from the ground up.
A new beginning
The branding maintains elements of their existing identity refreshed into a modern interpretation that reflects their refreshed identity; bright, engaging and contemporary. The clarity in the messaging was vital, leading to a paired-back design that focused on recognition rather than complexity.
“A logo doesn’t sell (directly), it identifies.” — Paul Rand
A clear purpose
In line with the established strategy for IST, clarity within the messaging was vital to building brand recognition. By introducing a play on the Submark logo variation we created a valuable brand asset that clearly communicates the organisations mission statement.
Developing an identity
A brand guidelines document serves as the north star for an organisation, guiding communications internally and externally. The guidelines provide a clear framework for approaching future communications and explain in detail the key considerations of the brand identity system.
A website built for its members
The website focuses on clear communication and navigation. The website design began with establishing sitemaps, information architecture and low-fidelity wireframes. We then moved on to rapidly designing high-fidelity prototypes and testing with stakeholders. Once we had exhausted our testing, I finalised the design in Figma and then proceeded to work collaboratively with the development team to build the website in Craft CMS.
A core strategy for the website was to take a relatively complex collection of information and reduce it to its simplest form. I quickly identified in the discovery phase that our target audience was often time-poor and that we needed to shape our engagement around this.
Establishing an intuitive user experience for members allows our key stakeholders to register for professional learning and find the resources they need quickly.
Putting it all together
Once the branding, messaging, website and templates were in place, it was clear that we needed to bridge the gap between the internal and external stakeholders engaging with the new systems; this is where service design came in. After running extensive discovery sessions, stakeholder interviews and reviews of the existing processes, we had established a clear picture of the areas that needed attention.
The service design phase included the initial discovery, further research, mapping out service blueprints and prototyping with stakeholders. Finally, a new service blueprint was in place. After stakeholder training we commenced implementation across the organisation.
Through technology, software and automation, we were able to streamline processes. By improving existing communication strategies internally and optimising collaboration, we eliminated double handling of tasks and improved engagement internally and externally.
Credits
Thank you to the team at Independent Schools Tasmania and their stakeholders for the collaboration and cooperation that has enabled this work. Showcased work commenced in a freelance capacity and was completed while employed in a consultant capacity at IST as a Communications Advisor.