It’s more than a badge
I have long subscribed to the belief that education can learn a lot from the world of commerce, although that of course is not to say that the transfer of knowledge and ideas should all be one way. After spending so long working in education I know all too well that we have many valuable contributions to offer. We must however not emulate the arrogance of some business executives who are routinely dismissive of the public sector. Our ‘industry’ is all about learning and this can come from many different places and in many different forms. We absolutely do need to be open minded. We expect that of our pupils, it is the least we should expect of ourselves.
One focus in the ‘real world’ that I think we can learn from is how businesses create and develop a brand. The most successful companies have long recognised how important a powerful brand can be. It is the vehicle that allows them to create a unique identity. This in turn enables them to convey the positive messages that they wish to promote and helps the public fully understand what the company stands for. We all know where we are and feel reassured if the brand is strong and consistent.
All these universally accepted benefits of a brand most certainly work just as well for schools, academies, and trusts. So why have we in education often lagged behind? I think we should start at the beginning. A key element of the brand is the logo. The insignia, the visual representation of the company. There are of course numerous multi-national companies whose emblem is instantly recognisable around the world. The 3 stripes of adidas, the swoosh of Nike, the arched M of McDonalds and many others that you will know. These logos are usually simplistic, unique, striking and used around everything to do with that company. They are ubiquitous and they say something. If we think brand, we think logo.
When we are talking about logos it would be easy to think that education has an advantage as all schools and academies have a badge. The difference is that we haven’t maximised the value of our badges in the same way, and that might be something to do with history.
As a young pupil I rarely encountered my school badge. When I did it was generally on crudely printed certificates from sports days or on end of year reports. The basic design I recall incorporated the initial letters of the school’s name, woven together and placed on a standard back drop in the shape of a shield, but that was all. It was the usual way in which school badges of the day were formed. It was unsophisticated and uninspiring.
Badges were not prominent features around the school environment during that period. They didn’t appear on signage or any school paraphernalia as is commonplace today. I don’t think there were many at all that were memorable or meaningful.
This situation was much the same when I started teaching. Quite simply the primary school badge just wasn’t important. Badges were for secondary schools and blazers. In these establishments you occasionally encountered some fancy emblems with a Latin text, but others routinely lacked imagination. I don’t remember any that had real impact and purpose.
The situation began to change dramatically in the mid to late 1980’s. There was a move towards introducing uniforms into the primary sector, driven by the availability of relatively cheap polo shirts and sweat tops. We began to see primary school children decked out in the colour that their school was associated and gradually there were less and less schools that persevered with a ‘no uniform’ approach. Further advances over the years in the clothing industry around machine embroidery suddenly swamped schools with garments decorated with a stitched badge. This was accompanied by the improved capability in desk top publishing which made it possible for the badge to adorn absolutely everything.
So here we are today with the badge prominent and visible. The problem in many cases is that the badge itself has failed to move on. It is stuck in a time warp or if it has been redesigned, we have failed to follow the commercial formula of making the badge/logo simple, striking and unique.
A quick google of school badges will reveal that there is a great deal of commonality. The inclusion of an open book symbol, shaking hands, lots of trees and flowers, all icons used over and over again.
There is also an over reliance on using the initial letters of the school which can appear lazy and boring.
The questions I believe schools should ask are:-
Does your badge really have merit?
Does it say what you want it to say?
Is it really yours?
A short cut to these questions would be to consider if your badge would be adopted by a well known brand.
I would suggest that not enough time, thought or effort is often afforded to the selection of badge design and many people have clearly not looked outside of education for inspiration or guidance. To those people I would argue that the commercial world, whose prime purpose is to make money, would not devote so much time to the creation of a logo if it didn’t support financial gain. The cut-throat world of business recognises that an effective logo can help create a strong identity that ultimately provides a financial advantage for them. If it is worth it for business, then it is definitely worth looking at in schools.
Rather than focus upon the straight forward symbol of a badge quite a few schools schools spend too much time on glib statements that are often viewed as meaningless because they are too broad or generic. They can become tired and stale very easily and become a back drop that in time no one longer sees. There have also been lots of examples or mnemonics being employed. The old memory trick of a phrase or series of important words spelling out an all embracing key word for the school. We are a CAT school, caring, academic and talented! The problem here is that they can become too clever, too tenuous, too irrelevant. There aren’t a lot of similar examples in commerce.
In reality you can attach anything to a brand. Subtle changes to the logo can speak volumes. The evolution of using the Mcdonalds arched M in green rather than red to convey a softer conservationist approach when the company was under fire for their apparent role in deforestation was a powerful example of this. A badge/logo allows you to be creative while retaining the central identity.
In conclusion I would accept that there are always exceptions to the rule but a simple, instantly recognisable badge at the heart of a strong brand is what schools should try to achieve. Many of course have done this but many are just nowhere close.
Learn from industry. Be contemporary. Make sure everyone knows what your school stands for!