A top down view of various stationery for Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation. Showcasing: an envelope, a notebook, a pen, letterhead, mug, and business cards.
A top down view of various stationery for Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation. Showcasing: an envelope, a notebook, a pen, letterhead, mug, and business cards.

Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation | Grow Together

Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation is a community-powered foundation working side-by-side with schools, donors, and volunteers across Nanaimo and Ladysmith. They provide aid for students so they thrive both in the classroom and in life through the following initiatives: Student Support Fund, Food4Schools, Scholarships & Bursaries, and Learning Initiatives & Grants.

The Problem

There were a few overarching goals for Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation. First, NLSF had a brand and subbrands, but they didn’t feel connected. People needed to know that all of their community initiatives (with varying levels of recognizability within the community) were connected to NLSF. They needed one cohesive brand identity system that felt like it all came from one family. Secondly, they needed to be perceived as trustworthy, established, and professional. Donors needed to know who they were donating to and why. This came through a cohesive brand system, but also a strong brand messaging strategy (written by Myra Dionne at Array).

Credits

Agency

Array

  • My Role

    • Lead Designer Brand & Web

    • Art Direction

The Team

Kristina Crowson, Sarah Brown, Jason Schultz, Myra Dionne, Bryan Keddy, Kim Weber, Bryan Caldeira, Alejandra Silva Rojas, Aaron Paetkeau

Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundations logo before it was redesigned. It showcases a book with a tree like human silhouette with a moon for a head.

Before

Nanaimo Ladysmith Schools Foundation's logo after it was redesigned. It shows a 13 petaled flower with 5 apple seeds in the middle with an open book as the leaves.

After

A grid of 10 squares showcasing the NLSF colour palette and graphic elements. The elements included are a flower, apple seeds, and an open book. The colours are navy, orange, lavender, royal blue, indigo, bright green, olive green, purple and white.

The Concept

Grow Together.

NLSF supports student growth by providing the tools students need to succeed. What does it look like when those needs are met? Kids who are supported, well-fed, and have all of the supplies needed to do their best learning. Our focus wasn't on whatever "before" NLSF may look like, but rather what support with NLSF looks like. We showed growth, nourishment, and education through a brand system that could be dynamic for each offering. The logo, fonts, colours, messaging, photography, and patterns all needed to work together to tell their brand story.

A fine tipped marker sketch of the NLSF logo in black and white.
A fine tipped marker sketch of a butterfly, pencil, apple, and flower in black and white.

The Solution

Not every rebrand is a complete departure from where a brand started. The original Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation logo had four parts: a book, a tree, a person, and a moon. Taking inspiration from the roots of where they've come from, this new logo combines a book, a flower, and the core of an apple. It represents the growth that comes through education, and the support that NLSF offers students, families and educators to help them flourish. The flower has 13 petals to represent each year of education from K-12. The apple core seeds form a star to help represent the seeds that are planted to help kids thrive financially, in resources, and in nourishment. By isolating each separate element from within the logo, different graphic elements and patterns were created. Each piece adds depth and meaning to layouts to hold the symbolism for what NLSF stands for.

A group of kids huddled up and cheering on a field with 3 apple seed graphic elements overlayed in the top right corner.
An NLSF rack card that says "Teach Kindness. Fund Features." with a photo of a teen girl and a list of services overlaid over a background of kiwis.
A young boy wearing a white tshirt with the NLSF icon printed on the back standing in front of an orange background.
A roayl blue draw string bag that says "Stock the Lockers" in a logo alternate with 3 flowers cropping off the bottom right corner in indigo. The background is a set of indigo lockers.
  • 4 NLSF stickers on a purple background.
  • A conference presentation screen with "Every Student Belongs" written in navy on a lavender background with a flower shaped mask holding an image of an elementary student wearing an orange sweater. 3 apple seed elements are overlaid over the image in the bottom right corner.
  • Three street flags with NLSF branding in front of a school.
  • A carabiner keychain with a green strap with yellow flowers printed on it.
  • A Food4Schools branded lunch kit sitting on gravel.
  • A navy NLSF branded planner on a white background surrounded by paper clips and wooden pencils.
A lime green sports waterbottle on a concrete wall with blue sky in the background. The bottle says "Teach kindness fund futures." with 3 white book elements at the top and the Scholarships & Bursaries logo in the bottom left corner.
A young girl with pigtails looking through library books with three white book elements in the bottom white corner.
A set of NLSF social media posts.

All Work

Work