Established as Australia’s first bilingual school in 1984, International Grammar School has been opening the hearts and minds of students to the world ever since. Founded on the premise of ‘Unity Through Diversity’, we worked to refresh their identity to better reflect their vision of a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable future.
For 40 years, IGS has stood as a testament to the far-reaching benefits and eye-opening advantages of bilingual education. With a landmark anniversary approaching, IGS was looking to realign their visual and verbal identity with the key principles upon which they were founded.
Working together with key stakeholders Collective Objective helped redefine their strategic vision to better reflect the school’s single-minded ambition. Avoiding tropes of ‘growth’ and ‘virtue’, we elevated the school’s founding motto ‘Unity Through Diversity’ to the core of their brand and, in tandem with their mission to ‘equip students to be world ready’, helped unlocked the essence of what made IGS, IGS.
Once we’d undertaken a comprehensive brand audit, established the guiding vision and clearly articulated the messaging foundations and values previously confirmed by in-depth qualitative and quantitative research with research partner Fiftyfive5, our brief was to create a brand that would resonate with their uniquely global outlook and creative spirit. A cohesive and visually consistent identity capable of making them stand out not just within Sydney, but on the world stage.
Our solution was an original and comprehensive identity system that revolutionised everything from the logo to imagery, tone of voice to digital presence. A vibrant overhaul of their colour palette and typography paving the way for a brand that felt more youthful, more contemporary and more energetic.
Central to our approach was the emphasis on language as a core component of the brand expression. With the creation of ‘The Binding Fabric’, we brought IGS’s vision to life in every language within their curriculum, knitting the words together as a textural graphic element. The distinctive treatment, in addition to the promotion of multi-lingual translations in both internal and external communications, serves to reinforce the idea of language being the ‘fabric that binds us’.
Creativity and self-expression are also fundamental aspects of an IGS education. Through the introduction of a suite of illustrative badges, our team encouraged students and staff to wear their principles with pride. Creating unity, not uniformity, through a fun set of pins, stickers and badges that represent the values and beliefs shared by the school as a collective.
To assist in the internal rollout of their brand, Collective Objective also developed a flexible system of templates and an updated library of brand photography. Mixing real-world shots of students and staff with a collection of images that captured the colour, texture and wonder of our world.
Launched in January 2024, the new identity has received whole-hearted endorsement from teachers, parents, and most importantly – the students.
The Binding Fabric
From the Early Learning Centre through to Year 12, language is the thread that weaves the IGS experience together. Our custom brand pattern — 'The Binding Fabric' — translated their vision of Unity Through Diversity across each language on offer at the school. Used texturally throughout the identity, and combined with the use of bilingual translations throughout key touchpoints, we sought to place language at the heart of the brand.
Hearts on sleeves. Badges on bags.
The freedom to express yourself at IGS is not merely tolerated, but celebrated. We sought to create a custom set of badges that students could use to stick, pin or iron on to reflect the values, principles and causes they believed in. At the same time, the icon suite adds a fun, illustrative element to the brand system.
Bringing it all online
In collaboration with the team at Grade, we worked to rapidly bring the brand to life in digital by re-skinning and reimagining their existing website — designing within the limitations of a legacy backend to deliver a vibrant new website to herald a new era for IGS. Featuring a new brand video, revised navigation and a brighter, bolder palette to reflect the energy and exhuberance of life at the school.
Injecting the energy
Capturing the vibrant and creative nature of a school like IGS meant bringing the brand system to life through animation. Working alongside the motion experts at Never Sit Still, we set about injecting a sense of youthful spirit and established a set of motion principles to ensure the identity would cut through in digital.
40 Worlds for 40 Years
To mark 40 years of bilingual learning and eye-opening education, we worked closely with the IGS community to create a campaign that would celebrate the unique and diverse world they believe in.
The campaign launched with a brand film brought to life by staff, pupils and the brilliant team at Never Sit Still – a short video designed to reflect the School's core values, youthful spirit and its students creativity. Full case study coming soon.
“Dear Collective Objective Team, this is so, so beautiful. You've captured the best of us and we are all just so inspired! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ”
Shauna Colnan — Principal, International Grammar School
