LET'S GO FLY A KITE!

Oldhill School

Oldhill Community School and Children's Centre underwent a landmark renaming from Tyssen School. This change follows a community consultation to sever ties with the former namesake, Francis Tyssen, due to his historical links to the slave trade through the Royal African Company.

This project was a pivotal moment for the school, marking a new beginning focused entirely on community and aspiration. The new name, Oldhill, is taken from the street on which the school is located, firmly rooting its identity in the local area.

Brief

To sever ties with the previous, offensive namesake (Tyssen) and fully embrace the new name, Oldhill, signals a clear break from the past. The new identity had to be overwhelmingly positive, aspirational, and inclusive, reflecting the community's desire for change.

The identity visually supports the "Review, Rename, Reclaim" project, serving as an inspirational model for change across the borough. The visual identity and its applications (signs, uniforms) needed to be achievable within the £15,000 grant. The design process must involve the children, ensuring the logo is a product of co-design and community ownership.

The visual identity for Oldhill Community School is rooted in the school community's powerful decision to embrace a future defined by freedom and aspiration.

The chosen symbol of the Kite 🪁 is the core of the design solution.

Logo Design

The logo is an abstract, ascending kite form, designed to convey upward motion and lightness.

The Kite Shape is sleek and dynamic, representing the children's perseverance and "eagerness to get the best possible outcomes." The slightly elevated position of the kite symbolizes the act of aiming high and the pursuit of excellence. The tail of the kite is stylised to subtly suggest the interconnectedness of the school community, rooting the high-flying aspirations back to the local Oldhill area. This visual link ensures the symbol feels aspirational yet grounded in its locality.

Colour Palette and Typography

A vibrant, clear blue is the primary colour, chosen to represent the open sky, opportunity, and the clean slate of the school’s new chapter. This colour evokes a sense of calm and clarity.

A bright, energetic orange or yellow is used as an accent. This colour represents the joy and enthusiasm of the children, the sunshine of the kite-flying day, and the community's energy for the new beginning.

A contemporary, highly legible, rounded sans-serif typeface was chosen to be friendly and welcoming. It ensures that the school’s name is clear and accessible for both young students and parents on signage and uniforms.

Primary

Secondary

Reversed

Co-Designing with Students

I led two workshops with a cohort of 15 children aged 8-9, introducing colour and shape theory and the concept of branding before setting them a design challenge: create a logo using only 2 colours and 3 shapes.

The sessions revealed a strong instinct towards triangles and simple geometric forms, while discussions consistently revolved around themes of flight, ascent, and freedom. Recognising that these two threads could be simply and powerfully combined, I arrived at the kite as the central motif — a shape that naturally incorporates triangles, represents aiming high, and carries the added resonance of the historic renaming celebration.