Creative Concern is a creative marketing and communications agency, passionate about using our skills to activate change.

For 22 years we’ve been privileged to work with some incredible organisations. From charities to organisations across the public and private sectors, all our clients are united in their mission to make a difference, effect positive change and make the world a better place through the work they do. 

With over two decades of experience, we’ve learned a huge amount. And because we’re passionate about sharing that knowledge, we’re going to be sharing here on our Blog and through our LinkedIn newsletter, addressing a different topic, sector or challenge that our clients’ are facing. Our team will share their insights in the hope it inspires or helps others. 

For our first article, meet our Head of Design Liz Newell. Liz draws on her many years of experience working with further and higher education institutions, helping them to realise creative and impactful campaigns, marketing assets and identities, even when they have to stick within the institutions’ tight brand guidelines.

Beyond brand guidelines: Unlocking creativity in education communications

Having a solid established education brand can sometimes feel limiting when it comes to creativity. It’s great to have a brand that is so easily recognised, but there’s a risk that all communications blend together and end up in a ‘safe space’. 

Let’s look at it differently. 

Having your core brand locked down can be helpful; it means you have the weight of a trusted organisation behind you. But you also have the freedom to use your budget to explore alternative creative solutions. Just remember – it’s about amplifying, not clashing or competing with your brand. 

We understand that there are (rightly) some non-negotiables like logo, colours and typefaces, but that’s only part of the picture. There’s always some flexibility when it comes to what makes up your communications. 

Here are some ways to keep things creative (all within the parameters of your brand, of course). 

The power of an image 

The right imagery can really elevate the entire brand – injecting new energy and relevance. There’s potential for a lot of creative flexibility here, so think carefully about the story you want to tell and who you’re telling it to and this will inform the right direction for the imagery. Is it about people or place or both? 
With photography, do you want to show yourselves authentically or would it be more effective to take a more experimental and heavily art-directed approach? It may be that a signature illustration is just the thing you need in order to communicate effectively. Imagery can take many forms, so it’s often helpful when you’re trying to visualise topics that are otherwise hard to capture. We’ve illustrated everything from carbon emissions to jacket potatoes. Hit us with your next challenge ;) 

Use words as your playground 
Creative copywriting can be one of the simplest ways to stand out and distinguish your communications. Whether it’s an injection of humour (everyone loves a good pun, right?) through a series of short snappy key lines or crafting longer form stories or scripts that give people a voice; words matter. Messages that grab – and hold – attention, inspire, amuse and inform. It’s worth spending some time getting these right. 

Choose the right output 
Just as important as what you say is where you say it. Choosing the right output for your message is critical. Think – who’s your audience and what’s the best way of reaching them. If you know your audience are time-precious academics then a wordy 200-page report is probably not the right approach. It can also be worth getting the intended audience involved in ideas and testing – that way you’ll get a definite steer on what works and where they’re consuming information. Small shifts can have a BIG impact The key to creating fresh, dynamic design solutions is to focus on the areas where flexibility and differentiation are allowed within the brand. This might be elevating the use of a secondary colour palette; how the typography interacts with your imagery; or it might be a surprising design layout that differentiates your brand and connects with your audience. We’re really quick at getting to understand where that flexibility lies and we love bringing a new perspective to existing brands. One of our favourite tactics is exploring how a design aesthetic from a different sector can bring more impactful design solutions to our work with Educational Institutions. 

Accessibility 
We’ve been working to make our design solutions more accessible for our clients for many years. It’s super important that accessibility is core to the approach from the start. For us, more accessible and more creative communications can go hand in hand. It’s all about being audience aware and agreeing the approach early on in the design process.
 

Get in touch!
As you can see, we love working with educational institutions, so if you're from a college or university and have got plans afoot, drop us an email at info@creativeconcern.com and we'll happily jump on a call for a (free) 30 minute surgery to help you plan.