The Evergreen School | Shoreline, WA
“Our faculty are committed to innovation and making changes all the time. There is ongoing wondering about how they can do something better so that the students get the most out of their potential.”
–administrator
background
Evergreen’s preschool through Grade 8 program for highly capable students inspires and models continual curiosity, deep investigation, and spontaneous exploration.
Our Crane + Peters team worked with Evergreen to create an identity system that quickly and vividly reveals what it’s like to learn and grow there—not only for students, but for every member of the community.
The program is intentionally flexible with EVER phrases, empowering the school to “branch off” from the main concept to highlight specific programs or practices as the need arises. To illustrate the four central elements of the Evergreen experience, we created intriguing icons, which look both technical and organic, to update the school’s previous, beloved tree logo.
Evergreen’s suite of print and online materials, including this introductory booklet, explains the school’s pedagogical philosophy. Visually striking, yet warmly inviting, the booklet mirrors the logo design and includes an elegant jacket cover—while the copy invokes the audience’s aspirations through a series of “Ever” phrases.
overview of our partnership
1. ASSESSMENT + ADVICE
To lay the groundwork for Evergreen’s branding program, we reviewed internal documents, including self-studies, consulting reports, and current communications. We also conducted a comparative review of communications from competitor schools, along with demographic and psychographic research to better identify and target Evergreen’s audiences.
2. DISCOVERY + ANALYSIS
We continued our investigation through in-depth interviews and focus groups with Evergreen students, parents, faculty, administrators, and alumni. These discussions surfaced authentic expressions of the Evergreen experience, which later formed the heart of the new branding program.
3. Insights + implications
We documented our initial findings including possible starting points for new branding concepts, in a report shared with Evergreen’s leadership. We workshopped the report with the leadership team, ensuring agreement and buy-in on what would become Evergreen’s Big Idea.
4. Branding + marketing
With the Big Idea firmly in mind, we developed a suite of print and online materials to attract, recruit, and retain families whose values and aspirations resonate with Evergreen’s mission.
5. ROLLOUT + SUPPORT
To facilitate and support the new brand launch, Crane + Peters created brand guidelines for the school’s communications department going forward. We also produced an animation and additional materials to build enthusiasm around the new program and to show in detail how Evergreen’s curriculum shapes continuously curious learners and citizens.
