Imagine Education Brand Identity: A Whale Curled into a Speech Bubble

A whale curled into a speech bubble

In 2018, Xinming Design designed the logo and visual identity of Imagine Education (英迈鲸), a new English school brand for children in Wuhan. The logo is a blue whale: its body curls into a circle with the tail tucked beneath, and on its back it carries a rainbow of yellow, orange, red and purple. The outline formed by the whale's body and tail reads as a speech bubble. There are six brand colours: sea blue, sky blue, purple, rose red, orange and bright yellow. The identity extends to envelopes, business cards, folders, staff passes, enrolment posters, shopping bags, an opening ceremony invitation and a billboard, and is documented in the brand identity guidelines.

A whale already in the name

Imagine Education is a new English school brand for children; the Chinese name 英迈鲸 and the English name IMAGINE were chosen by the client. The name already offers two things:

· A whale: the character 鲸 (jing) means whale;

· An idea: 英迈鲸 (Yingmaijing) sounds close to the English word "imagine".

The difficulty for an English school for children is that it must win over two people at once: the child has to like it, and the parent has to trust it. Too cartoonish, and parents doubt its professionalism; too serious, and children lose interest.

So the logo had to answer: how can the whale in the name be drawn so that children like it at once, and it still says this is a school that teaches English?

Whale, rainbow and speech bubble

The logo layers three ideas:

· Whale: a blue whale whose body loops around from the head, with the tail tucked beneath;

· Rainbow: on its back, a rainbow of yellow, orange, red and purple, as if the whale's spout had turned into a rainbow;

· Speech bubble: the overall outline of the body and tail reads as a speech bubble, with the tail as its small pointer.

It can be read like this: the whale is the name, the rainbow is imagination, and the speech bubble is speaking English. One figure answers the brand name, the English name and what the school teaches.

The logo forms a horizontal lockup with the Chinese 英迈鲸教育 and the English IMAGINE EDUCATION; in the IMAGINE wordmark, each letter is filled with a brand colour, like a row of coloured building blocks.

Six colours, from sea to rainbow

Page A-21 of the brand identity guidelines sets six corporate colours:

· Sea blue (PANTONE 2727 C, #0074E8)

· Sky blue (PANTONE 2905 C, #6FC8FC)

· Purple (PANTONE 527 C, #7933A7)

· Rose red (PANTONE 1788 C, #F72952)

· Orange (PANTONE 165 C, #FF6D0C)

· Bright yellow (PANTONE 108 C, #FFE000)

The guidelines give PANTONE, CMYK and RGB values; the HEX values above are converted from the RGB values in the guidelines.

The two blues are the sea; the four warm colours are the rainbow. Sea blue and sky blue, the colours of the whale and the sky, serve as large background areas; purple, rose red, orange and bright yellow, the rainbow on the whale's back, are used for the logo, colour blocks and key information. The guidelines note that the brand colours build recognition through frequency of use, and ask designers to balance the whole and the single item.

Sea and clouds on the whale's back

There are two supporting graphics:

· The enlarged back of the whale: stretched across the image like a sea horizon, with a few white clouds above it; used on envelopes, folders, notebooks, invitations and the billboard;

· Colour blobs: large red, yellow and blue shapes with a fine dot texture, like modelling clay in a child's hands; used on enrolment posters, staff passes and shopping bags.

From opening invitation to billboard

The applications cover the school's office, enrolment and opening:

· Office: envelopes, business cards, folders, notebooks, staff passes;

· Enrolment: posters (DIVERSE CULTURAL ENGLISH ENVIRONMENT), a billboard, shopping bags;

· Opening: an invitation to the opening ceremony of the school.

The office, enrolment and opening images on this page are proposal-stage mock-ups; the photographs of people, names and web addresses shown in them are placeholders.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo design

· Imagine Education logo (whale, rainbow and speech bubble)

· Bilingual lockup and the IMAGINE wordmark

Core visual identity

· Corporate colours: sea blue, sky blue, purple, rose red, orange, bright yellow

· Logo clear space, minimum size, Chinese and English typefaces

· Supporting graphics: the whale's back with clouds, colour blobs

· Brand identity guidelines

Applications

· Office: envelopes, business cards, folders, notebooks, staff passes

· Enrolment: posters, billboard, shopping bags

· Opening: invitation

Looking back eight years on

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Read the name first. The name contains a whale and sounds like "imagine", so the logo draws a whale with a rainbow.

2. One figure, three answers. The whale is the name, the rainbow is imagination, the speech bubble is English; children see a friendly whale, parents see a school that gets children speaking.

3. Let colours divide the work. Two blues as the ground, four warm colours as accents; six colours together without confusion.

The logo of an English school for children should be liked by children, understood by parents, and tell everyone: this is where children learn to speak.

How to verify

· Client: 武汉金苹果树教育咨询有限公司 (the client's company name at signing)

· Brand: Imagine Education (英迈鲸, IMAGINE)

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3082.html

Further reading

· EIC Education Identity Upgrade: Writing "I & U" into an Education Brand (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3043.html)

· Yango Academy Emblem Upgrade: A Tree Whose Leaves Are Rays of Sunlight (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3072.html)

· Growth Assistant Mascot: A Young Eagle That Grows Up with the Child (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3074.html)

FAQ

Who designed the Imagine Education logo?

The logo and visual identity of Imagine Education (英迈鲸) were designed by Xinming Design in 2018 for 武汉金苹果树教育咨询有限公司 as a new brand; the brand names were provided by the client.

What does the Imagine Education logo mean?

The logo is a blue whale whose body curls into a circle, carrying a rainbow on its back, with an outline that reads as a speech bubble. It can be read as the whale of the Chinese name 英迈鲸, the rainbow of the English name Imagine, and the speech bubble of learning to speak English.

What is the English name of 英迈鲸?

The English name is IMAGINE (Imagine Education), provided by the client; the Chinese name 英迈鲸 sounds close to "imagine".

What are the Imagine Education brand colours?

Six: sea blue (PANTONE 2727 C), sky blue (PANTONE 2905 C), purple (PANTONE 527 C), rose red (PANTONE 1788 C), orange (PANTONE 165 C) and bright yellow (PANTONE 108 C).

Did the project include a cartoon character?

No. The project delivered a logo, core visual identity and applications; the whale in the logo is not a separate cartoon character.

Which organisations can learn from this case?

English and enrichment schools for children; education brands that must win over both children and parents; and new brands whose names carry a clear image that can be drawn as the logo.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg