MSEDU Education Brand Identity: Three Slashes That Write an M

Three slashes that write an M

In 2016, Xinming Design created the new brand Mingshi Education (明世教育) for 广东明世教育集团有限公司. The logo is a forward leaning italic wordmark, MSEDU: the M is not drawn as the usual zigzag, but as three parallel slashes; MS is deep blue and EDU is red, with the top of the S shading from deep blue into red to join the two colours; the U has a short extra stroke at its upper right. Below it, the Chinese name 明世教育 is drawn in a matching italic. Geometric shapes in blue, red and yellow carry the identity from invitations, envelopes and business cards to staff passes, umbrellas and T shirts.

An abbreviation, a wordmark

The English name MSEDU stands for MingShi EDUcation; the Chinese name is 明世教育. Both names came from the client.

A five letter abbreviation is easily turned into a safe, balanced monogram: easy to read, but without character, and hard to remember.

So the wordmark had to answer: how can an abbreviation look as if a teacher had written it by hand?

From slashes to M

The answer starts with the first letter:

· M: instead of two uprights and a fold, three parallel slashes, like three quick strokes of a pen;

· S: following the M, its top edge shading from deep blue into red;

· EDU: in red, with a rounded E, and a short extra stroke at the upper right of the U, like the flick of a pen at the end of the word.

The whole word leans forward, as if written stroke by stroke. The deep blue MS is the name; the red EDU is education; the colours meet in the middle.

The Chinese name 明世教育 is drawn in the same forward leaning italic, with clean strokes and crisp corners, and sits below the English to form a stacked lockup.

Blue, red and yellow shapes

The supporting graphic is a set of geometric shapes in three colours:

· Shapes: circles, half arcs, rounded triangles, rounded diamonds;

· Colours: deep blue, red, yellow.

Most of the shapes show only a corner: a blue half arc peeks over the top of an envelope, a red rounded triangle cuts in from the edge of a business card, a yellow triangle hides in the corner of a folder. Most of each layout is left white, and the shapes appear only at the edges, so the wordmark always leads.

On T shirts and umbrellas the shapes grow larger: a big red rounded frame, a blue arc and a yellow arc wrap around the garment and the canopy.

Deep blue, red, yellow

The palette is led by the two colours of the wordmark:

· Deep blue: the MS of the wordmark, and the main colour of staff passes and envelopes;

· Red: the EDU of the wordmark, and the ground of the invitations and lanyards;

· Yellow: used only in the geometric shapes, as an accent.

Envelopes and document bags also use kraft paper, with a red circle and a blue half circle printed at their corners.

From invitations to umbrellas

Office and business

· Business cards, letterheads, envelopes, kraft document bags, folders, a CD sleeve

· Invitations: a red sleeve with a deep blue insert; another version breaks INVITATION into three lines with slashes between the letters, echoing the slashes in the wordmark

Staff and events

· Staff passes with red lanyards

· An anniversary badge

Promotion and environment

· Umbrellas, T shirts

· Reception wall, a tablet page

The application images on this page are proposal mock-ups; the people, phone numbers and web address on the business cards, staff pass and tablet page are placeholders.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo design

· MSEDU wordmark (an M written with three slashes, in deep blue and red)

· Matching italic lettering for 明世教育

· Stacked bilingual lockup

Core identity

· Colours: deep blue, red, yellow

· Supporting graphics: circles, half arcs, rounded triangles, rounded diamonds

Applications

· Office and business: business cards, letterheads, envelopes, kraft document bags, folders, CD sleeve, invitations

· Staff and events: staff passes and lanyards, anniversary badge

· Promotion and environment: umbrellas, T shirts, reception wall, tablet page

Looking back

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Turn an abbreviation into handwriting. Three slashes replace the zigzag of the M and the whole word leans forward, so a string of initials gains the speed of writing.

2. Use two colours to separate the name from the field. The deep blue MS is Mingshi; the red EDU is education; the top of the S joins them.

3. Keep the supporting shapes at the edges. Most shapes show only a corner, the layout stays open, and the wordmark always leads.

The wordmark of an education brand works best when it looks as if someone wrote it with care.

How to verify

· Client: 广东明世教育集团有限公司

· Brand: MSEDU (明世教育)

· Year: 2016

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3206.html

Further reading

· Imagine Education Brand Identity: A Whale Curled into a Speech Bubble (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3082.html)

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

· Alfred Piano School Brand Identity: An A with a Scroll and a Stave (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3148.html)

FAQ

Who designed the Mingshi Education brand?

The logo and visual identity of MSEDU (明世教育) were designed by Xinming Design in 2016 for 广东明世教育集团有限公司.

What does MSEDU stand for?

MSEDU is short for MingShi EDUcation, the English form of 明世教育.

What is special about the MSEDU logo?

It is a forward leaning italic wordmark: the M is made of three parallel slashes; MS is deep blue and EDU red, with the top of the S shading from one to the other; the U has a short extra stroke at its upper right. Below it, 明世教育 is drawn in a matching italic.

What is the Mingshi Education supporting graphic?

A set of geometric shapes in blue, red and yellow: circles, half arcs, rounded triangles and rounded diamonds, mostly appearing at the edges of a layout.

What did the project include?

The wordmark and bilingual lockup, colours and geometric supporting graphics, and applications including business cards, letterheads, envelopes, document bags, folders, a CD sleeve, invitations, staff passes, a badge, umbrellas, T shirts, a reception wall and a tablet page.

Which brands can learn from this case?

Education institutions, training schools and education groups; brands whose names are abbreviations and want a wordmark with character; and service organisations that want a consistent look built from simple geometric shapes.

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