Kensington Music Education Brand Upgrade: A Crest with a Book of Keys

A crest with a book of keys

In 2016, Xinming Design completed a brand upgrade for Kensington (凯辛顿), a music education institution run by 广州凯辛顿文化传播有限公司. The new logo is a British style school crest: a shield split into blue and red with a gold border, a crown above, and inside it a white unicorn head and two gold fleurs de lis. Beneath the shield, a red ribbon holds an open book whose pages are drawn as a row of piano keys. The crest says school; the keys say music. Navy, red and gold, with a set of tartan supporting graphics, carry the identity across a full set of applications. The logo is still in use.

A British style music school

Kensington is a music education institution in Guangzhou whose main focus is training for the ABRSM and Trinity music exams. Its English name is KENSINGTON; the Chinese name 凯辛顿 is its transliteration.

Logos for institutions like this usually reach for a note, a violin or the silhouette of a piano. They say music, but rarely school, and even more rarely a British system of exams and teaching behind it.

So the logo had to answer: how can one mark say both British school and music education?

From school crest to piano keys

The answer works on two levels:

· The British school crest: schools, colleges and music conservatoires in Britain often use a shield shaped crest as their emblem. Kensington's logo follows this tradition: shield, crown, unicorn, fleurs de lis and ribbon together form a complete crest that reads at once as a school;

· Pages turned into keys: the heart of the crest is the open book on the ribbon. A book stands for learning, and its pages are drawn as a row of black and white keys, so what is being learned becomes music.

The crest carries school; the keys carry music. Both meanings sit in one figure, with no need for an extra note or instrument.

Below the crest is the serif wordmark KENSINGTON, its upright letters finished with small serifs, with a fine line and a small cross ornament beneath. Crest and wordmark form a stacked lockup, used in full colour, single colour gold and reversed white.

Navy, red and gold

The design sets four colours:

· College navy (#16234B): C100 M100 Y50 K20, the main brand colour and large grounds;

· Honour red (#AE223C): C35 M100 Y70 K0, the right half of the shield, the crown and the ribbon;

· Crest gold (#AE9258): C38 M40 Y70 K0, the gold border, the fleurs de lis and the wordmark;

· Royal blue (#242780): the bright blue in the tartan supporting graphics.

Navy and red are the classic pair of British school colours, and gold ties them together. The crest can sit on navy, red or light grey.

Tartan and stripes

The supporting graphics come from the tartans of British school uniforms and scarves:

· Crossed tartan: groups of parallel lines crossing diagonally into diamond checks, in navy with bright blue lines or red with bright red lines;

· Diagonal stripes: parallel diagonals in groups of three, in red or navy;

· Horizontal stripes: gold lines on navy, like a college scarf.

The tartan fills large backgrounds and the crest sits on top, giving the whole identity the order of a school uniform.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo design

· Kensington school crest (shield, crown, unicorn, fleurs de lis and ribbon, with book pages turned into keys)

· Serif wordmark KENSINGTON with a cross ornament

· Stacked lockup; full colour, single colour gold and reversed white versions

Core identity

· Colours: college navy, honour red, crest gold, royal blue

· Supporting graphics: crossed tartan, diagonal stripes, horizontal stripes

Applications

· A full set of applications built on the core identity

The application images on this page are proposal mock-ups; the name on the staff pass and the text, phone number, address and web address on the posters are placeholders.

Looking back

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Borrow a tradition everyone understands. A shield shaped crest is the most familiar face of a British school; used as the logo, it reads as school to any parent at a glance.

2. Hide a clue to the category inside the tradition. Book pages turned into keys make a school crest the crest of a music school.

3. Let tartan carry the whole identity. The crest carries recognition, the tartan carries atmosphere; together they become a school uniform.

The logo of a music school works best when people see the school first, and then the music.

How to verify

· Client: 广州凯辛顿文化传播有限公司

· Brand: Kensington (凯辛顿)

· Year: 2016

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3273.html

Further reading

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

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

· WAYCOMM Piano Brand Upgrade: A Crown Built from Piano Keys (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3128.html)

FAQ

Who designed the Kensington logo?

The current logo and visual identity of Kensington (凯辛顿) were designed by Xinming Design in 2016 for 广州凯辛顿文化传播有限公司, and are still in use.

What does the Kensington logo mean?

The logo is a British style school crest, drawn from the tradition of British school emblems; beneath it, a red ribbon holds an open book whose pages are drawn as piano keys, showing that this is a music school.

What kind of institution is Kensington?

Kensington is a music education institution in Guangzhou whose main focus is training for the ABRSM and Trinity music exams.

What are the Kensington brand colours?

College navy (#16234B), honour red (#AE223C), crest gold (#AE9258) and royal blue (#242780).

What did the project include?

The school crest and wordmark, a stacked lockup with several colour versions, a four colour palette, tartan and stripe supporting graphics, and a full set of applications built on the core identity.

Which brands can learn from this case?

Music schools, arts education and international education institutions; education brands that want to build trust through the tradition of the school crest; and brands that need to add a clue to their category inside a traditional form.

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