College Planning Partners

OPPORTUNITY AWAITS

College Planning Partners is a college planning and admissions counseling company based in Florida. I had the chance to work with the partners as one of my first real design projects while I was a senior in high school.

I designed the company’s logo, brand collateral, and other marketing materials.

STRATEGY

I began by sitting down with the partners to talk about the company’s core values and goals. We also discussed their ideas for the direction of their brand.

The partners had a strong vision of the feelings they wanted to invoke in their clients, but needed my help to make the connection visually. They wanted a logo that inspired trust and suggested experience and prestige, but also wanted the brand to remain approachable to students of all backgrounds.

The partners also needed a logo that would work in a variety of settings, including business cards, flyers, and a letterhead.

DESIGN PROCESS

Exploration

I began by performing a competitive audit of other college planning company brands. I wanted to see what elements were used, and note what was successful and unsuccessful. I noticed the most common elements were cool colors, mortarboards, shields, crests, ivy, and abstract forms.

Sketching

I spent a long time in the sketching phase to explore these elements and see what could work for College Planning Partners.

 I decided to avoid mortarboards, because I found them to be overused in other college-oriented logos. I also chose not to pursue ivy, because it may suggest the Ivy League. Although College Planning Partners has helped many students attend Ivy League schools, the company is welcoming of all types of students.

FINAL DESIGN

The final design is simple, yet reflects the values of the brand. The crest shape suggests prestige and the simple white lines depict an arrow pointing upward. This subtle icon evokes the same feeling as the company’s byline, “Opportunity Awaits.” The logo shows that College Planning Partners is an established, yet approachable company to students of all interests.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

I also designed several other items for College Planning Partners. I created business cards, a letterhead, and a promotional flyer. I have replaced the sensitive copy with dummy text in the samples below.

OUTCOMES

College Planning Partners is a thriving business that now has no trouble attracting students – in fact, they have to limit themselves to the number of students they take on each season because they are an incredibly popular company. This is undoubtedly due to the skill of the partners, but also due to my help crafting their visual identity to accurately represent the brand and quality of service they provide.