One school’s shared legacy.

Evanston Township High School’s historic school building had a widespread appeal to visitors, including alumni, community residents, and prospective families, but it was missing a central location to celebrate its heritage, showcase its brand, and tell the school’s story. Faced with an aging school building and the challenges of a constantly changing student body, the school was eager to reinvigorate the brand and user experience through a newly redesigned branded environment.

Thanks to a larger capital improvements project the school had the opportunity to revitalize and rebrand its historic “H-Hall” portion of the school – the heart of the building – as its new “Heritage Hall.” My goal was to create a branded environment in this busy hallway that would establish a sense of school pride, build an awareness for the school’s many unique identities, and promote a legacy of scholarship, innovation, leadership, family, and camaraderie. I created a multi-dimensional visual installation using the school’s orange and blue colors and newly-defined “We are…” statements of purpose. The installation helped tell the story of ETHS using a diverse range of branding elements and images representing multiple identities and places around campus to reflect the school’s past and present. 

To leverage the widely-popular “All Are Welcome Here” social media campaign I created a scaled-up visual display near the Main Entrance by the same name. Students and teachers in the school’s ELL/ESL programs partnered with me to translate the “All Are Welcome Here” phrase in the top languages spoken by students and their families at ETHS. 

Deliverables:

• Project Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Messaging and Brand Development
• Graphic Design
• Photo Selection and Editing
• Visual Installation Planning and Management

Results:

Through brand development and the implementation of equity and empowerment strategies, the Heritage Hall redesign speaks directly to and affirms the many identities that travel the hallways of ETHS at any moment in time. Many people recognize themselves, their friends, and relatives in the images used throughout the branded environment, reflecting the multi-generational story of the school community. Now, visitors of the school are surrounded by the visual story of ETHS, its shared purpose, and a sea of orange and blue pride when they walk through the heart of the school.

In addition, the “All Are Welcome Here” Main Entrance display has been well received by many people who enter the building and see a message of “welcome” in their own language. It is also said to be one of the more popular settings for photos in the building.

BEFORE:

Dangerous and underused glass display cases were converted to lighted display boxes.

Construction begins.

A staff member prepares the old Heritage Hallway for another busy school day.

A closer look at the floor-to-ceiling bulletin boards in the old Heritage Hallway.

Old Heritage Hallway prior to the visual design project.

Key office spaces are missed due to poor signage.

AFTER:

The Superintendent stands in the new Heritage Hallway.

A Welcoming Experience: Main Entrance Display

With 72 languages spoken by students and their families at ETHS, we narrowed the list down to the top languages spoken. This was such a beautiful, collective gift to the school, and has been well received by people who enter the building to see this message of welcome in their own language. It is also one of the more popular settings for photos in the building.

Photo Credit: Lynn Trautmann, LT Photo Evanston