The charity set up to carry on the legacy of inspirational teacher Ann Maguire has been working on its visual identity with Leeds-based brand and design consultancy Elmwood.
Maguire was killed in her classroom at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds in April this year.
Following her death, her family set up the Ann Maguire Arts Educational Fund to celebrate her life and carry on her legacy. The charity exists to inspire achievement, create opportunities, enable development and encourage young people to dream of the possibilities in the arts of music, drama, language and dance.
Elmwood’s director of effectiveness stuff Simon Preece, said “We wanted to create something that visually represents the legacy of Ann Maguire, and which brings to life all the hope, opportunities and achievement that a fund like this can bring to young people.”
As a Leeds-based business with a strong involvement in the local community, Elmwood offered their services to help the Maguire family bring the charity to life. They set out to create a meaningful visual identity that could be used in the charity’s fundraising efforts and expressed across all touch-points in the future.
With this being such a highly personal project, Elmwood also wanted to give the family a visual focal point and a symbol to rally around at a time of extreme trauma and stress. They aimed to produce something that visually captured and symbolised the human spirit.
Elmwood says it combined the beauty and simplicity of the dandelion with the symbolic academic reference to books, as as a visual metaphor to show how young people can achieve their dreams and take flight, with a little support.
The colour palette features purple and jade green, which were chosen to compliment each other, stand out, and also to appeal to a young target age group. The colourways also hint at femininity without being gender specific.
Kerry Maguire said the company had ‘captured the spirit perfectly’.
“The combination of the dandelion and the hint at academia with the reference to books is an ideal metaphor to show how, with a little support, human potential can be reached and dreams can take flight.”
