Thinking outside the box

How hand-drawn illustrations have transformed our digital marketing 

When it comes to redeveloping the visual identity of a brand, it would be easy to turn to creative software as a first port of call – looking for unique digital assets, AI generated ideas or ways to modernise existing concepts. At Loughborough Schools Foundation, we took a different approach. 

Facing a modern digital landscape fraught with safeguarding risks like AI deepfakes, we undertook a pioneering brand transformation by reducing identifiable close-up pupil photography across central marketing channels. Despite being the right thing to do, this posed a new creative challenge to our Marketing Team – how do we continue to tell the stories of our schools without using photos of the pupils that make them so wonderful? 

Over the last academic year, we went back to the drawing board and transformed our visual identity through bespoke hand-drawn illustrations. Not only does this give our creative assets a distinctive and unique style, but it also means they retain a sense of individuality. Hand-drawn, as if on paper, the illustrations utilise existing photography and anonymise it, protecting pupil identities without compromising the essence of the image. 

Led by the Foundation’s Junior Digital Content Creator and Graphic Designer, Claudia O’Hare, this approach means we can stay away from using generic stock images and, instead, accurately reflect the vibrant life of our schools. 

Claudia, who studied Film Production and Film Set Design at university, said: “What I enjoy most about my work is bringing the schools to life in a unique and creative way. The illustrations have become an unmistakable part of the Foundation’s identity; they recognise the traditional heritage of our schools while bringing our creative concepts firmly into the modern world. I’m proud to play a part in ensuring our marketing conveys the warmth and individuality of our schools whilst also protecting the digital footprint of our pupils.” 

What’s unique about this approach is the fact that these illustrations can also be used to create short animations, truly enabling the spirit of the schools to come to life. These animations are then used across our social media channels to bridge the gap between traditional printed media and an online presence, ensuring our original style runs through every asset we create and ultimately becomes instantly recognisable to our network of parents, pupils, stakeholders and the wider community. 

Our market positioning has become distinctive as result of these illustrations because we turned this protective measure into a premium, sophisticated asset. Our Marketing Team created a visual framework utilising illustrations and atmospheric environmental photography to capture the warmth, ambition and community of our schools. This groundbreaking shift catalysed national industry debate. Following coverage in The Guardian, TES, Midlands Gazette and a prominent School Management Plus feature, the Foundation was recognised as a sector trailblazer. 

By taking hold of the illustration style and transforming it into a method of ethical marketing, we have proved that stories of pupil achievement, experience and opportunity can be communicated by more than just a traditional photograph, and, in many instances, that they can be brought to life even further by thinking outside the box.