Client Partner
- E.L. Haynes
Impact Areas
Services
- Brand Identity
- Logo Creation
- Visual Identities
- Iconography
- Brand Guidelines
- Brand Website
- Information Architecture
- Website Design
- Website Development
- Brand Support
- Advisory Services
- Campaign Creative
- Print Collateral
- Report and Book Design
- Illustration
- Signage + Mural Design
- Apparel
- Website Maintenance
E.L. Haynes is an award-winning public charter school serving more than 1,100 Pre-K through 12th grade students in Washington, DC. Their learning community is built on the belief that every student, of every race, socioeconomic status, home language, and ability, should have an education that prepares them to thrive in college, career, and life.
Named for Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes, the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics and a DCPS teacher for nearly 50 years, and founded in 2004 by Jennie Niles, the school was entering a new phase of its development and was in need of a visual brand identity system that expressed a refreshed, optimistic energy.
E.L. Haynes felt it was important to refine their visual identity without losing elements of their brand that were important to the school community. We carefully refined the logomark to maintain the integrity of the initial logo, while expanding the color palette and introducing angular color-blocking that is carried throughout the entire brand identity.
The three peaks in the original logomark represent elementary, middle, and high school—the three challenges every student must summit. In our refined logomark, we freed the mountain from its enclosing shape, allowing us to enlarge and emphasize these three peaks.
The E.L. Haynes website design feels open and welcoming. The diagonal angles of the logomark are carried throughout the site, giving the design a dynamic brand experience that feels uniquely their own.
It was important that the brand identity maintain its integrity while remaining curious, playful, and full of energy. We developed an identity system with enough flexibility to carry that spirit consistently across every brand touch-point.
To celebrate E.L. Haynes' fifteenth anniversary, we developed a campaign and companion website called 15 Years, 15 Stories that was used to celebrate the school's history, impact, and accomplishments.
The campaign spotlights the individuals, programs, and partners who have shaped the school and its community since its founding in 2004. Fifteen portraits illustrated by Jackie Lay honor each of the campaign’s subjects and serve as the visual anchor of the campaign.
