How Karachi School Of Art's Print Design Modernized A Legacy Academic Brand
Founded in 1960s, Karachi School Of Arts (KSA) is Pakistan’s top-rated higher education institution with academics in fine arts, textile design, fashion design, interior design, photography – to name a few.
The School decided to revamp their image and invest into an extensive marketing campaign for the first time since 1964. This is where Craftsmen Media, Pakistani marketing agency, came into the picture.
They have conceived an all-round billboard marketing strategy for the school. The resulting Karachi School of Arts print design is an intelligent amalgam of the existing brand assets and new objectives.
Namely, the agency used the current logo as a starting point to deliver the message to the school’s contemporary-minded target audience.
Craftsmen Media have created multiple billboards that showcase a well-thought-out art direction. The pieces work well individually, as well as in a broad context, as a cumulative messaging effort.
Try looking into prominent branding agencies to craft a holistic brand message like the Karachi School of Arts.
How The Designers Built the Billboard Design Around the School's Recognizable Logo Grid
To retain KSA’s recognizable visual elements but also create a fresh, modern print design, the agency tapped into the school’s existing logo. The logo’s nine squares provided a modular grid that the agency used as a foundation for this print design campaign.
From the nine grid squares, the possibilities branched out into seemingly limitless directions. Depending on the individual billboard’s messaging and purpose, the standard 3x3 grid would expand to a 4x4 or 5x4 layout. The designers made sure the grid is easily identifiable as a KSA’s logo, regardless of the layout.
For example, the 4x4 grid billboards communicate the school’s various academic courses. The fine arts billboard fills the grid with a cubist portrait against a vermillion background. The one for textile design has the grid filled with intricate floral patterns against the green background, and so on.
The recognizable layout coupled with vibrant colors doesn’t fail to attract the attention of passers by – including the school’s potential students.
The School Launched 3 Versions of Billboard Design To Capture & Recapture Their Audience's Attention
Aside from these iterations of Karachi School of Arts print design, the creative agency also made several billboards that spell out the main marketing message. These 5x4 billboards serve as “triptychs”, so to speak, because they are grouped together in threes.
The first of the three billboards spells out the letter “K” in vibrant burgundy color in its grid. The other one has “S” in amber shade and the third one has “A” in iridescent blue-red gradient.
Along with the school’s acronym, each billboard delivers a part of the message in sans-serif font, with each letter belonging to a specific slot within a grid.
Complementary Color Palettes Pop In Their Billboard Frames
What these two types of KSA print design, i.e. billboards, have in common is that their saturated colors help them stand out very well against the mostly grey concrete cityscape.
Even when placed in the billboard’s “placeholders”, their visual effect is stunning and impactful.
The choice of complementary colors works very well for two reasons: firstly, it helps the school be more identifiable and noticeable in the hustle and bustle of the city. Secondly, it speaks to its artistic and creative nature as well as the nature of future students.
The typography is a legible sans-serif font that is easy to read from a distance or when on the move, without stopping. This also improves the retention of the main marketing message in the minds of people on the go that look at the billboard.
Karachi School Of Arts’ Print Design Shows That Brand Consistency & Innovation Are Not Mutually Exclusive
Karachi School Of Arts is an established educational institution and one of Pakistan’s most esteemed art schools. Now, it has a print marketing campaign to match its reputation.
The brand wasn’t lacking in other aspects of their visual identity. The existing brand logo served as a basis for this project and its other outlets, especially the website, are quite up-to-date.
Using this good starting point to their advantage, Crafstmen Media came up with an eye-catching print design that not only communicates the school’s offering, but also makes the surroundings prettier.
Even some graphic designers would agree that the Karachi School Of Arts print design is fully on-brand and takes the institution well into the XXI century with the look that wouldn’t feel out of place on New York’s Time Square.
The creative use of the modular grid design, implementation of colors and illustrations and excellent typography made this print design one of our winners in the corresponding category for August 2021!
