From brown to green, form trees to the meeting house; many logos have appeared throughout the George school history. At the end of last school year, George School developed its latest logo.
As the new school year moved on, students and faculties gradually became familiar with George School’s new logo and visuals, which are displayed on posters, new merch, website, and paper works.
Looking into the rebranding teams, it is the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications that decided the rebranding process in 2023. The rebranding focused on creating visual identity of George School’s community, honoring George School’s history, compelling market space, etc. To honor the history the logo takes a new central part of the campus and combines it with the familiar tree: the meetinghouse. Both elements are brought together by shades of turquoise and green.
When students were asked what their impressions toward the new logo are, there are many understandings and positive comments. “Even though I like the old logo, I completely understand how they want to rebrand it to make it more modernized” mentioned Maggie Solomon-Scheller ‘26. While returning students embraced the change of the logo, new students held positive opinions about the new brand, “the logo is well designed because of the combination of tree and house, which makes me think about family” added Lucy Li ‘27, “George School creates a bond for its community members, and the house serves as a shelter that protects everyone, resembling the feeling of protection George school teachers, counselors and dorm parents gave me.”
Since compelling in the boarding and independent school marketplace is also one of the goals of the new logo, the style of the logo shifts distinctively from the old ones. Many returning students also expressed that they are still in the process of getting use to the new logo.
Shirley Zhao, a senior at GS, stated “even though the new brand is modernized and cool, but I like the old one because it gives a sense that the tree is always spreading and growing up without limits.” Similarly, Elliot Kim mentioned “The new brand is simplistic to get the point out, but I still like the old one because it is iconic and has all the details in it.”
Alina Pang, a junior visual art student who analyzed the logo from a design perspective, pointed out that people liked the old brand because of its lighter colors and more symmetrical, natural portrayal of the tree. In contrast, she explained, the new brand is too simplistic, limiting the color and graphic choices. Furthermore, the house outline confines the tree, making the leaves appear chaotic.
On behalf of the Rebranding Committee, Tricia O’Neill states that the goal of the new logo is to “visualize athletic identity with school identity.” She explains, “We learned through the process that the identity of George School is continually evolving, as is true of any institution. It was fun to dive into the school archives and discover how George School has talked about itself over the decades, and to see how the school’s logos and visual identity have evolved.”
While the opinions toward rebranding varied based on student’s different interpretation and past connections with the previous visuals, the logo emphasized a step that George School took to improve the visual identity of the community. Overall, the essence of the new logo is to resonate the community, and many students have felt this meaning through the logo and embrace the changes in the community.
