The Kingswood Oxford campus is being refreshed as part of the its ‘2020 Vision,’ and new graphics and retooling of the school colors are part of the plan.

Kingswood Oxford Alumni Hall with new banners. Photo courtesy of Kingswood Oxford

By Ronni Newton

Kingswood Oxford School is in the midst of the five-year campus improvement plan defined by its “2020 Vision,” and included in that plan is an update to the school’s graphic identity that has been rolled out this summer.

As of July 1, KO adopted a new shield as its logo, a single-color design for the school name, and a “reinvented” Wyvern as its mascot.

Kingswood Oxford’s new logo includes a shield. The school’s name is now a single color. Image courtesy of Kingswood Oxford

Kingswood Oxford’s school colors have also been tweaked with a more crimson shade of red replacing the “red-red.” Black will remain as KO’s other official school color.

“I believe this branding captures and conveys what KO is today: An excellent academic institution that is proud of its history and true to its roots, but also modern, adaptable, and poised to compete and succeed in this constantly changing world,” Head of School Dennis Bisgaard said in a news release.

Good Design of Deep River was contracted to assist with the rebranding, a process that has been in the works for nearly 18 months.

According to KO, graphic designers spent months studying the school’s history, existing branding, and architectural details of the main campus as well as the former Oxford School/middle school building on Highland Street which is now home to Bristow Middle School.

Last September, the initial redesigns were revealed to the Kingswood Oxford community via email for feedback. According to KO, most of the initial feedback was negative.

Kingswood Oxford’s redesigned Wyvern mascot. Image courtesy of Kingswood Oxford

In response, Bisgaard said he formed a Branding Council, and the members of that group – alumni, faculty, staff, and students – guided additional revisions to the rebranding based on the input that had been received from the school community. The current design was approved by the Branding Council in the late spring.

“The process we used to get to our final rebranding package was ‘very KO,'” said Bisgaard in the release. “Yes, it was protracted and sometimes messy, but it was also democratic and, to a great degree, collaborative. We asked our community its opinion and we took the feedback to heart, tweaking the design accordingly.”

Director of Communications and Marketing Jackie Pisani said that the design ultimately chosen for the Wyvern was in part inspired by some of the original renderings by former beloved art teacher Pat Rosoff, who passed away as a result of a car crash in March 2014. “We wanted to respect what she had done,” Pisani said.

In a “soft launch,” KO revealed its new banners on the iconic Alumni Hall building to alumni attending Reunion ’16.

“I sincerely hope that our new branding will inspire renewed pride and excitement about KO among all of its constituents,” Bisgaard said.

The new branding is official as of July 1, but KO said that items bearing the old designs will be not be discarded but rather will be replaced gradually according to the regular replacement schedule.

Other elements of the “Kingswood Oxford 2020 Vision” include transforming the ice rink into a field house and fitness/wellness center. Ground was broken for that project on May 19.

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