Rebranding Case Study

What is Skilzi?

Skilzi is a dynamic educational platform. We are proud to offer personalized learning experiences in multiple formats. We hire the best instructors because we care about giving all of our students an exceptional educational experience. Skilzi is specially designed to cater to each of our students’ unique needs. We are proud of our team and even prouder of our students’ accomplishments.

The Opportunity

Skilzi started in mid-2015 as an educational startup providing intensive GMAT Bootcamps. By the middle of 2016, after a series of successful Bootcamps, the Skilzi team embarked on a mission to transform the institute. Our mission was to become a provider of premium educational services with a focus on student success. We knew that scaling up from GMAT Bootcamps to a more comprehensive educational service meant a need for revamping the Skilzi identity.

Findings and Solutions

We started our transformation with the following changes:

● A new identity package including the following:

Signage
Letterhead
Business Cards

● A simple yet modern logo that works across all platforms.

● A re-designed, complete, and newly developed website that effectively conveys our most important business principles:

The message
Actively engages the audience
Ultimately drives towards both our and our students’ goals

Inspiration

We knew it was time to scrap our previous ideas and rethink the entire concept behind the design. That is when the inspiration to explore simple typography logos with hidden meanings came up.

Impressive Samples

Some of the logo inspiration included the brand MNML, ZIP and FEDEX, which fulfilled all the criteria mentioned in the feedback received from the team.

Our Journey

Our journey started with several trial and error methods that never formed a final conclusion. Many of the presented thoughts and ideas were somehow limited to the old style of learning. However, one study turned out to help us discover our future icon, and it was all due to a simple typo with the word “Skilzi”

First Review

● We thought that the logos looked passable but they had a very generic and repetitive feel to them. We felt like we had seen similar logos before, and we wanted to ensure our brand would be recognizable and unique.

● The icons were complicated and detailed.

● The idea of using the letter “S” for iconography was completely dropped and focus was shifted to come up with something simpler and much more memorable.

The Result

The change turned the Skilzi team into a whole new direction of thought processes. We become inspired by the samples we studied. They proved to be of great help and there was an excitement to do something people would want to share with others. “This is the amazing Skilzi logo,” we could hear people saying.

Ideation

With education being the prime focus, it was necessary to show something related to studying and schooling. And what could be more relatable than a classroom or the items traditionally found inside?

The idea then changed to bringing in the most common elements of an iconic study environment within the logo.

The final logo had a table and chair with a student in the negative space (as marked in the picture).

The Branding

Our beloved Skilzi logo, color and font was chosen very carefully, as every small detail matters when it comes to branding.

Color Palette

While we knew that honing in the narrative and message behind our logo should of course be our primary concern, research suggests that our logo’s design, specifically its colors, and would have more bearing on our customers’ opinions than someone might think. The Skilzi team chose our color palette very carefully.

Font Selection

Additionally, we know that the font our brand chose needed to go a long way in determining how our Skilzi brand would represent our company. We knew we had a long way to go with all of the other important design decisions yet to be made.