EF Kids & Teens

An end-to-end re-brand for EF’s biggest product in Asia

English education for kids & teens aged 3–18

For over 25 years, EF Education First has been working to change the way people see the world in China and how Chinese children learn English. With a unique teaching approach focused on developing soft skills, the aim is to produce confident English-speaking children and teenagers who have the tools to succeed academically and in life.

During this quarter-century, EF Kids & Teens has become the biggest and fastest-growing product for EF in China. There had never been a dedicated brand identity for the product. For over 12 months between 2018 and 2019, the Global Creative Studio spearheaded a holistic creative overhaul to create a new way of doing things.

Role

Creative Director
Project Lead

Period

2018–

Company

EF Education First

A comprehensive identity usage guide was developed in PDF format and as part of gud.ef.design

Block by block

Learning English with EF Kids & Teens means learning word by word, sentence by sentence — block by block. By learning, playing and working from age 3 towards building a metaphorical tower of knowledge, students graduate at 18 with expertise in the English language. Learning English with EF means a children’s entire academic breadth grows, as they develop new skills, build their confidence and have fun.

I directed the photoshoot for which all K&T marketing materials will pull from for 2020–21

A tower of knowledge

Each block within the EF Kids & Teens brand identity represents another learning milestone that children earn. By understanding grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening and speaking, their tower of knowledge grows. The visual language is an umbrella brand that encapsulates four age groups (Small Stars 3–6, High Flyers 7–10, Trailblazers 11–14 and FrontRunner 15–18).

It works to tell the whole story of learning English with EF: As a young person grows through the different age categories, they build blocks of knowledge.

In-school offline items such as the welcome brochure, giveaways and staff lanyards

Scandinavian inspiration

The brand identity reflects this idea of building a future that combines a desire to learn with an appreciation of playing. It is bold, bright, modern and flexible. EF’s international platform is a big draw for parents across China, Russia and Indonesia. We were inspired by mid-20th-century Scandinavian wooden toys for the main graphic device for the brand: the building block. This graphic hints to our European heritage.

We worked with Surface Studio in London and Quite Franckly in Johannesburg on bringing the identity to life in 3D

The Chinese digital landscape

As many western social media channels are blocked in China, we had to gain an understanding of the key platforms in the country and how customers are using them. The stand out platform is WeChat, amongst others such as K-Mart and Dian Ping. The traditional marketing website still has a role to play in the digital ecosystem for the product as well, with our team spearheading the effort to overhaul that touchpoint.

There is an ongoing conscious effort to realise how big a role the marketing site can play in obtaining new customers