The TUSP Rebrand Story
We at The Uganda School Project love what we do, supporting communities to flourish through helping provide access to a quality education. For 7.5 years we have dedicated countless hours, funding sourced from our wonderful supporters, and a big helping of love, to help children reach their full potential. And we feel now is the right time to update the aesthetics of our organisation to the outside world – all of our incredible supporters! – to mirror the growth and evolution of the organisation.
What started as a labour of love, led completely by volunteers with full hearts, empty pockets, and some hours to spare here and there, has grown far beyond what we had envisaged in those early days. We are close to completing construction of a second primary school in Namisindwa District which, when combined with the support of Bumakenya Primary School, will be serving a total of over 1,000 primary school children a day.
Thankfully, our organisation has grown internally too. Gone are the days when we used to proclaim our well-intentioned but naïve “100% of donations go to programmes” ethos, because ultimately to have the biggest impact, to reach the most children, an organisation needs overheads. Overheads is seen as a dirty word in the charity sector, but unless you invest in people that will help grow the organisation, your impact will always be limited. Would you rather 100% of £500, or 70% of £5,000?
And so, with 2024 upon us, we are looking to take the organisation to the next level. Our glorious new rebranding effort, developed in collaboration with the wonderfully talented and diligent team at OXygen, is an outward facing indication of that internal growth. Our dedication to professionalising the organisation, fostering greater trust amongst communities we serve, deepening bonds with our existing supporters and creating meaningful relationships with new partners is reflected in our new identity, and will help grow the organisation and create the biggest impact possible.
The new aesthetic of the organisation will help you, our supporters, recognise, connect with and support our mission, and reflect the values we hold dear.
It is bright, colourful, positive and playful. This mirrors our focus on the power of education in having a positive impact on society, working together with communities to uplift its citizens, and showcasing the impact in providing a safe, supportive learning environment can have on a child. We focus not on pity and sympathy for those less privileged than us, but on how supporting our fellow humans can help create the better world we all believe is possible.
The colours used were chosen to represent the colour palette you are met with when visiting this part of Uganda - the greens of the lush vegetation that the equatorial climate supports, and the earth, naturally enriched with iron and aluminium, that creates a deep, reddish-brown hue.
The elements used in our visual identity also connect with our mission. The tiles are shaped like bricks, to symbolise our work in building infrastructure needed to support an education: classrooms, latrines, and access to clean drinking water. They also represent our dedication to sustainability and collaboration: we believe that building something together, with shared ownership, is the way to make our impact last long into the future.
Finally, the visuals are playful in nature. Whilst we are serious about our mission and know the importance of the work we do, it is equally important to have fun: to work with a smile on our faces, and to represent and transmit the joyfulness a quality education can generate into our communications.
So as we look to build our future, and that of the children we work with, we invite you on this new, exciting journey, and the new visual identity we have created to accompany it. Look forward to more consistent communications of our programmes and impact, more interaction with our community of existing and new supporters, and more representation of the values we hold dear.
And if you are interested in joining us on this journey, whether through donating, fundraising on our behalf, or through a value-creating partnership with your like-minded business or institution, please do get in touch - we’d love to hear from you!
Wanyala navi! (Thank you very much!)
The Uganda School Project