Walker Jansseune in city academy push

City Academy Bristol, one of the 40 UK institutions set up under the Government’s city academies initiative, today launches a branding scheme to help raise the profile of vocational education at a national level.

The scheme, devised by Bath-based design consultancy Walker Jansseune, features a series of panels that will be used as part of the academy’s interior, and will be dedicated to honouring students who have excelled in career pathways through a vocational education.

Walker Jansseune was appointed to the project in February without a pitch, on the strength of connections made through a networking group. Although City Academy Bristol made the initial brief and appointment, management of the project was taken over by Edge, a charity that promotes vocational education.

Edge project manager Carlos Rodriguez explains that City Academy Bristol was singled out for the scheme because it had demonstrated elements of best practice in vocational learning. As a sponsor of City Academy Bristol and a prospective sponsor of two others – Nottingham and Milton Keynes – Edge hopes that the scheme will act as a promotional platform to raise the profile of vocational education, and will be adopted by other city academies across the UK.

Len Morphew, one of the directors at the academy, explains that the panels will make for a ‘stimulating and attractive environment that will help motivate students’.

Walker Jansseune was tasked with creating an adaptable scheme that can be used from academy to academy, as well as catering for changes in course programmes. It has also been briefed to create signage for the Bristol academy.