Tutor the Nation is an organisation that aims to bridge the gap in education by offering free tutorage to under-privileged students by pairing them with volunteers from universities across the UK.
Client: Tutor the Nation
Agency: Drew London
Branding & Digital: Sasha Beattie
“Bridging the gap” in education is what Tutor the Nation is all about. The H is a dual-purpose motif — as both a bridge and a smile.
From there the tagline, “Bridging the gap in education with a smile” came to mind, communicating the
positivity and ethos of the organisation.
The phrase, “with a smile” emerged as a key part of the brand so I created a secondary mark to embody that sentiment utilising the H/smile and cutting the O from the logo in half to make eye - meet Bridget! Available in two forms: colour block and logo-outline, Bridget quickly became the well-loved mascot of the brand.
Bright, bold and (almost) primary colours create the base of the palette, contrasted by full sections of black and white - the colour palette was aimed around 3 core adjectives: exciting, youthful and engaging. It’s rainbow-esque, using colours that don't feel either masculine or feminine - there's something for everyone!
Everybody loves stickers, right?
The blocky design of the website is broken up with hand drawn stickers, each symbolising something meaningful of TtN, from safeguarding to confidence and of course sticker-Bridget. They can also be
repurposed as playful and recognisable brand assets so the Tutor the
Nation “stamp” can be placed on social media posts and, thinking of the future of this organisation, printed in real life as branded merchandise.
The site design utilises colour blocking, full bleed sections, photography and big bold text to create an open, human centred design with the main goal of recruiting new volunteers/tutors. Information is clearly labeled with easy to find FAQs and contact information.
Accessibility is important, so to create contrast a secondary colour palette was introduced using HSL and font was kept at a larger size for better visibility. The buttons are rounded and the uplifted titles soften the sharper shapes in the site, making the design feel friendly and comfortable.
The uplifted titles symbolise upward momentum, they are climbing up and “overlapping the gap”. It might not be an obvious sentiment to users but the inference is there to keep
users engaged as they explore through the site, giving importance to new sections.
On mobile, the blocks are stacked. This helps to keep the design consistently user-friendly and open as it's responsive across all devices.
As the site doubles as a hub for current tutors to log into their accounts the log-in page was mobile optimised for tutors on the go!
Social media would be an important part of Tutor the Nation reaching their target: to recruit new volunteers.
Using bold colour block text mixed in with black and white imagery (plus stickers) these templates were designed to be fun and informative and catch the eye of potential tutors and schools.
