Commando Joe's
Visual Identity / Strategy / Brand Fundamentals / Comms & Collateral
Unleashing potential in an educational brand built for kids
Commando Joe’s helps build self-confidence and character within school children of all ages.
Run by ex-military personnel, and with a name like Commando Joe’s, there was an understandable common pre-conception that they looked, and therefore would perhaps be, a little too ‘boyish’ in their approach. That couldn’t be further from the truth and so we had to build a brand that felt more immediately inclusive and reflective of their values. Putting fun at the heart of the brand was key, whilst making it feel more accessible and open for all.
Far from just a ‘physical’ approach, Commando Joe’s is about teaching all children extremely positive and well-rounded life skills, in and out of the classroom; skills which develop their fundamental character and mental resilience. It’s a very modern and enlightened approach to teaching, and we aimed to make our brand identity a reflection of that.
After lengthy discussions with the CJ’s team, we crafted a new mission, vision and purpose, before building out a new tone of voice and visual identity. We used their RESPECT framework as a basis for comms and collateral, and as useful signposting for distilling and conveying the information.
A key challenge for us was to provide flexibility within the design system. We’re talking to a very wide audience – from primary school children, all the way up to secondary school, plus we need to communicate with teachers, and key decision-makers both at Schools and within Educational Authorities. So, we made sure our new brand look and feel gave us the opportunity to tailor both messaging, and photography, all whilst retaining our really distinct and memorable identity.
The work done by Sergeant Walnuts is a reflection of their team's creativity. They were meticulous throughout the entire process, and we felt like they listened from the initial briefs to the final stages, which is evident in the final results. Sergeant Walnuts has been a pleasure to work with, and the results are something of which we can all be incredibly proud.
Dan Kelly
MD, Commando Joe’s
