For decades Archer has walked the walk as a category of one—an intentional, iterative educational space for girls unlocking effective strategies for nurturing joy-fueled ambition. With deep understanding of the unique limits and demands placed on girls and women, it balances the best of traditional schooling with emerging research-based approaches to equip girls with the fearlessness, compassion, and resilience they need to move through limits they face while pursuing their individual brilliance. Archer wanted its brand to push limits too, to distinguish it from staid Los Angeles private schools, and give global reach to their uniquely impactful approach.

For under $300k we delivered a full rebrand—positioning, purpose, values, personality, tone-of-voice, messaging, tagline, headlines—and design system was needed to make the core truths of this 500-student, all-girls, Los Angeles school entirely ownable and universally relatable so Archer could extend their antidote of hope to girls and women worldwide.

Limitless education, limitless girls. As the U.S. wrestles with how to bring joy and hopefulness back to girls, the role and influence of educational environments cannot be underestimated. Perfect timing for Archer School for Girls to expand access far beyond its gates to its joy-centric values and approach to female ambition and achievement. Archer equips girls with the fearlessness, compassion, and resilience they need to pursue their brilliance, and we built an equally limitless, timely, and emboldening brand. We positioned Archer distinctly in a “classical-modern” sweet spot that signals to parents the school’s unique balance of traditional schooling with emerging research-based methods—the strategy and identity express its signature principles and practices in ways that captivate, galvanize, and positively impact any girl and girl-supporters. This intentional, iterative brand brilliantly reflects the nature of Archer’s aegis, all in service of a world full of girls and women living without limits.

Our team conducted in-depth category and culture research; ethnographic groups with Archer students of all ages, teachers, board members, and faculty; spent time at Archer in and beyond classrooms; and, most importantly, engaged with current and prospective parents about truths and challenges of education, Archer, and parenthood.

This revealed the ultimate driving factor for school selection: giving kids a better chance at success. While many elite schools attract parents who believe their path to success will be the same for their children, an emerging subset of parents are open-minded about approaches that are tailored to demands of modern contexts and culture, especially for girls. With this insight in hand, we clarified that Archer cannot be for every kind of family and crafted a strategy emphasizing how Archer balances the best of classical education with emerging research-based approaches to offer girls a life-lasting edge and experience of joyful ambition and success.

The design expresses Archer’s classical/modern balancing act and the vibrant, sharp, unstoppable “glow” of its students, teachers, and leaders, while hacking the tricky task of being fresh and futureproof in a category with entrenched historical codes signalling access to success. First, you see a classic, prestigious school—Evergreen and Stone colors, stone-carved wordmark, classically drawn icons. From Archer’s founding story, Artemis (Greek archer and protector of girls) takes the helm of the visual identity, aiming at a star encouraging every girl to aim at her own. Then, a fresh spin on school—California colors pop; modern turns-of-phrase provoke; the dynamic logo and modern iconography nod to Archer’s iterative approach. And the “HER” hidden in ARCHER is now a platform for messages that embolden all girls and girl-supporters. The best of classical education made modern, timely, and compelling with its emerging methods and a now limitless, galvanizing brand.

Since October, success has rippled for Archer. The rebrand graced billboards in Los Angeles & Times Square garnering 2,209,579 impressions, 123% increase in Google searches, 45% increase in web sessions, and reached 16,000+ non-follower accounts. The billboards inspired a fiery thought-piece from a prominent LA blogger that began a dialogue about girls’ education and the future of private schools. At Archer, every spring admissions event was max capacity and enrollment rates of accepted students increased. The girls are embracing the intentionally flexible identity—they designed and sold-out 1,000s of units of merch, use the values, purpose, and tagline as affirmations, and made their new headline “study history, then make it” into a public content series about historically impactful women. Archer is collaborating with their now limitless brand, using it to export their unique impact on girls in ways that can inspire and change the broader world for all girls.