The Sheffield College is a leading UK full-time and higher education institution, providing thousands of courses with access to world-class facilities to more than 16,000 students every year. Field has worked closely with the College since 2015, acting as brand guardians, evolving and progressing the college’s brand visuals and communication strategy to adapt to an ever-shifting marketplace.

As part of our role as creative lead and brand guardian, we are constantly assessing the brands strengths and flexibility in order to maintain a strong and robust set of sub-brands and off-site commercial activities. This role requires a team of organised and creative team members to ensure that there are no conflicts or off-brand solutions when managing the public perception of the college.

The Sheffield College’s summer campaign is their annual recruitment drive and is viewed as the benchmark campaign of the year, producing the most traction in terms of enquiries and enrollment. Our creative direction extends the core brand to build a narrative of local pride and ownership. The campaign celebrates Sheffield as an exciting place to study, encouraging students to remain in the city for their higher education journey. Positioning Sheffield as a vibrant alternative to other major education hubs, the campaign delivers a powerful message: students can receive a high-quality education without needing to leave their home city.

This has allowed us to create a bold graphic approach, making the activation of social media and animation applications seamlessly join together. The success of the campaign and the overarching brand is that we assess what has been successful or less successful year-on-year alongside maintain a strong brand identity that separates The Sheffield College from other localised campaigns and education providers. The college stands head and shoulders apart from the FE and HE providers in the area and has a clear, simple and distinctive identity that can flex and reach to both planned and reactive scenarios.

The summer campaign is updated annually, keeping the focus on locality and Sheffield. Each year, we create a full suite of messaging and updated campaign graphics that is rolled out across social graphics, out of home, and print. This is applied to multiple markets: school leavers, higher education, and apprenticeships.