St. Louis University High School
Educating men for others
St. Louis University High School (SLUH) is one of the city’s premier high schools, offering a rigorous academic curriculum that prepares young men for the demands and responsibilities of the real world.
Believe it. Become it.
CHALLENGE
St. Louis University High School is the oldest secondary educational institution west of the Mississippi River. Though thousands of young men have grown into their own at SLUH, the school hoped to usher even more into its halls. But increasing enrollment requires evolution — and a partner proficient in digital marketing for private schools.
SOLUTION
Paradigm led a school branding initiative that preserved SLUH’s classic character while introducing a contemporary edge. A cohesive visual identity system with guidelines helped SLUH connect with the St. Louis metro audience — boosting both recognition and enrollment.
Strategy
As time passed and SLUH grew, its brand drifted.
Branding for schools often erodes with time. Each department had begun to interpret the brand a bit differently. Disparate colors, fonts and imagery made interactions with the school feel inconsistent. Internal stakeholders were confused — so audiences were too.
Our charge was to bring everything back into alignment. SLUH needed clear, recognizable and authentic branding that would show up consistently across all channels.
Logo Identity
Our school branding work honored a rich history while adding a contemporary edge.
We reworked the school’s signature fleur-de-lis into a strong symbol set within a dark blue diamond shield that exuded the masculinity of its student body. An effervescent blue radiates through the shield, a nod to the Jesuit idea of Christ’s ever-present light in our lives.
Due to our experience in digital marketing for private schools, we knew SLUH’s school branding needed to extend to everything from athletic apparel to professional letterheads. Our designers responded with a suite of logo presentations for different use cases, such as:
Giving Societies
We designed a series of giving society crests that elevated donor recognition while adhering to the SLUH parent brand.
Milestone Celebrations
Branding for schools must account for major milestones, not just day-to-day use. With this in mind, we developed logos for significant milestones, such as SLUH’s bicentennial celebration.
Athletic Programs
We cleaned up SLUH’s mascot, the Junior Billiken, and incorporated it into unique logos for each sport. Logos mockups appeared as they would in practice: on everything from uniforms to flags.
Brand Guidelines
We sent SLUH back to school with a branding system.
Our school branding guidelines brought logos, fonts, colors and styles into one clear system — and showed how it would all fit together in practice. Built for real use, they ensured every department would apply the brand with intention rather than guesswork.
The result was a consistent, confident and clear presentation of SLUH that lent itself well to digital marketing for private schools.
“As a SLUH alum, this project was especially meaningful to me. It’s the kind of work we love — driven by passion as much as purpose. Being able to give back to my alma mater by helping shape a new identity for the school was truly special.”
Michael Huber Paradigm CEO and SLUH Alum