Made in Hayward

It emphasizes our belief that every child has a bright future ahead of them.  It also highlights four pillars that our stakeholders have strongly indicated should be central to our messaging: diversity, opportunity, community schools, and preparedness.

A new logo is only a part of the the entire brand. Our new logo combines two key themes. First, the iconic and familiar “H” harkens back to a strong historical legacy and has a collegiate look. Second, the colors remain similar to the previous logo, but signify a strong symbol of future possibilities on the horizon.

Our new brand signifies an evolution, not a revolution. That’s why you will continue to see the “Made in Hayward” slogan incorporated in our brand. We wanted to continue to share the feeling of pride that we have for Hayward and our schools, but also further explain to the community why being Made in Hayward is special to to us.

This change represents a thoughtful, research-based effort to enhance our communications—both to ensure that parents and families can access the best opportunities for their children and to highlight the strong work of our teachers, staff and students throughout the district.

The district needs to be more competitive and clear about who we are and what we offer.  We found that many families who choose alternative educational options for their children are not aware of the many programs that distinguish our public schools.

Before we began external marketing efforts, we realized we needed to make sure our message reflected who we are and what we value. We have a unique opportunity to introduce ourselves to new Hayward families and re-introduce ourselves to families with strong roots in Hayward. The new brand creates a solid foundation to help us communicate our message more  professionally and consistently for years to come.

School staff and the district’s various departments are focused on supporting the academic, emotional, and physical needs of our students and families every day. It’s important—and possible—for the district to also share information with our families and the community about what makes HUSD great by enthusiastically marketing ourselves. In our stakeholder meetings, we repeatedly heard that HUSD has a lot to offer, but current and prospective families aren’t always aware of what’s available.

We can’t rely on others to determine what HUSD is all about. Students, families, and staff work tirelessly, both in and out of the classroom, and we think it’s important to articulate a message that celebrates them and the outcome we are all trying to achieve.

Healthy organizations take a look at their brand message from time to time to make sure it has kept pace with their current values and where they are heading. It has been over 15 years since HUSD has evaluated its brand. We’ve made great strides during that time and we want to make sure it is reflected in our message!

Our previous brand, with the  two competing logos, was confusing. The Made in Hayward slogan is beloved by our community, but some of our local partners indicated that it wasn’t clear that this slogan belonged to our school district. Additionally, the logo doesn’t mention HUSD in the name. We wanted to find a new way to incorporate “Made in Hayward” without continuing to use the two logos together. You’ll see that the new brand system is very flexible and some of the designs incorporate Made in Hayward as a tagline. For design purposes, the tagline can be incorporated into flyers and other digital content as its own artwork. To access the official Made in Hayward tagline (it has a specific font that the print shop owns) and different variations of the logo, please contact the print shop at printshop@husd.us. Please see the style guide for examples of how the tagline can be used.

The following changes will happen in the more immediate future:

• Updates to our websites and digital communications

• Updates to our social media channels

• Promotional flyers that highlight the strengths of each school

• Public advertising via street banners and other activations throughout Hayward

The following changes are expected to be phased in over a longer period of time:

• Signage on our buildings and vehicles

• A promotional video

• Changes to printed materials produced by the district

We are also making some internal changes. Staff will immediately have access to new letterhead templates that can be customized for each school or administrative division. The print shop can also begin printing business cards utilizing the new designs.

That’s okay. We will phase in our new brand over time. You can expect to see our original artwork on printed materials for some time. We don’t want the new campaign to be a financial burden to schools or administrative departments. Make changes to digital materials now and update your printed materials the next time you have the need to print new content.

We agree that the graduation cap was an appealing part of the Made in Hayward logo. We did review versions of the new logo with the cap, but we opted for a simpler, cleaner version for a few reasons. On a practical level, we chose a design that works better in digital and scales well for various applications. We are also conscious that our district spans preschool through adult school and we aspire to prepare our students for life beyond just high school graduation.

The district is in a very exciting place. We will soon be opening STEAM buildings at all of our high schools, we are developing STEAM curriculum in collaboration with CSU East Bay, we are working to implement rigorous arts curriculum at all grade levels, our facilities will be receiving important upgrades, and our families are engaged in the educational lives of their students in important ways.

You can help by sharing information provided by the district via its newsletter, website, or social media channels. We are also working on streamlining the enrollment process and providing clearer communication regarding enrollment. You can also help by sharing enrollment information with neighbors and friends who are new to the area.