Brand Guidelines
Our brand,
at a glance.
NextSchool is an AI education consultancy for Canadian families. These guidelines exist so that partners, press, and schools can represent us accurately — and so the brand still feels like ours wherever it shows up.
Last updated April 2026
“Warm over clever. Specific over salesy. Consultant, never algorithm.”
Our voice, in one line
01 — Logo
The NextSchool mark
Our wordmark pairs a modern serif with a stacked icon. Use the primary lockup whenever the surface allows it; fall back to the icon mark only when space is genuinely tight (favicons, app tiles, product chrome).
Clear space
Reserve at least half the icon height (x) of clear space on all sides of the logo.
Minimum size
Below these thresholds the wordmark stops being legible — use the icon instead.
- Digital — desktop
- 120 px wide
- Digital — mobile
- 88 px wide
- 24 mm wide
- Icon only
- 20 px / 6 mm
Don’t
A tired logo is a recognizable one. Please avoid the following — they weaken the brand across every surface it appears on.
- ✕Don't recolor the wordmark outside the approved palette.
- ✕Don't stretch, squash, or rotate the logo.
- ✕Don't add drop shadows, glows, or outer strokes.
- ✕Don't reflow the wordmark or break it across lines.
- ✕Don't place the logo on a low-contrast or busy background.
- ✕Don't combine the icon and wordmark in a non-standard lockup.
02 — Color
Palette
Teal is the anchor. Ink and cream carry the editorial chrome. Consultant accents appear only inside their own context — never re-skin the whole brand in an accent color.
Core
Primary accent. CTAs, links, brand signals.
Primary text and dark sections.
Page chrome and editorial surfaces.
Consultant accents
Warm, empathetic voice.
French immersion, IB, and specialized programs.
Independent and boarding programs.
03 — Typography
Serif and sans, side by side
Playfair Display carries the editorial voice — headings, pull-quotes, and hero statements. Inter runs everything else: body copy, UI, navigation. The two never mix on a single line.
Playfair Display — headings
Aa
The right school for your child.
An editorial consultancy, not an algorithm.
Pull-quotes, hero statements, and section headings.
Weights: 400, 500, 600. Google Fonts →
Inter — body & UI
Aa
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog — and finds a Montessori school on the way.
Used for every paragraph, label, button, and data point across the product. Pair with Playfair but never on the same line.
Eyebrow / label
Weights: 400, 500, 600, 700. Google Fonts →
04 — Consultants
Our consultant identities
Each consultant has a name, a voice, and a single accent color. Consultant portraits are brand-owned — do not crop, colorize, or overlay them. The accent color applies only inside that consultant’s context (chat, email, session card).
05 — Voice & Tone
How we sound
We write like a trusted family friend who happens to know every school in the city. Warm, specific, quietly confident — never the loudest voice in the room.
Warm over clever
We talk to parents, not to each other. Drop the jargon, keep the empathy.
Specific over salesy
Name the school, cite the number, link the source. Vagueness reads as hype.
Consultant, not algorithm
We're the expert in the room. The tech is a tool, not the product.
Say this
Not this
"Three Montessori schools near the Beaches fit your daughter's profile."
"AI-powered, next-gen school search — find the best school for your kid!"
"Tuition is $24,800 this year. Financial aid covers ~18% of families."
"Affordable world-class education tailored to your needs."
"Jackie can walk you through the trade-offs — want to chat?"
"Unlock premium insights now. Limited-time offer."
06 — Imagery & Motion
Editorial, not stock
Photography should feel like it was commissioned for a long-form article: natural light, real moments, real places. Avoid polished stock smiles and generic classroom B-roll.
Photography
- • Natural light, wide aspect ratios, grounded color grading.
- • Real schools, real classrooms, real families — with consent.
- • Never composite a NextSchool logo onto a school we don’t represent.
Motion & video
- • Slow, unhurried pacing. Sound design is optional — captions are not.
- • Hero reels loop ambient footage behind editorial headlines.
- • Export H.264 MP4, 1080p minimum, under 8 MB for web.
AI imagery
- • Allowed for abstract or illustrative use only.
- • Never for consultant portraits or real school identities.
- • Label clearly when used in editorial contexts.
07 — Co-branding
Using our mark alongside yours
Schools, partners, and press may use the NextSchool mark to reference our platform — with a few guardrails to keep both brands looking sharp.
Allowed
- • “Researched on NextSchool” verified badge on claimed school pages.
- • Side-by-side or stacked lockups with equal visual weight.
- • Factual references in press (“listed on NextSchool.ca”).
Not allowed
- • Implying endorsement, ranking, or partnership we haven’t confirmed.
- • Placing the logo inside your own product UI without written consent.
- • Modifying the mark (colour, proportions, lockup) to match your brand.
Legal
The fine print
NextSchool and the NextSchool wordmark are trademarks of NextSchool Inc. All brand assets are provided for reference and approved editorial use. Modifying, reselling, or implying an endorsement we haven’t granted is not permitted.
For anything outside these guidelines — custom lockups, event sponsorship art, interview assets — write to us and we’ll respond within two business days.