When I joined Mazenod College in 2022, its marketing and community presence was limited. Social channels had been inactive for months, engagement with Old Collegians and the wider community was minimal, reunions struggled for attendance, there was no regular community publication, and brand guidance extended little beyond correct logo use. My initial brief was to strengthen the College’s brand and marketing presence across social, digital, print and content. Since then, that work has grown into a broader approach to how Mazenod presents itself, communicates and connects with its community, bringing greater consistency across brand, campaigns, publications, photography, video, digital platforms and engagement initiatives.
Organisation
Mazenod College, Victoria
Scope
Branding · Strategy
Year
2022 - Present
Mazenod already had strong visual foundations in its crest and established colour palette. I retained those elements while developing a more contemporary and flexible brand language that could support a much broader marketing and communications presence.
This included a new typography system, an expanded colour palette, clearer hierarchy and accessibility standards, photography and video direction, supporting visual assets, and a more considered relationship between the College and its growing family of sub-brands and community organisations.
Just as importantly, the system needed to work for very different users, from designers and external suppliers through to staff creating everyday documents and presentations. I developed both a comprehensive Master Brand Guide and a simplified Internal Brand Guide, using Argesta Display and Proxima Nova for professional applications, with Georgia Pro and Arial as accessible alternatives for staff without requiring specialist font installations.
Both guides follow the same hierarchy and principles, giving the College flexibility without losing consistency and making the brand easier to maintain across the organisation.
A brand system only works if people can actually use it.
Enrolment marketing needs to do more than promote an Open Day. It needs to build recognition over time, give prospective families a clear sense of the College, and create consistency across each point where they encounter the brand.
Each October, I photograph current Year 7 students and use the College motto, Leave Nothing Undared, as the foundation for the following year’s enrolment campaign. From that initial concept and photoshoot, I develop a connected body of work that carries through to Open Day in March.
The campaign extends across social media, advertising, posters, publications, campus tour collateral and other enrolment touchpoints. Each piece is adapted to its format and purpose while working within the same visual and messaging system.
It is a good example of how I prefer to work: one central idea carried across photography, design, content and communications to create a complete campaign rather than a collection of individual outputs.
Building a stronger Mazenod presence also meant creating better ways for people to remain connected with the College beyond their time as students or parents.
I introduced the Mazenod Old Collegians’ Digital Portal, using the Alumnly platform to provide former students with a dedicated place to reconnect with the College, engage with the Mazenod Old Collegians’ Association, discover events and maintain relationships across year levels.
I also designed, developed and produced The Provence, a new community magazine created to extend Mazenod’s communications beyond current families. It provides a platform for sharing College stories with Old Collegians, feeder primary schools, local parishes and the wider community.
With the formation of the Mazenod Foundation in 2024, both platforms gained an additional purpose. The magazine and alumni portal became important channels for maintaining relationships with the College community, communicating the Foundation’s work and engaging prospective donors.
Together, these initiatives created ongoing digital and editorial channels for community engagement, rather than relying on individual events and announcements to maintain those relationships.
As the scope of the work expanded, so did my role. What began as hands-on responsibility for design, photography, video and content has developed into leadership of Mazenod’s broader marketing and communications function.
I now set direction across brand, campaigns, digital, publications and major strategic projects, while continuing to design, shoot, edit and produce work myself. That balance between shaping the bigger picture and staying close to the execution is central to how I work.
