Belmont Christian College was turning 40, and we made them a book for it, “40 Stories for 40 Years,” to be delivered as part of the anniversary celebrations. It gathered four decades of stories, photographs, and memories to honour the people who made the school what it is.
We designed it ‘outside’ the BCC brand on purpose, because we didn’t want it to feel like marketing or a promotional piece. This was a community artefact, something for the school community to treasure, so it needed to feel nostalgic, honouring, celebratory, and meaningful.
The thing we noticed early was that the best stories weren’t always the big milestones or achievements. They were the small moments that showed the character of the community: teachers who’d stayed for decades, families who helped shape the early years.
It was a really special process to be a part of.
We had conversations with past and present students, staff, parents, and the original pioneers who’d been there at the start, and paired what we found with archival photographs, the kind that show how the school had grown in shape but stayed the same in spirit.
It has since become something the community treasures. Staff and long-standing families recognised their own history in its pages, and younger families got a sense of the legacy they were joining.
There’s something in this we carry into other work: a milestone like this is often best marked by honouring people rather than the institution. Gather the stories with care, and they become the thing that carries a community into whatever comes next.
A coffee-table anniversary book delivered for Belmont's 40th.
A community object families treasure, with staff and long-standing families seeing their own history in it.
As part of the brand relaunch we wrote a manifesto, a poetic call to arms that ties the school’s story, purpose, and values into one flag-in-the-ground moment. Then we made it the script for a film, with students, staff, and community members each reading a line.
For BCC’s brand rollout we worked hard to involve the entire community from the ground up – building excitement and understanding so the change felt like a good-news story.
