In the midst of extreme air pollution this week, we had a rare and deeply appreciated visit from a senior member of the executive team at the United World Colleges (UWC) International Office in London.

Our visitor was Megan Munsell, the Director of Communications for United World Colleges, a role that includes oversight for publications (including ‘United World’), the UWC website and - especially poignant at the moment - responsibility for the development of the new UWC branding, including a new logo, publications and photographic guidelines, key messages, etc.

The board, staff and students at LPCUWC have been involved in the consultation process on the new branding for several months, and Megan’s was intended to communicate the progress of the re-branding exercise and to gather informal feedback from the LPCUWC community, especially the board.  Megan spoke to several meetings, including the Students Consultative Committee, a staff meeting, a special meeting with board members, and an evening meeting of interested students.  Megan was also energetic in speaking one-on-one with students and teachers over morning tea, over meals in the canteen, on informal walks around the campus, and with the students in LPC Netorial (the group that has responsibility for the LPCUWC website).  Megan also gathered significant background information, such as by looking at the range of clothing and other articles produced by the students in LPC Souvenirs, and taking photographs around the campus.

Megan was very generous in offering us her expert advice on ways by which we could make our branding more consistent and effective, and this was deeply appreciated by the whole LPCUWC community.

Megan was also provided with some feedback and gentle suggestions wherever she went at LPCUWC.  The main anxieties expressed were that creativity and diversity might be stifled as greater uniformity is imposed, concerns that rigid guidelines might not work well in practice (and that therefore the new logo might be used much less frequently than the old one to avoid the risk of violating the guidelines, thus diluting rather than enhancing UWC identity), some distress at the intention to replace the name ‘United World Colleges’ with ‘UWC’ over time, concern that the changes are based on such small internal and external audit numbers, and some continuing worries about how well the proposed new identity and logo will work within Hong Kong’s cultural, political, linguistic and philanthropic environment.

There is, of course, much more work to be done on the re-branding proposals before the UWC Board makes its decision on the matter at a teleconference scheduled for early January.  Having now visited Hong Kong, I hope that Megan is more keenly aware of the distinctive concerns people here have, while also understanding the decision-making and consultation processes we use, and most importantly, being assured that LPCUWC strongly supports the rationale and the intent of the re-branding exercise.  For our part, we feel we have a much clearer indication of the likely direction and outcome of the very exciting re-branding exercise.

Perhaps re-branding, key messages, communication and logos are all forms of art.  If so, then I wonder whether Leonardo da Vinci’s words are apposite: “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

Now, lest there be any mis-understandings when I say this, I am simply suggesting that having set in place our new branding, and of course embracing it enthusiastically, we cannot remain static.  The time will be upon us before we realise it when we need to begin the process over again - and I for one am really looking forward to the creative outpouring that I am sure will burst forth, knowing the United World Colleges and their students as I do.

As a footnote, the World AIDS Day badge that I wore proudly on 1st December (shown at the top of this blog) was hand-crafted by an HIV-affected woman named Zoleka in South Africa to support the health of her family.  The project to make these beadwork badges was initiated by the Kidzpositive Family Fund , a group founded by health care professionals at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. Our students obtained the badges through links at the United World College of the Adriatic in Italy and Waterford KaMhlaba United World College in Swaziland.