Redeemer Classical Academy: Rooting a School’s Identity in Its Story

A brand refresh, website redesign, and custom artwork for Redeemer Classical Academy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Redeemer Classical Academy is a school built around a classical approach to education, forming students as learners, leaders, and agents of redemption for God’s glory.

Classical education is structured around three stages of development: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Each stage is designed to meet students where they are developmentally, teaching them not simply what to think, but how to think, reason, communicate, and understand the world around them.

When I was approached about rebranding Redeemer, I was immediately drawn to that philosophy.

Here was a school that valued critical thinking, the arts, language, and the formation of the whole student. But visually, the school didn't yet have an identity that communicated the depth and intentionality behind what they were doing.

That became the heart of the project.

From Many Logos to One Identity

Redeemer was established in 2013, and over the years, the school had accumulated several variations of its logo and visual materials.

Individually, many of these elements worked. But together, there wasn't a strong visual system tying everything back to Redeemer.

The challenge wasn't simply to create a new logo.

It was to create a visual identity that could unify the school and communicate who they are.

Rather than continuing to build around multiple logo variations, we decided to establish one primary identity that could become the foundation for everything else.

And that identity started with an oak tree.

Finding the Roots

Redeemer's mascot is the Mighty Oak, and their previous visual identity included several different symbols: an R, an oak leaf, a tree, and a cross.

Instead of trying to fit all of those elements into one mark, I wanted to ask a simpler question:

What is the one image that best represents Redeemer?

The answer was the oak tree.

An oak communicates strength, growth, longevity, and—perhaps most importantly for a school—roots.

Education is about planting roots before you ever see the full-grown tree. It is about giving students a strong foundation from which they can grow, think, lead, and eventually contribute to the world around them.

That idea became the foundation of the new identity.

A Logo You Can Hold

One of the most important decisions I made during the project was how to create the logo itself.

Rather than drawing the mark digitally from the beginning, I carved it as a linocut.

That decision was intentional.

Redeemer places a high value on the arts and on tangible, hands-on learning. I wanted the identity to carry some of that same sense of authenticity.

There is something different about a mark that has been physically carved, inked, and pressed. You can see the imperfections. You can see the hand of the maker.

I wanted to take that tangible, handcrafted quality and translate it into a digital identity that could still function beautifully across a modern school system.

The final mark was simplified into a crest featuring the oak, creating something that felt both established and distinctly Redeemer.

When I presented the hand-carved version of the logo, the faculty immediately connected with the intentionality behind it.

That became a guiding principle for the rest of the project.

Building the Visual System

From the new logo, we developed the rest of the visual identity.

The existing colors were bright and energetic, but they didn't quite communicate the maturity, tradition, and depth of the school.

I developed a more muted and sophisticated color palette, paired with a stronger typographic system and supporting visual elements.

The goal wasn't to make Redeemer feel old-fashioned.

It was to make the brand feel established, thoughtful, warm, and enduring.

Every piece needed to feel like it belonged to the same school.

Rebuilding the Website Around the Families Who Use It

Once the visual identity was established, the next step was bringing it to life through Redeemer's website.

The existing website contained a huge amount of information, but it wasn't always easy for someone unfamiliar with Redeemer to navigate.

And that's especially important for a prospective family.

A parent visiting the website for the first time shouldn't have to dig through pages of information to figure out:

• What is classical education?

• Is Redeemer the right fit for my child?

• What does my child actually learn?

• How do I schedule a tour?

• How do I apply?

So I began by reorganizing the information architecture and wireframing the site from the perspective of a new family.

The redesigned website makes the school's educational philosophy much easier to understand while creating a clearer path toward the things prospective families need most.

The result is a website that doesn't simply contain information—it guides people through it.

The new website is scheduled to launch as Redeemer begins the 2026 school year.

Taking the Brand Beyond the Screen

But the project didn't stop with the logo and website.

Redeemer also asked me to create a limited-edition linocut featuring the new identity and commemorating an important moment in the school's history: 2026, the year they move into their brand-new building.

This gave me an opportunity to take the identity I had developed and push it back into the medium where it began.

Hand-carved. Hand-printed. Tangible.

And then came another opportunity: creating a custom poster for Redeemer families and staff to purchase as part of a fundraising effort.

This piece became something much more expansive than a logo.

A Treehouse for Learning

For the poster, I wanted to create a visual world that represented the experience of being a Redeemer student.

The oak tree from the primary logo became the foundation of the illustration, but I expanded the story around it.

A treehouse sits within the branches, representing a place where children can gather, explore, learn, and grow.

The three schools within Redeemer—Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric—are represented through their respective animals: the rabbit, fox, and owl.

And, of course, the little squirrel from the primary logo makes an appearance too.

All of these elements come together around a larger scene of children learning and working together beneath the oak.

The goal was to create something that felt playful enough to capture childhood while still reflecting the depth and intentionality of the school itself.

Rooted in What Matters

This project has been one of those rare branding projects where the visual identity and the organization's philosophy really do intersect.

Redeemer didn't need a brand that simply looked more polished.

They needed an identity that felt like them.

The oak became more than a logo. It became a visual representation of the school's philosophy: strong roots, intentional growth, and a foundation built to last.

From a hand-carved linocut to a digital brand system, from a redesigned website to a custom family poster, this project has allowed me to explore what happens when traditional craftsmanship and modern design work together.

And honestly, that's one of the reasons I've enjoyed this project so much.

I’ve loved working with Daniel and the Redeemer team throughout this process, and I’m excited to see this identity move into its next chapter as the school settles into its beautiful new home.

The Redeemer Classical Academy poster is currently available for preorder to Redeemer for anyone who would like to support the mission of Redeemer Classical Academy.

Click the link to order yours here! Now through September 30th. 

This has been a really fun one, and I can't wait to see how these roots grow.

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With ink-stained gratitude,
Emily Ciecka