Rebuild a school's colours so everyone can read them

The situation

A private school in Sialkot uses six bright colours across its admission poster, website banner and fee notice, chosen because the principal liked them. Parents complain the fee notice is hard to read, the printed poster came out dull, and nothing looks like it belongs to the same school.

Build one palette from a single starting colour, prove it is readable, and deliver it so both the web team and the printer get the colour you chose.

What you'll be able to show

• Describe and adjust colour by hue, saturation and lightness instead of by name
• Build a palette that coheres from one starting colour
• Measure contrast against the 4.5:1 and 3:1 thresholds instead of guessing
• Prepare colour correctly for screen and for print

What you need

• Figma, Canva or any design tool that shows HSL values
• A free contrast checker (WebAIM or similar)
• Your phone camera, to photograph a printed test

Tasks

1. 1Diagnose the old colours

   Recreate the school's fee notice with six bright colours of your choice. Convert it to greyscale and note which elements disappear into each other.
   A correct result: The colour and greyscale versions side by side, with the collapsed elements circled.

2. 2Build from one colour

   Choose one starting colour for the school. Build a palette of five from it: the colour in three lightnesses, one neutral, and one accent. Write the HSL values for each.
   A correct result: Five swatches with HSL values, and one sentence on which structure you used.

3. 3Prove it is readable

   Check every text and background pair you plan to use. Normal text must reach 4.5:1 and large text 3:1. Fix any pair that fails by changing lightness, not hue.
   A correct result: A table of pairs with their ratios, every one passing, and a note on each fix.

4. 4Look at the category

   Collect the colours of five other schools in your city. Decide whether this school should fit the convention or stand apart, and say why in two sentences.
   A correct result: Five screenshots or swatches and your two-sentence decision.

5. 5Apply it three times

   Redesign the fee notice, a web banner and the admission poster with the new palette only.
   A correct result: Three designs that a stranger would say belong to one school.

6. 6Get it onto paper

   Ask (or find out from a local printer's website) which colour mode and profile they want. Export the poster accordingly, print or have one test printed, photograph it in daylight beside the screen version, and note what shifted.
   A correct result: The printer's requirement written down, the export settings, and the photo comparison with what changed.

What to hand in

A one-page palette sheet (swatches, HSL, contrast table, usage rules) plus the three designs and the print comparison.

How it is marked