CASE STUDY

Core Beliefs Wall Mural for Cor Jesu Academy

Celebrating the school's enduring mission while inspiring students, faculty, and visitors each day.

Wall mural design for private high school

CLIENT:
Cor Jesu Academy
All-girls school in St. Louis, MO USA

PROJECT:
After unveiling a refreshed brand identity, Cor Jesu Academy wanted to reimagine a highly visible hallway that showcased the school's core beliefs. The existing display felt outdated and no longer reflected the warmth, confidence, and vitality of the new brand. The challenge was to create an environmental graphic that honored the academy's traditions while expressing its renewed visual identity.

Because I had partnered with Cor Jesu throughout the rebranding process—developing print communications and helping build a consistent design system—I was asked to extend that work into the physical environment. The final installation transforms the hallway into a vibrant, inspiring space that reinforces the academy's mission, strengthens brand consistency across campus, and creates a memorable experience for students, faculty, families, and visitors alike.

FORMAT:
37' x 10' wall mural, high-performance polymeric gloss adhesive vinyl with matte overlaminate

ROLE:
Creative Director / Designer

APPROACH:
With the original installation as a starting point and Cor Jesu Academy's new brand guidelines providing a clear framework, I approached the project with a strong understanding of both the visual system and the strategy behind it. Because the hallway is visible immediately from the main entrance below, the design needed to make a strong and inspiring visual statement while seamlessly weaving together brand elements and the academy's enduring core beliefs.

BEFORE AND AFTER:
Drag the arrow to the left to slide between the original design and the new graphics.

I began the design process by developing three distinct concepts for the wall, each interpreting the new brand identity in a slightly different way.

The first concept remained closest to the spirit of the original installation, using Cor Jesu’s updated crimson red as the foundation and incorporating photography of students and faculty to bring warmth and life to the space. Individual photo panels were designed to be mounted over the vinyl mural, allowing the academy to refresh the imagery over time and keep the display feeling current. The typography drew directly from the new brand system, presenting the core beliefs in a way that felt expressive, playful, and inspiring.

The second concept introduced a lighter background color from the brand palette and placed greater emphasis on large-scale sketches of students actively engaged in school life, bringing movement and energy to the hallway while still reinforcing the academy’s renewed visual identity.

The third concept returned to the bold crimson background, but shifted the focus to the new logomark as the central design element. The core beliefs were presented in a more traditional and informational format, offering a balance of brand impact and clarity.

The final design emerged through a collaborative review of the three concepts. Cor Jesu was drawn to the expressive typography and energetic composition of the first direction, while the oversized logomark from the third concept made a powerful statement about the academy's renewed identity. By combining the strongest elements of each, we arrived at a solution that felt both timeless and on brand.

As the concept evolved, we made the intentional decision to remove the individual photographs altogether, allowing the core beliefs, typography, and bold brand elements to take center stage. The result is a clean, enduring installation that communicates the academy's mission with clarity while creating a memorable visual landmark within the school.

SLUH Magazine

Murals & Signage

Contact

Stephanie Klinker Howe
Phone: +1 (314) 330-0006
Email: steph@klinkcreative.com