If you’re looking into school branding ideas, you’ve no doubt seen countless photos of wall pads that feature a mascot front and center. It’s such a ubiquitous part of a branded gym space that it may have left you thinking that you should opt for more image-printed wall pads than not—and dismayed at the potential budget and design concerns.

SportsGraphics, your Clarion provider of everything from custom wall pads to bleacher enclosures to school branding services, is here to set the record straight. While not every wall pad needs to have a branded image on it, everyone does need to relate to your brand. We’ll elaborate below.

Why Visual Balance Is Best

Ideally, your wall padding should indeed frequently feature digital print that relates to your brand. A bland gym space made exclusively of colored pads doesn’t work to motivate students to play at their best, nor does it actively contribute to your school’s image. In contrast, while a whole set of visually engaging wall pads can work, you run the risk of pulling a viewer’s eye in too many directions, amounting to a display that’s essentially optical mush.

The most reliably effective way to go about using image-printed pads for gym walls: balance their presence with that of solid ones. You’ll use the former as “centerpieces,” which gets your designs the attention they deserve. The latter will be visual backgrounds that harmonize with their flashier counterparts.

Then What’s Meant by “Everything Must Be Branded?”

When we refer to branded products, we refer to products that adhere to the image put forth in your style guide. We cover the importance of this document in “Why Does a Style Guide Matter?”, but in short: it’s the go-to ideal for your school brand. It contains everything from exact hues to mascot designs, all in the name of creating a unified brand.

Whether a wall pad has an image on it or not, it must be branded—adhere to this guide’s standard. Otherwise, you risk creating a patchwork appearance that negatively influences your image! In today’s competitive educational environment, “close enough” just isn’t enough.

Purchase All Your School Branding-Related Products From One Supplier

The best way to ensure brand unity: purchase everything you need when it comes to column padding, championship banners, bleacher enclosures, branding services themselves—you name it—from the same company.

We’ve written a whole blog on why a comprehensive company does it best: “4 Reasons to Choose a Full-Service Company for School Branding.” In terms of cosmetic unity, though, it’s hard to beat a consistent source!

SportsGraphics: All Your Branded Products in One Place

From wall pads to championship banners and school branding ideas, we’re the one partner you need to completely revamp your brand. Give our Clarion office a call today at 1-800-257-6405.