Despite their stellar academic reputation, Crystal Springs Uplands School faced an identity crisis. Their brand had splintered across two campuses, with different logos, colors, and identities emerging as they tried to balance tradition with inclusion. Even their iconic arch—while beloved by students—raised internal questions about privilege.
Through conversations with students, alumni, faculty, and leadership, State of Assembly discovered the arch wasn’t just architecture—it was a symbol of transformation. By reframing this journey from middle school through graduation, they unified two campuses under one cohesive visual story.
By reimagining the arch as a symbol of transformation rather than privilege, Crystal’s new identity system unifies both campuses in a single story of growth. The dynamic design flows from communications to athletics, celebrating each student's journey from their first step through the arch to their last—and beyond.
From the outside, Crystal Springs Uplands School is awe-inspiring. Once a 39-room Beaux Arts mansion, it was built to impress—featuring marble fireplaces from 16th-century castles, ceilings handmade in Northern Italy, and old German wood carvings that amaze visitors throughout. This is not the basic shelter Maslow describes in his hierarchy of needs; its intention is to stun.
Built under a Silicon Valley gaze, Crystal's Middle School is the modern-day means to impress. Wide-open spaces create a perception of floor-to-floor transparency, from ceiling to windows, reminiscent of a golden age of startups. It is striking, and like a startup, hints that this place is fun—which it needs to be, as the students work hard.
Whether the founders intended it or not, choosing the Uplands mansion created an intangible gift for their students—one that begins when sixth graders walk through the arch for the first time at convocation and ends at 12th grade as they leave for the last time. This gift is self-worth: an internal feeling that they're good enough for any situation, worthy of any environment, whether in a mansion or a startup. It's a sense of belonging, no matter where they are.
The parents of San Mateo County felt their children, particularly their girls, were worthy of a better education—worthy of the highest caliber, worthy of a faculty and curriculum comparable to the finest schools in the country.
Crystal is not an ordinary world for a child; it's a special world, a scholar's journey. It's a quest that leaves the ordinary world and passes through an unfamiliar one, bringing challenge, growth, and the opportunity to conquer apprehensions and claim intangible treasure. Students who accept this call to adventure are guided by the older and wiser, moving from their known comforts into the remarkable. While challenges are inevitable, they rely on their teachings and the friends they've made along the way.
The archway in the Crystal logo, incorporated in the late 1970s by headmaster Richard Loveland and the Board of Trustees, represents high caliber, strength, traditions, and refined education. As the entry to the Upper School, it serves as a portal into this special world. The transformative arch welcomes students on a journey that begins with three middle school steps and completes in four Upper School revolutions.
This updated brand creates cohesion across the full Crystal identity system, providing flexible space for sub-branding, clubs, events, and athletics. The dynamic, transformational lines found in the arch carry through to the Crystal sea mark, bonding school spirit with the scholarly and historic foundation. Through the wings of the Griffin, the school's mascot, these lines embody Crystal's athletic confidence and focus.
What you see in these designs goes beyond a mere representation of buildings or institution—it's the shaping and triumph behind the transformation. It represents a child's seven-year journey from the edge of adolescence to adulthood, encompassing enthusiasm, scholarship, kindness, inclusion, growth, challenges, and humility. It's a tangible way to describe the balance and treasure that is Crystal Springs Uplands School.
