01 / 10
Charm Bracelet
A personal record of life at Taft.
The Taft School
FOUR-YEAR CHARM COLLECTION
A charm bracelet collection that reflects the many small places, activities, symbols, and experiences through which students remember life at Taft.
The starting point
Create a charm system broad enough to hold many different Taft experiences.
The collection needed to feel personal to individual students while remaining connected to the school as a whole.
- Audience
- Current students and future alumni
- Need
- A collectible, student-relevant expression of school life
- What we shaped
- Research, student survey, interviews, charm-system design, and development
01 — Inspiration
The places and pursuits students make their own.
Potter’s Pond, Lincoln Lobby, Taft–Hotchkiss Day, the Bingham stage, the Rhino, and the school’s fields and studios formed the starting set. They showed how Taft belonging grows through place, pursuits, and shared routines.
02 — From Story to Form
The many sides of Taft,
gathered together.
Each charm was assigned a clear job: the Rhino for school spirit, Lincoln for a familiar ritual, Potter’s Pond for place, and music, dance, and athletic charms for students’ pursuits. Students could choose the parts of Taft that felt most like their own.
03 — The Collection
A personal record of life at Taft.
02 / 10
Lincoln Lobby
A little luck for the road ahead.
03 / 10
Music
For the notes that gather a community.
04 / 10
Dance
For movement, expression, and joy.
05 / 10
Lacrosse
For the game—and the teammates—carried forward.
06 / 10
Soccer
For the field, the team, and the shared pursuit.
07 / 10
Basketball
For the work, rhythm, and trust of the game.
08 / 10
Rhino
Unmistakably—and unexpectedly—Taft.
09 / 10
Taft T
A familiar mark in Taft red or blue.
10 / 10
Potter’s Pond
The heart of campus, held near.
04 — In Their Words
From a conversation with a Taftie
Ava loved the charm bracelet concept! She could picture choosing the sports and clubs she shared with friends, building a bracelet that made her four years at Taft tangible.
Student life is made of shared details