Member Article

Leading genetics institute turns to North West consultancies for rebrand

Working together, Manchester-based creative management consultancy Squad and independent brand strategist Claire Rigby have unveiled their rebranding of the Wellcome Sanger Institute - one of the world’s leading genomics research facilities.

Based in Cambridge and funded by the charity, Wellcome, the Institute is recognised as having made the single biggest contribution to what is considered the gold standard sequencing of the human genome.

The Institute wanted to move away from the well-used double helix image of DNA to develop a new visual identity that would more accurately reflect the scale and ambition of its work, as well as the pace of its science. Squad and Claire Rigby – both based in Manchester – collaborated to create a new visual identity that is now being rolled out across the Institute’s website and other marketing collateral.

Steve Palmer, Director of Communications at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: “The Institute exists to tackle the biggest, toughest challenges in genomics today. This new identity provides us with a creative expression that conveys this sense of scale and ambition.”

Dave Barraclough, Creative Partner at Squad, explained: “Sanger’s new logo was born of data points and real imagery from the science, yet reimagined in a dynamic, fluid and progressive way. Through the exploration of size and patterns inspired by the research within the Institute, we created a visual language with endless opportunities.”

Commenting on the Institute’s old logo, Claire Rigby said, “The double helix had become a much used (and abused) visual reference for DNA, and no longer reflected the complexity or scale of the science at Sanger. The Institute has been at the forefront of genomics for the last 25 years and continues to lead the field. It was time to refresh and modernise the way it presents and communicates itself to the world.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Intelligent Conversation .