The Francis Crick Institute Brand Overview
The brief
The Francis Crick Institute is a world-leading centre of biomedical research and innovation in the heart of London.
We’ve been working with them for a number of years on bringing their brand and messaging to life through multiple materials including their laboratory and auditorium spaces, interior and exterior graphics, and literature and guidelines.
The Crick wanted us to streamline all their brand materials and messaging to be more easily understood and accessible to its multiple audiences.
The creative idea
This project is part of a body of ongoing work we are doing for the science sector where our skill sets of demystifying science and improving how it is perceived with the general public come to the fore.
The Crick already had an identity that was based around a collection of shards. We evolved their usage and function to fulfil multiple roles, whether holding imagery or providing the building blocks for animation and iconography.
We evolved their guidelines, messaging and storytelling into a digital interactive format that enabled the user to get to specific information more quickly and efficiently.
Disciplines
Branding
Brand Guidelines
Editorial
Hoardings
Wayfinding
When it was under construction, we produced innovative hoardings that drove interest and awareness regarding its launch and during construction.
We created sub-brands for their interior spaces at the institute that were required to sit with the core Crick identity.
Exterior window graphics provided insight to the local community and pedestrians related to the activities and events that were taking place inside the building.
The Crick Annual Review is an easy read compared to similar documents produced by some other science bodies. The format encourages the audience to read the whole document and find out more. The design format is tactile and engaging, enabling it to be used as a promotional tool for highlighting key achievements over the last year.
An important aspect required us to create a series of assets that the Crick could use via social media to help promote their activities and latest news. We created a number of Twitter templates that were either image-rich, fact-based, text-heavy or quote-based that the client could use to enter the content.
After a series of workshops, we arrived at a singular set of unified messages and values which formed the building blocks for the brand and its guidelines. We created a simple, primary, entry-level menu that separated key topics related to the brand, messaging, tone of voice and assets. From this, the user could then drill down further, through a secondary level menu, to get to more specific information.
“It’s been great working with the team at tothepoint on our brand development project. They’ve been responsive, creative and committed throughout. It’s been a very practical project and we know that the changes will make a big difference to the application of our brand”.
Jo Rynhold, Marketing consultant – Public Engagement and Comms
